Upset, June 2018

D ISRUP T THE NOISE J U N E 2018

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“I’M STILL HERE ” THE FEVER 333

BIG UPS

QUIET SLANG

NOW, NOW

THE WORD ALIVE

THE REGRETT ES

OF MICE & MEN

“THERE’S A VAST, UNEXPLORED ROAD IN FRONT OF ME”

ISSUE 33 JUNE 2018

MIKA SHINODA, P.24

UPSETMAGAZINE.COM EDITOR: Stephen Ackroyd (stephen@upsetmagazine.com) DEPUTY EDITOR: Victoria Sinden

(viki@upsetmagazine.com)

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Ali Shutler

(ali@upsetmagazine.com)

CONTRIBUTORS: Alex Thorp,

Chris Taylor, Dan Harrison, Danny Randon, Dillon Eastoe, Jack Press, Linsey Teggert, Rob Mair, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Nathan Roach, Sarah Louise Bennett All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Upset or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.

PUBLISHED FROM

W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M

DEAR READER,

THIS MONTH RIOT!

4 DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 12 PETAL 13 COMING UP 14 THE WORD ALIVE 16 BIG SCARY MONSTERS 17 FANGCLUB 18 ROLO TOMASSI 19 PLAYLIST

ABOUT TO BREAK 20 THE REGRETTES 22 INTECHNICOLOUR 23 WOES

FEATURES

24 MIKE SHINODA

32 BIG UPS 34 CANCER BATS 36 THE FEVER 333 40 QUIET SLANG 42 NOW, NOW

RATED

45 COURTNEY BARNETT 46 CHVRCHES 47 DREAM STATE 48 CANCER BATS

LIVE

49 THE WONDER YEARS

TEENAGE KICKS

It’s just over a year ago since we welcomed Mike Shinoda to the cover of Upset for the first time as part of Linkin Park. Since then, obviously, a lot has changed - especially following the tragic passing of bandmate Chester Bennington.

It’s something which obviously plays a huge factor in Mike’s decision to deliver his first solo album under his own name.

Dealing with his thoughts, feelings and processes through his art, we’re happy to have him back.

STEPHEN ACKROYD, EDITOR

50 OF MICE & MEN

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ING IN RO CK. EVE RYT HIN G HAP PEN

ON THE

THE HIGHLIGHT OF JUNE’S ROCK CALENDAR, DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL IS BACK FOR ANOTHER YEAR OF THE LOUDEST MUSIC, THE MESSIEST MOSH PITS AND SOME OF THE BEST BANDS AROUND. AND SO, WE’VE HARASSED A FEW OF OUR FAVES - FROM PARKWAY DRIVE TO MILK TEETH, FROM THE FAIM TO YOU ME AT SIX - TO ANSWER A FEW QS ABOUT THIS YEAR’S EVENT, WHICH RUNS FROM 8TH-10TH IN DONINGTON. IT’S GOING TO BE A GOOD ‘UN. 4 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

PARKWAY DRIVE WINSTON MCCALL

HI WINSTON, ARE PARKWAY DRIVE READY FOR FESTIVAL SEASON THEN?

No! How can you ever be ready for festival season? Isn’t the idea of festivals being spontaneous and all that stuff? We are preparing as best we can, but we have one hell of a show for this festival season so we are still tinkering around the edges making sure we can pack everything we can into those gigs. We are really looking forward to it.

WHAT’S YOUR TOP TIP FOR SURVIVING A SUMMER SPENT IN FIELDS AND ON THE ROAD?

Sunscreen and water. Also, grass is more comfortable than you think so you can always take a nap on the grass in the shade.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FOND MEMORIES OF PREVIOUS DOWNLOADS?

OH YEAH. Download was the first UK festival we ever played, and at that point in time, we didn’t even know what Download was and when we walked out on stage it was the biggest thing we had ever seen and that was at 2pm on the second stage. The last time we played, we played in the rain and we were able to use Muse’s catwalk so I got to slide down the catwalk in the rain while everyone say along to ‘Wild Eyes’ and we got to play Vice Grip for the first time and watch it level all of Donington, so we have some very good memories.

WHICH BANDS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THERE THIS YEAR?

I am looking forward to seeing Guns n’ Roses! That’s it! I can look forward all the other bands in the world, but I’ve never seen Guns n’ Roses and the fact we get to play on the same day as Guns n’ Roses is absolutely mental. I honestly never thought I’d ever get to see that band in my life and at Download it’s going to be insane!

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU UP TO THIS SUMMER, DO YOU HAVE A BUSY FEW MONTHS COMING UP? We are basically on tour for the next year. We will have just released the best album we have ever made, and we are about to play the biggest shows with the biggest set up we have ever played and it’s going to be nuts.

Can’t wait! P DISRUPT THE NOISE 5

ON THE

MAYDAY PARADE JEREMY LENZO

HEY JEREMY, ARE YOU READY FOR DOWNLOAD?

We are ready, and excited to be playing! It’s a festival we have been wanting to play for a while.

WHICH BANDS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THERE THIS YEAR? WILL YOU BE MEETING UP WITH ANY PALS?

We are excited to see Guns n’ Roses. We all love them. I’m not sure if we have any pals playing this year or not, to be honest, I haven’t checked because I wanted to get there and be excited when I see the line-up.

DOWNLOAD’S GOT A NEW GREENPEACE CAMPSITE THIS YEAR - DO YOU THINK FESTIVALS HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SOME GOOD

BY RAISING AWARENESS OF THINGS LIKE ENVIRONMENTAL AND/OR SOCIAL ISSUES?

I do, I think it’s our responsibility to set a precedent for those who come after us. We need to stress the importance of these issues, so they don’t get buried with so many other things.

IF YOU WERE RUNNING YOUR OWN FESTIVAL, WHAT INITIATIVES WOULD YOU WANT TO INTRODUCE?

I would probably try and set something up with the artist, so that they can choose the charity/organizations they believe in, and then have a portion of the merch cut that the venues take goes to that bands charity/ organisation.

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU UP TO? We have a new record coming out, so we will be very busy this summer promoting that! P

EMPLOYED TO SERVE JUSTINE JONES

HI JUSTINE, CONGRATS ON PLAYING DOWNLOAD - ARE YOU GUYS READY TO SMASH SOME FESTIVALS?

Thanks! Yeah, we can’t wait, it’s the first time in our band’s career that we have this many festivals lined up and playing Download has always been on our bucket lists!

WHAT’S YOUR TOP TIP FOR SURVIVING A SUMMER SPENT IN FIELDS AND ON THE ROAD?

Good coffee! I’ve recently bought a mini coffee filter (tenner from Amazon, brilliant) and my own kettle so I can make good coffee whenever I want.

I’m not a connoisseur or anything, but nothing bums me out more than tasteless black dishwater coffee when I need to stay awake! Plus it saves me so much cash since I chain-drink it so I can buy more records and beer wheyyy.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FOND MEMORIES OF PREVIOUS DOWNLOADS?

This is actually my first ever time! But I just asked our drummer Robbie and when he was 17 him, and 15 of his friends sunk four beer bongs each and immediately watched Deftones and Rage Against The Machine one after the other.

When they returned back to the camp, they couldn’t talk because they were so blown away by their performances (and probably the beer).

WHICH BANDS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THERE THIS YEAR? WILL YOU BE MEETING UP WITH ANY PALS?

So many! Looking forward to hanging and watching our pals Rolo Tomassi, Helpless, Milk Teeth, Tesseract and 6 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

Jamie Lenman. Also excited to meet and watch Stray From The Path before we play some shows with them in Europe. The bands we can’t wait to see are Malevolence, Stick To Your Guns, Meshuggah, Alexisonfire and Hatebreed… to name a few!

DOWNLOAD’S GOT A NEW GREENPEACE CAMPSITE THIS YEAR - DO YOU THINK FESTIVALS HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SOME GOOD

BY RAISING AWARENESS OF THINGS LIKE ENVIRONMENTAL AND/OR SOCIAL ISSUES?

I think it’s great they do stuff like that, I think people are more likely to take things on board when they’re in a relaxed environment (drunken state).

IF YOU WERE RUNNING YOUR OWN FESTIVAL, ARE THERE ANY ‘DO GOOD’ INITIATIVES LIKE THE ABOVE THAT YOU’D WANT TO INTRODUCE?

I’d like to introduce a reusable coffee and beer cup that you get given when you turn up to the site and get that filled up instead of getting a new plastic cup every time. I’m sure it’s the case with most people, but ever since watching Blue Planet 2, I’ve been a lot more conscious of how much plastic I personally consume. Sharks and other marine life are awesome, and it would be devastating if they eventually died out because we (as a planet) didn’t remember to take a water bottle when we head out.

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU UP TO THIS SUMMER, DO YOU HAVE A BUSY FEW MONTHS COMING UP?

Yeah! We’re heading into the studio next week and then straight after that we go out on our festival warm up dates in the UK with Conjurer and God Complex.

We’re really excited to play Download, Graspop and With Full Force festivals as well as some shows in between which will be announced soon. P

BOSTON MANOR HENRY COX

ALRIGHT HENRY, ARE YOU LOT ALL READY FOR FESTIVAL SEASON THEN?

Thanks, we’re really excited to play, it’s gonna be our first time at the festival.

I’m so ready, British Festival summers are the absolute best. I try to go to as many as I can and we’re lucky to be playing some of the best this year!

DOWNLOAD’S GOT A NEW GREENPEACE CAMPSITE THIS YEAR - DO YOU THINK FESTIVALS HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SOME GOOD

BY RAISING AWARENESS OF THINGS LIKE ENVIRONMENTAL AND/OR SOCIAL ISSUES?

That’s awesome, festivals like Download are one of the few times of the year when subculture gets brought into the mainstream. Within our communities as a whole we are pretty strong supporters of environmental and social issues; so why not bring that with us to events like these? It’s a great time to start having discussions about issues that don’t usually get talked about on more mainstream platforms.

IF YOU WERE RUNNING YOUR OWN FESTIVAL, ARE THERE ANY POSITIVE INITIATIVES THAT YOU’D WANT TO INTRODUCE?

Animal rights is a huge one for me.

However, I know Peta and other groups are usually at most festivals anyway.

That’s always a presence I like to see at these events none the less.

HAVE YOU BEEN TO DOWNLOAD MUCH BEFORE? WHAT’S YOUR FAVE MEMORY FROM GOING?

I actually only went to Download for the first time last summer for the day to see a few friends’ bands play. It was an awesome day though; I got to see Mastodon and Code Orange which was dope, they both smashed it.

WHICH BANDS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THERE THIS YEAR? WILL YOU BE MEETING UP WITH ANY PALS?

It’s such a solid year! I’m super excited for Manson, Alexisonfire, Rise Against, Meshuggah, Hatebreed, Thrice, Gold Key, Loathe and Rolo Tomassi. And our pals who I’m equally excited to see: Knocked Loose, Employed To Serve, Death Blooms, Higher Power, Milk Teeth, Puppy and the one and only Jamie Lenman. It’s gonna be such a great time.

WHAT’S YOUR TOP TIP FOR SURVIVING A SUMMER SPENT IN FIELDS AND ON THE ROAD?

Have as much fun as you possibly can.

Stay hydrated, and don’t leave your beer in the sun because hot Skol is not the one.

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU UP TO AT THE MO, DO YOU HAVE A BUSY FEW MONTHS COMING UP?

We’re always busy to be honest; we’ve been away for three months; as soon as we get home, we have a day off then we go to Germany for the Impericon festivals, then we start our tour with Lower Than Atlantis in the UK. Then it’s pretty much-hitting festivals all summer which I’m super excited about. Hope to see some of you guys there. P

THE FAIM STEPHEN BEERKENS

HELLO STEPHEN, HAVE YOU BEEN TO DOWNLOAD BEFORE?

We’ve actually never been to or played Download, so we can’t wait to make some brand new memories there.

ARE YOU ALL READY FOR FESTIVAL SEASON?

Thank you! We can’t wait to kick off the season with such amazing festivals like Download. Having the privilege of playing alongside bands that we’ve looked up to for our entire lives is something we don’t take lightly. We can’t wait to hit the stage and show the UK what we’re about!

WHICH BANDS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THERE? LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE SAID GUNS N’ ROSES...

We can’t wait to see Guns n’ Roses, Marilyn Manson, Bullet For My Valentine, You Me At Six and so many more! We’re actually hitting the road with Boston Manor in a few weeks supporting Lower Than Atlantis, so it’ll be great to catch up with them again at Download!

DOWNLOAD’S GOT A NEW GREENPEACE CAMPSITE THIS YEAR; IF YOU WERE RUNNING YOUR OWN FESTIVAL, WHAT POSITIVE INITIATIVES WOULD YOU INTRODUCE?

I’d encourage recycling and clean living.

A way of doing this would be that if you reuse/bring your own cup for a drink, you get a discounted price for that drink.

This way, the festival grounds would end up much cleaner, and people would be consciously thinking about saving rubbish and recycling.

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU UP TO THIS SUMMER? We have a very busy summer ahead of us! We’re about to kick off the first show of tour supporting Sleeping With Sirens across Australia and New Zealand; then we fly back to the UK for the second leg of the Lower Than Atlantis tour. Also in the UK, we have the privilege of playing all the summer festivals including the amazing Download. P

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YOU ME AT SIX MAX HELYER

ALRIGHT MAX, ARE YOU LOT READY FOR DOWNLOAD?

Yes, we are excited to come back to Download, it’s been a few years for us, and it’s always such a great vibing festival. We are as prepared as we can be for festival season (aka never ready as you don’t know what’s ever gonna happen).

WHAT’S YOUR TOP TIP FOR SURVIVING A SUMMER SPENT IN FIELDS AND ON THE ROAD?

Having essentials ready no matter what, so sun cream, hay fever tablets, a rain coat just incase (as you can never tell with the weather) and a ton of booze to make sure you have a good time.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FOND MEMORIES OF DOWNLOAD FROM YEARS GONE BY?

Best memories of Download was 2009 when Limp Bizkit played the main stage, all of us lads in YMAS watched and were pretty drunk. For some reason, we decided to throw each other up in the air as a joke and then other people wanted to get involved. So we created essentially a new entire mosh move.

WHICH BANDS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THERE THIS YEAR? WILL YOU BE MEETING UP WITH ANY PALS?

It should be a good day, our mates in Marmozets are playing the Main Stage, so that will be fun to check out. As for meeting up with mates, we will no doubt all be back stage having a good time causing some ruckus.

DOWNLOAD’S GOT A NEW GREENPEACE CAMPSITE THIS YEAR - DO YOU THINK FESTIVALS HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SOME GOOD BY RAISING AWARENESS OF THINGS LIKE ENVIRONMENTAL AND/OR SOCIAL ISSUES?

Yes, I do think the festival has to take some responsibility for environmental issues such as plastic waste and using as many recyclable products as they can. If you imagine a festival, a lot of plastic does get used and wasted and knowing what’s going on with the plastic waste in the ocean; it’s now the time to set an example to people. It’s great seeing festival’s starting that off this year by banning plastic straws - it’s a good start for something that’s going to help the World out in the long run.

IF YOU WERE RUNNING YOUR OWN FESTIVAL, ARE THERE ANY ‘DO GOOD’ INITIATIVES LIKE THE ABOVE THAT YOU’D WANT TO INTRODUCE?

I think plastic waste is a big issue and I would drive people to use recyclable products. I would also try and help people who have mental health issues; if there’s a way you could have multiple huts or tents at a festival when people might need help, then I think it would be a great way to tackle problems that a lot of people are facing today.

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU UP TO THIS SUMMER, DO YOU HAVE A BUSY FEW MONTHS COMING UP?

We have a few busy months coming up; we have a pretty busy summer with festival appearances but also new music in the pipe line, so I’m sure we will be working toward the new record too. Hopefully, we can preview something new at Download... P

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ON THE

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ON THE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THERE THIS YEAR? WILL YOU BE MEETING UP WITH ANY PALS?

MILK TEETH BILLY HUTTON

HIYA BILLY, CONGRATS ON PLAYING DOWNLOAD AGAIN THIS YEAR - ARE YOU ALL READY FOR FESTIVAL SEASON?

Thank you! I like to think so! We just got home from what felt like the coldest three months of touring I’ve ever done, so I’m excited to start playing some shows in the sun.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FOND MEMORIES OF DOWNLOAD FROM YEARS GONE BY?

We played Download 2016, and it’s still probably one of my favourite shows we’ve played! It rained the whole weekend, like the worst rain I’ve ever seen. But during our set, it seemed to settle for about 40 minutes which was cool! (Also got to watch Black Sabbath which was sick.)

WHICH BANDS ARE YOU MOST

I’m super excited to watch Marilyn Manson! I know Webby wants to see Guns n’ Roses (even if he won’t admit it).

There are so many friends going/playing this year, but I’m mostly excited to watch Boston Manor rip the main stage!

DOWNLOAD’S GOT A NEW GREENPEACE CAMPSITE THIS YEAR - DO YOU THINK FESTIVALS HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SOME GOOD BY RAISING AWARENESS OF THINGS LIKE ENVIRONMENTAL AND/OR SOCIAL ISSUES?

Absolutely!! I can’t think of a better place to raise awareness for important issues!

Festivals (especially Download) are full of open-minded people who I think will take this stuff seriously. Especially something like climate change, with dumbass leaders who are trying to convince people it’s not happening we need all the help we can get!

IF YOU WERE RUNNING YOUR OWN FESTIVAL, ARE THERE ANY ‘DO GOOD’ INITIATIVES LIKE THE ABOVE THAT YOU’D WANT TO INTRODUCE?

I think I’d link in the climate change with veganism and show people that by going vegan you’re doing more than just saving animals. Also, introduce people to try a

sober weekend (I KNOW! FESTIVAL? NO BOOZE?!), but I think too many people rely on alcohol and drugs to pave their social lives. I’ve met so many people who are so lost in themselves that the only way they have fun is by getting wrecked. So I’d like to introduce something that makes people see how much fun they are without it and how much better you feel from it (by no means am I saying drinking and doing drugs is wrong and you’re a bad person for doing it. I’m just suggesting that it’s not the be all and end all of your social life).

WHAT’S YOUR TOP TIP FOR SURVIVING A SUMMER SPENT IN FIELDS AND ON THE ROAD?

Prepare for all types of weather! You never know what British weather is gonna do. So bring sun cream and a big rain coat. Also stay hydrated!

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU UP TO AT THE MO, DO YOU HAVE A BUSY FEW MONTHS COMING UP?

We’ve got quite a few festivals this year!

Which is great because last year we only played a handful. I can remember if we’ve announced them all, I don’t wanna get in trouble for naming one that we’ve not announced, but I’m sure Google has the answer! Other than that I think we’re just enjoying being in our own beds for a while! P

PUPPY JOCK NORTON

HEY JOCK, ARE YOU READY FOR FESTIVALS AND STUFF?

We’ve been preparing for it all year actually. I was very impressed with Rammstein’s set in 2016, so we’ve been working with some minor members of Circus of Horrors to try to learn how to play metal music while slightly on fire.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FOND MEMORIES OF PREVIOUS DOWNLOADS?

My two big ones would be when me and Billy went as kids as saw Soil (a very big band for us at the time) and Deftones (who still are), and the other was when we played in 2016. It was our first proper festival and felt like a very big moment for the band.

WHAT’S YOUR TOP TIP FOR SURVIVING A SUMMER SPENT IN FIELDS AND ON THE ROAD?

Stay hydrated and buy a Final Fantasy game on your mobile device to keep you entertained on long drives. That was a non sponsored plug by the way, but if Square Enix are reading this, I’m totally open to discussions.

BLACK FOXXES ANT THORNTON

HULLO ANT. CONGRATS ON PLAYING DOWNLOAD - ARE BLACK FOXXES READY FOR FESTIVAL SEASON?

Thank you! We’re super excited to play Download again, was a great show when we played a couple of years ago. We love festival season! Going to be a great summer for our camp.

WHICH BANDS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THERE THIS YEAR? WILL YOU BE MEETING UP WITH ANY PALS?

Very excited to see Alexisonfire. Haven’t seen them for going on three years now.

There’s always plenty of pals to catch up with at festivals. Hopefully, we have enough time for a few beers.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FOND MEMORIES OF PREVIOUS DOWNLOADS?

Yes. We played the UK festival a couple of years ago, and it was such an amazing surprise. We didn’t know what to expect for our band at that time, but it really was a highlight of that summer. We also got the open up for Slayer at the Paris Download last summer, one for the bucket list!

DOWNLOAD’S GOT A NEW GREENPEACE CAMPSITE THIS YEAR - DO YOU THINK FESTIVALS HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SOME GOOD

BY RAISING AWARENESS OF THINGS LIKE ENVIRONMENTAL AND/OR SOCIAL ISSUES?

I think it’s fantastic if a festival can do some good. One year I went to Reading Festival as a fan, and I left my tent because they were taking them and sending them to Africa.

IF YOU WERE RUNNING YOUR OWN FESTIVAL, ARE THERE ANY ‘DO GOOD’ INITIATIVES LIKE THE ABOVE THAT YOU’D WANT TO INTRODUCE?

It would be awesome to take food donations at the entrance gate. Maybe exchange an item for a can of beer/ cider, sure there’s a company that could sponsor that!

WHICH BANDS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING?

Guns n’ Roses. And hopefully, by the end of the weekend, we will be pals with Guns n’ Roses and we will meet up with them and hang out.

DOWNLOAD’S GOT A NEW GREENPEACE CAMPSITE THIS YEAR; IF YOU WERE RUNNING YOUR OWN FESTIVAL, WHAT POSITIVE INITIATIVES WOULD YOU INTRODUCE?

I don’t know; I think we’d blow our entire budget on booking Apache Indian and have no money leftover to do anything else. Maybe we’d ask him to mention something about vegetarianism in between songs.

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU UP TO? A couple of festivals, and hopefully some new music coming soon; we’ve been very busy in the studio. P

WHAT’S YOUR TOP TIP FOR SURVIVING A SUMMER SPENT IN FIELDS AND ON THE ROAD?

Stay hydrated, pack plenty pairs of pants and socks and try to take in as much of where you are as you can.

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU UP TO, DO YOU HAVE A BUSY FEW MONTHS COMING UP?

Besides festival season we’re starting to write album three, but personally, I’ll be getting back into video projects and making the move to Bristol! P

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“NEW BLINK-182 SONGS”

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT...

Blink-182 have started work on their next album, according to their social media accounts. Recent posts by Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker confirm that the pop-punk veterans are back in the studio tracking the follow-up to 2016’s ‘California’. There’s currently no sign of Matt Skiba, though…

NEW ALBUM

PENNSYLVANIA’S PETAL IS FIRMLY AN UPSET FAVE, AND HER NEW ALBUM ‘MAGIC GONE’ - OUT VERY SOON INDEED - WILL NO DOUBT SOUNDTRACK THE SUMMER.

WHAT A (MAY)DAY

Mayday Parade have announced a brand new album. The Florida band’s sixth full-length is set to arrive on 15th June via Rise Records, a week after they hit the UK to play Download Festival. The news comes alongside a video for new cut ‘Piece Of Your Heart’, which you can check out now on upsetmagazine.com. “’Piece Of Your Heart’ is a song about true love,” says lead vocalist Derek Sanders.

I RECORDED THE RECORD WITH TWO OF MY GREAT FRIENDS: WILL YIP AND DERRICK MACIAS

I spent a month in Conshohocken at Studio 4 with Will and Derrick. Will is one of my best friends and always is up to do something different. I wanted this record to have production style close to the 70s, vocals high in the mix and crisp drums. He pushed me to follow through!

Derrick is so incredibly talented, and him and Will working on the drums was nothing less than amazing. Derrick plays everything so well; they also make incredible music under them name DOTPONY. Between the three of us, we ate about 50lbs of Mexican food while recording the record. No regrets.

WE RECORDED THE VOCALS IN WHOLE TAKES

SPRING INTO ACTION

Spring King have announced details of their biggest headline tour to date.

The band - who’re currently working towards the follow-up for their 2016 debut album ‘Tell Me If You Like To’ - will kick off the run in Glasgow on 19th September.

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It was really important to Will and I that the vocals be as natural and real as possible. I feel like on Shame I was scared to sing fully and on this record, I was fired up to really let myself vocally go. Will had me sing vocals into the mic Lauryn Hill used to record Miseducation and every day it got me so excited to sing. That record is one of my favourites.

I PLAY PIANO ON THE RECORD

I’m a classically trained pianist. I studied

for most of my life and went to college for it. It caused me a lot of anxiety, so I stopped playing. This record I decided to play again, and it felt really refreshing and good to do it again.

I GOT TO HELP DEVELOP THE FILM FOR THE ALBUM ART

Katie Krulock is the amazing photographer who shot all the art for the record. She showed me how to develop film that weekend in Pittsburgh, and it was so much fun! Sadie Shoaf, who styled me for the art, also was so hands-on and hand painted this amazing jacket I got to wear. It felt great to be so involved with all the art that went into the record.

I WROTE MOST OF THE RECORD IN MY CAR

The two months of last summer before we went into the studio I was working at a pizza shop in a strip mall and acting in a musical at a regional theatre. I was driving so much that I’d write a lot in my car just singing to myself and singing voice memos in my phone at red lights.

Tight Rope I wrote really late at night after a Saturday shift at the restaurant feeling totally drained. It’s one of my favourite songs on the record. P PETAL’S ALBUM ‘MAGIC GONE’ IS OUT 15TH JUNE.

GLASSJAW: London O2 Academy Brixton (18th August)

EVER NEED. ALL THE TOUR NEWS YOU’ LL

ALL THOSE BANDS, ALL THOSE TOURS - IT’S HARD TO KEEP UP. SO WE’VE GATHERED TOGETHER ALL THE DATES YOU NEED RIGHT HERE IN ONE PLACE. YOU’LL NEVER NEED TO MISS OUT AGAIN. A PERFECT CIRCLE: Manchester O2 Apollo (12th June), London O2 Academy Brixton (13th) AS IT IS: Norwich Arts Centre (21st May), Sheffield Plug (22nd), Bristol The Lanters (24th), London St Pancras Old Church (25th)) EVERY TIME I DIE: London Garage (29th May)

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HALESTORM: Dublin Academy (19th September), Belfast Limelight (20th), Sheffield O2 Academy (22nd), Glasgow O2 Academy (23rd), Birmingham O2 Academy (24th), Manchester O2 Apollo (26th), London O2 Academy Brixton (28th), Bristol O2 Academy (29th)

FOO FIGHTERS: Manchester Etihad Stadium (19th June), London Stadium (22nd-23rd)

JULIEN BAKER: Manchester Gorilla (24th September), Glasgow St Lukes (25th), Dublin Vicar Street (27th), London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire (29th)

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM: London Eventim Apollo (20th-21st July), Dublin Vicar Street (23rd), Glasgow Barrowland (24th), Manchester Eventim Apollo (25th)

PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH / FOXING: London Bush Hall (August 9th-10th), Brighton The Haunt (11th), Manchester Rebellion (12th), Dublin Wheelan’s (13th), Glasgow Stereo (14th),

Newcastle The Cluny (15th) THE BRONX: Manchester Gorilla (9th June), London Electric Ballroom (10th) THE MAINE: London Camden Dingwalls (6th June), Manchester Deaf Institute (7th) THE USED: Bristol O2 Academy (27th August), Nottingham Rock City (28th), Manchester O2 Ritz (30th), London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire (31st) TOUCHÉ AMORE: Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms (10th July), London The Dome (11th), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (12th) TWIN ATLANTIC: Newcastle Riverside (24th May), Norwich Waterfront (30th), Southampton Engine Rooms (1st June), Cardiff Tramshed (3rd)

THE WORD ALIVE’S NEW ALBUM IS AN INTERESTING BEAST THAT SEES THE GROUP PUSHING FORWARDS, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME APPRECIATING HOW FAR THEY’VE COME. SINGER TELLE SMITH FILLS US IN FROM SAN DIEGO, WHERE THE BAND HAVE BEEN ON THE ROAD WITH IN THIS MOMENT AND DED. HOW HAS LIFE BEEN FOR YOU GUYS SINCE THE RELEASE OF ‘DARK MATTER’, DO YOU FEEL AS THOUGH YOU’VE CHANGED AT ALL DURING THAT TIME?

I think as humans we are constantly evolving and hopefully, we are learning and growing as we progress through life. Since ‘Dark Matter’ came out, we have undoubtedly experienced things that have shifted “who” we are one way or another. I’m happy with the path life has taken myself and the band since its release in 2016. We’re excited about the jump we made with that album.

THE BAND HAS OBVIOUSLY UNDERGONE ANOTHER LINE-UP SWAP AROUND, DO YOU FIND CHANGE REJUVENATING, OR A BIT DESTABILISING? HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH IT?

For us, we have always encouraged members to stay only if their hearts were fully in it and support them when it’s not. A lot of bands have issues because people stay longer than their hearts care to and I would rather keep going with the people who want to be here. Thankfully, Zack, Tony and myself have written almost every part of every TWA song to date, so the writing doesn’t change much at all. I usually find it refreshing and this time has been no different.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE BAND’S VIBE AT THE MOMENT, ARE YOU ALL IN A GOOD PLACE? LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS NEXT CHAPTER?

We are in a great place and all just as excited as ever!

WHAT WAS ON YOUR MIND WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED WORKING ON 14 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

‘VIOLENT NOISE’?

We were excited to write coming off not just a successful record but our favourite record to date. We wanted to expand upon it, and I think we did.

WHICH OF THE SONGS ON THE RECORD FEELS MOST PERSONAL TO YOU?

Most of the songs are very personal off ‘Violent Noise’, but I would have to say that ‘War Evermore’, ‘My Enemy’ and ‘Human’ are probably the most personal.

YOU’VE SAID THE TRACK ‘RED CLOUDS’ TELLS THE STORY OF HOW THE WORD ALIVE CAME TO BE, DOES THE ALBUM REVISIT YOUR EARLY DAYS IN ANY OTHER WAYS?

I think we allowed some elements of our first records to shine through a little bit, but overall we focus on moving forward and just trying to make the best album and songs possible no matter what that sounds like.

SPEAKING OF THE BAND’S BEGINNINGS, WILL YOU BE DOING ANYTHING TO CELEBRATE YOUR TENTH ANNIVERSARY?

I think we will probably like to do something ten year related in 2019. We’ll see what makes sense with our schedule, but we’re very proud of coming this far!

HOW DID YOU COME TO WORK WITH ASKING ALEXANDRIA’S DANNY WORSNOP ON ‘STARE AT THE SUN’, AND WHAT DID HE BRING TO THE TRACK?

We have known Danny for ten years, and he’s become quite close, so I asked him if he wanted to rip some vocals and he did.

TELLE SMITH He came into the studio and wrote his part and recorded it. Instantly it felt right, and we love the energy he brought to the bridge and last chorus.

SINCERELY COLLINS IS A SUPER INTERESTING COLLAB TOO, DO YOU THINK THE BAND’S MORE INFLUENCED

BY HIP-HOP/RAP THAN YOU USED TO BE? IS PLAYING WITH GENRE SOMETHING THAT APPEALS TO YOU?

Sincerely Collins crushed his guest vocal parts and brought a completely new element to our band’s sound. I don’t know that we are any more or less influenced by any one genre, I just think we’re openminded and if we want to try to push the boundaries of genres, then we can.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS TO COME OVER TO THE UK THIS YEAR?

Our goal is definitely to come back on a proper tour, the last shows were amazing! P THE WORD ALIVE’S ALBUM ‘VIOLENT NOISE’ IS OUT NOW.

DISRUPT THE NOISE 15

to two locations, on completely opposite sides of the country. Josie visited each, and everything just came together well for Cardiff.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO SET UP THE SHOP ITSELF?

A FEW WEEKS BACK, IN AN UNASSUMING CARDIFF SHOPPING ARCADE, EVERYONE’S FAVE INDIE LABEL BIG SCARY MONSTERS TOOK OVER WITH INSTORES, LIMITEDEDITION VINYL, GIVEAWAYS, SURPRISES AND SO MUCH MORE. LABEL HEAD HONCHO KEV DOUCH TELLS US WHAT WENT DOWN AT THEIR SECOND EVER POP-UP SHOP. HEY KEV, HOW’S IT GOING? ALL GOOD IN CAMP BSM?

Things are great, thanks! Right before we opened the pop-up, we announced the signing of The Get Up Kids, my all-time favourite band, and saw a very successful launch for Orchards, another new signing.

So, it’s been a very fun couple of weeks already; then the pop-up totally surpassed

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any expectations we had for it. Right now I’m at home for the first time in what feels like weeks and trying to get my head around everything that’s been going on let alone what we have coming up!

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE ON CARDIFF FOR THE LATEST BSM POP-UP, THEN?

We hired an awesome new person called Josie at the end of last year who was supposed to come in and handle all of our admin stuff, but five months in and she’s instead been thrust into the world of making our dumb ideas reality! So we all sat down with a list of our bands’ tour dates and a shortlist of cities we wanted to look at and worked out where we could organise the busiest and most interesting week. That got narrowed down

We set off at 5am Tues, driving from Slough to Richmond to Oxford then on to Cardiff, arriving just before 12. We then had six hours to scrub the walls (old logos from the previous tenants were still showing words like “my body is my armour”), paint, put up shelves, window stickers, collate, price and organise stock, all before the arcade shut at 6pm. It was stressful, but luckily we had a handful of lovely volunteers who helped out.

WHAT WERE THE MOST POPULAR PURCHASES?

We created an exclusive BSM / Heads Above The Waves shirt design which we printed and then gave 100% of the money to the charity. HATW have an awesome designer who knocked it up, and that proved very popular. We also got Andrew WK to sign some CDs and write positive notes when he passed through Cardiff,

FANGCLUB ARE ON TOUR IN THE UK RIGHT NOW, SO GET ON IT. MAY 11 GUILDFORD, BOILEROOM 12 SOUTHAMPTON, HEARTBREAKERS 13 SHEFFIELD, RECORD JUNKEE 15 OXFORD, CELLAR 16 LEICESTER, COOKIE 17 NEWPORT, LE PUB JULY 12 2000TREES 20 TRUCK FESTIVAL

BOWLING BALLS

We are pretty diehard bowlers. It’s kind of what keeps the band glued together. We try to bring our own bowling balls every tour on the chance we find an open lane to let it all go.

FIND OUT WHAT YOUR FAVE BANDS TAKE ON THE ROAD. THIS MONTH...

FANGCLUB BLEACH LONDON KITS

Whatever the weather, we try to maintain a healthy shade of unnatural on tour. It’s also perfect for dying T-Shirts when we are low on stock! These shirts always fly off the shelf with a little bleach added. and those sold well, as did records from each of the artists who played instore.

WHAT WAS YOUR HIGHLIGHT FROM THIS YEAR’S POP-UP?

I think it was the way the community rallied around us and the idea. It would’ve been very easy for people to reject a record label with no local ties or artists randomly opening a shop in their city, but everyone got so behind it. A particularly interesting thing for me was that we were relying on the community to support us, but something we somewhat selfishly hadn’t considered was that the community also needed us. Our being there for a few days opened opportunities for people to work together for the first time, in some cases their first real experience in the industry, and for everyone to have an outlet for the music they love in a place it doesn’t always get enough attention.

WILL WE SEE YOU FOR ANOTHER ONE NEXT YEAR?

You may not have to wait until next year... P

INSTRUMENTS

A huge one for us. Unlike most bands, we absolutely need to bring instruments on tour. We’ve found that when we have chosen to not bring our instruments, the shows are pretty lame and non-existent.

OUIJA BOARD

As a band who can’t make up their own mind, this ouija board is essential for touring! It tells us where to go, how to act and what to say. It’s been working so far!

NERVUS COFFEE

Coffee is key. We’re deep sleepers at night and sleepwalkers during the day. We get all our coffee from Nervus. It keeps us alive, alert and awake on tour.

DISRUPT THE NOISE 17

A PERFECT TOUR

A Perfect Circle have not long dropped their new album ‘Eat the Elephant’, the band’s first new album in 14 years, and now they’ve announced some accompanying live dates. The band will play three shows in the UK this December, including a night at London’s Wembley Arena.

E

VERYONE LOVES A HIDDEN GEM, RIGHT? James Spence

(vocals / keyboards) introduces his top deep cuts from Rolo Tomassi’s back catalogue.

If you’re familiar with all of these, congratulations - you must be their biggest fan (or James’s mum).

BEATROTTER

AGAINST THE WORLD

Against The Current are pretty much always on tour, and that isn’t stopping anytime soon ‘cos they’ve just announced a run in the UK for this Autumn. Kicking off on 17th September it’ll finish up with a massive show at London’s Kentish Town Forum.

This track captures the early energy of the band. It’s complete chaos with the changing of pace, the balance of punk and jazz and dual vocals at the start. The opening lyric is actually stolen from a line in Peep Show! This was released as a one-sided 7” in between ‘Hysterics’ and ‘Cosmology’ I think. I remember spray painting the 7” outside wherever Alex from Holy Roar was living at the time.

EVERYTHING WENT GREY

We recorded this at my mum’s house on an old 8-track, separately to the studio session that was done for ‘Hysterics’. It was largely improvised, and there was a lot of experimentation on it. I remember that it was raining really heavily outside and we caught that atmosphere within the track. I see this encapsulating a lot of the youthful fearlessness we had when it came to being creative.

MESMERIZER

NOT RELEASING SONGS IS FOR LOSERS

It’s all going on for Billie Joe Armstrong’s new band The Longshot.

The group have not only released an album (‘Love is for Losers’), but popped a further three EPs of unused tracks on Soundcloud (‘Bullets’, ‘Return to Sender’ and ‘Razor Baby’), and another offcut (‘Devil’s Kind’) on YouTube.

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This song was a b-side to the single ‘Old Mystics’ which was the first music we put out following Chris and Nathan joining in 2011. For me, it represents the shift in what the band was and what we wanted it to become. Despite only ever being played live once and it not really working in that setting, it was heavily indicative of the direction I had wanted to push the band.

DEEP CUTS ILLUMINAIRE

As we got towards the end of the writing of ‘Astraea’, this was the last song to be finished. I had been really stressed out as we were just about to start recording and I had a few ideas that hadn’t properly come together for the final, big song for the record. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and having a sort of eureka moment. I sat down on the floor with a few keyboards around me and pieced the song together as if it had come to me in a dream.

CRYSTAL CASCADES

With ‘Grievances’ I wanted to push myself to write something that included strings.

Having never written for strings before, I put together a basic arrangement and our friend Jon, who had experience doing this, helped me tighten it up. The strings players were two guys we’d never met, and they turned up with only the sheet music to go off and absolutely nailed it.

For me, this was the most exciting day of the ‘Grievances’ studio sessions!

A FLOOD OF LIGHT My favourite track from ‘TWDALWBI’.

It’s the absolute perfect balance of the songwriting partnership between Chris and I. As I remember, it actually came together really quickly. It has some of the grandest, most cinematic moments on any of our albums. We focused on making it sound absolutely massive. With that, there’s always a worry that might be difficult to replicate live but having recently debuted it on the tour we just did, I think it translates and sounds even bigger! P

THERE’S A WHOLE UNIVERSE OF MUSIC OUT THERE TO ENJOY. HERE’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN LISTENING TO THIS MONTH. D CHECK IT OUT, YOU MIGHT FIN SOMETHING NEW. FIDLAR

ALCOHOL

We know. It’s so unlike FIDLAR to make their comeback track about an intoxicant. Predictably ace, it’s a reminder of just how brilliant they can be. STREAM ‘ALCOHOL’ ONLINE NOW.

KAGOULE BAD SALIVA

Signing to Alcopop! for their second album, ‘Bad Saliva’ is a reminder of one of the UK’s must underrated bands. FROM NEW ALBUM ‘STRANGE ENTERTAINMENT’, OUT LATER THIS YEAR.

BLOOD RED SHOES

GOD COMPLEX

Blood Red Shoes are ‘back’ with another sleazy, stupendous banger. So that’s nice, then. STREAM ‘GOD COMPLEX’ ONLINE NOW.

DANCE GAVIN DANCE SON OF ROBOT

‘Son of Robot’ might not be about Mr. Robot’s long lost kid, but then nobody has said it isn’t yet, y’know? FROM

NEW ALBUM ‘ARTIFICIAL SELECTION’, OUT 8TH JUNE.

TOUCHÉ AMORÉ GREEN

The first new material since 2016’s ‘Stage Four’, ‘Green’ is a reminder at just how essential Touché can sound.

STREAM ‘GREEN’ ONLINE NOW.

LISTEN TO THIS

STATE CHAMPS CRYSTAL BALL

The second track from the band’s new album, it’s a pop punk banger.

Obv. FROM NEW ALBUM ‘LIVING PROOF’, OUT 15TH JUNE.

JIMMY EAT WORLD

LOVE NEVER / HALF HEART

Dropping two new tracks before their appearance at Slam Dunk this month, ‘Love Never’ is the banger, ‘FYI’.

STREAM ‘LOVE NEVER’ AND ‘HALF HEART’ ONLINE NOW.

LAURA JANE GRACE

PARK LIFE FOREVER

Recorded using a clever piece of tech alongside her daughter, ‘Park Life Forever’ is nothing to do with those joggers who go round, and round, and round... STREAM ‘PARK LIFE

FOREVER’ ONLINE NOW.

DEAFHEAVEN HONEYCOMB

With a spare twelve minutes you could boil three eggs, or you could listen to the new one from Deafheaven. Your call.. FROM NEW ALBUM ‘ORDINARY CORRUPT HUMAN LOVE’, OUT 13TH JULY.

DISRUPT THE NOISE 19

THE BEST NEW BANDS. THE HOTTEST NEW MUSIC.

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

MEET THE LA TEENAGE GANG EVERYONE WANTS TO BE PART OF. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.

L

YDIA NIGHT HAS ONLY JUST LEFT THE CHAOS OF THE COACHELLA DESERT BEHIND. THE REGRETTES’ FIRST WEEKEND PERFORMING AT THE FESTIVAL WAS “SUPER FUN”, BUT IT FEELS LIKE EVERY OTHER WEEK THE BAND ARE SOMEPLACE UNEXPLORED, DOING SOMETHING NEW, EXCITING AND POTENTIALLY TERRIFYING.

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Their first time on live TV, performing the joyous ‘Hey Now’ on Conan, was the most scared Lydia has ever been. “I was so nervous, I was flipping the shit,” she laughs.

Since the release of The Regrettes’ debut album ‘Feel Your Feelings, Fool!’ at the opening of last year, things have constantly been changing for the group.

“We’ve grown a lot, and also, our fanbase is growing a lot which is incredible and bizarre to see,” but they’ve

DON’T WORRY

This Essex group are newly signed to Specialist Subject Records (also home to the excellent Muncie Girls) for the release of debut album ‘Who Cares Anyway?’. It’s full of lovely, chilled out guitar pop about the trials of youth.

taken every twist, step and shout in their stride.

Their debut album sees the band toy with what’s expected. Frontperson Lydia is seventeen, the rest of the band aren’t much older, and across ‘Feel Your Feelings, Fool!’ they prove those expectations wrong. It wasn’t intentional, though.

“We do that on our own just by being good at what we do; we prove people wrong through that. I don’t think we need to try really. People underestimate you because of your age or your gender, and I think it’s stupid. Once they see us play or listen to us, most of the time, they understand that we deserve the spot we have just as much as anyone else.”

That debut album is defiant, but The Regrettes aren’t afraid of their feelings.

“I’ve just noticed how people are so scared to be vulnerable and really admit how they’re truly feeling and I have felt that way in the past too. I was just sick of it. I feel like a lot of our songs were extremely personal and I’m a super personal writer, I felt like it made a lot of

GLOO

Noisy Sussex trio Gloo are the perfect accompaniment to messy evenings of spilled beer and sweaty clubs. You can find them at 2000trees this summer, and there’s a debut album on the way, too.

sense to make that the whole message of it.”

The band are already on the move; earlier this year they released their ‘Attention Seeker’ EP. “I myself am definitely an attention seeker,” laughs Lydia, “and I think a lot of people are. It can turn into a super unhealthy thing, and I’ve been discovering a lot of that recently and learning a lot about that. The two songs [‘Red Light’ and ‘Come Through’] show two very different sides of a relationship.

I felt like the title tied into that because in relationships, people just constantly want attention and when they get it, they’re over it.”

Album two is already in the works, but they have no idea what shape, direction or colour it will take. The excitement about the unknown crackles in her voice.

“When I was younger, when I was really little, I went to see The Donnas in concert. It was an all-female band, and I thought it was the most badass thing ever, and I want to do that,” starts Lydia.

More recently, she draws inspiration from everyday life, she says. “Just what I’m going through and the things I see around me.”

She wants people to get “a sense of more self-love, or acceptance” from their music. “If they listen to a song that talks a lot about emotions they’re going through, you probably feel a lot less alone in it, and it’s a lot easier to love yourself in that way. That’s what I’ve learned anyway.”

The Regrettes are spending most of this summer on the road. From The Great Escape to Reading & Leeds, they’re keeping themselves super busy. Getting onstage in a strange place and playing their songs, which are direct, vulnerable and personal, to a bunch of strangers sounds like one of those things that should terrify the band.

“I’m used to it, so I don’t really care anymore,” shrugs Lydia. “I honestly don’t even think about it anymore, because we’ve just been touring and playing these songs for so long. It’s easy; it’s not

QUEEN ZEE

On a mission to capture the hearts of all who see them with their incendiary live shows, Queen Zee take on the ills of the world via an all-out punk rock racket crossed with pop sensibilities that packs a real punch.

scary anymore.”

Having fun is crucial to what The Regrettes do. It’s driven their story so far and is how they’re going to change the world around them. Alongside bands like SWMRS, they’re leading a generation of artists who aren’t waiting for permission to speak their mind, or be told what they can or can’t do.

“We’re in a time where it’s needed,” Lydia asserts. “With our president and things that are coming up in politics and social situations, people are a lot more aware now. It’s a lot easier for young people to stand up, stand their ground and be open with their opinions. I feel very lucky to be a part of that.”

There’s an understandable anger in The Regrettes’ music, but they use that energy to create something welcoming and encouraging. They’re determined to have a good time, despite the bullshit.

“I think turning that into a good time, using that energy and turning it into something positive is really important.”

P THE REGRETTES TOUR THE UK FROM 19TH MAY.

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DOWN IN BUZZY BRIGHTON, YOU’LL CURRENTLY FIND SOME OF THE MOST EXCITING BANDS AROUND - INCLUDING NEWCOMERS INTECHNICOLOUR. FRONTMAN TOBIE ANDERSON FILLS US IN ON THEIR SUMMER PLANS, INCLUDING THEIR (ERM, NOW JUST FINISHED) BLACK PEAKS SUPPORT TOUR. HEY TOBIE. HOW’S BRIGHTON AT THE MO, IS EVERYTHING LOVELY BY THE SEA?

Brighton is buzzing, I mean look at the size of that town vs all the good rock music coming outta here - Tigercub are killing it, Demob Happy’s new record is sexy, not even gonna go into the what Black Peaks are brewing up...

TELL US ABOUT BAND LIFE, HOW HAVE YOU SPENT YOUR FIRST FEW YEARS?

The first few years of the band’s life was kind of unorthodox as, to begin with, it was just myself and Dave writing songs over the world wide web and just having some fun with some big dumb riffs… It wasn’t until we had written a few good

tunes that we decided it was probably time to add some proper musicians to the mixing bowl and turn this project idea into a real band.

WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND THE MOST CHALLENGING SO FAR?

Honestly, the fact that I don’t live in Brighton where the rest of my band resides. It can be tough doing all my rehearsing and posturing on my own. In my pants. In my bedroom. In Yorkshire.

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU LOT HAVE SOME GREAT SHOWS COMING UP, ARE THERE ANY YOU’RE PARTICULARLY LOOKING FORWARD TO?

Really looking forward to heading out with our good friends Black Peaks. Also, we’re playing Bad Pond Festival with our tour buddies The Physics House band who are the musical equivalent of Holy Mountain. Shows with Wild Cat Strike and Poly-Math should be killer and of course our first outdoor festival at 2000trees, buzzing for that day to come round.

HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT LANDING ALL THESE BUZZY TOUR SUPPORTS?

We have all been individually doing this for a while, playing in other bands, booking DIY shows, doing sound at local venues for 50 quid and an allocation of two Carlings… We knew Black Peaks, Town Portal and The Physics House Band before we started InTechnicolour or had finished any songs. Once we were ready, and the songs were ready, we showed a few people, they liked it, and it started going well. It still is.

HOW ARE YOU GETTING ON WITH YOUR DEBUT ALBUM?

It’s going well; we have tracked the majority of the album now, so it’s head first into the ‘mixing grindstone’ at the min.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE ITS VIBE?

It’s what you would expect from us, big heavy stoner riffs with some catchy vocals to go along with it. It’s gonna be mean, but also polite; good, but also devious and sexy. P

SCOTTISH POP PUNKS WOES HAVE JUST FINISHED UP A EUROPEAN TOUR WITH FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES, AND NOW THEY’RE BACK IN THE UK FOR A NEW EP AND LOADS OF DATES OF THEIR OWN. SINGER DJ INTERRUPTS PLANNING THE BAND’S NEXT VIDEO TO FILL US IN. HEY DJ, HOW DID WOES GET TOGETHER, THEN?

We had all played in bands before Woes that had gone nowhere, in spite of us putting in a lot of time and energy. We had always prided ourselves on writing really weird, technical songs that were kind of challenging to listen to, but maybe not in a good way!

So anyway, we started jamming with the intention of writing really, structurally good songs - not super-poppy or anything, but we wanted to focus in on the details, like when things come in and out, when the chorus comes in to create the biggest drop. Once we started doing that we became inspired to take that same approach to everything - social media, playing live, branding etc. and before we knew it we were just kind of like, ‘This is a whole new project, and it’s the best thing we’ve ever done’. So we started a new band, called it Woes, and here we are now!

CAN YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOUR FIRST FEW SONGS WERE LIKE? HOW HAS YOUR SONGWRITING DEVELOPED SINCE YOUR EARLY EFFORTS?

Yeah! Our first song was called ‘Tight AF’; it’s the first song on our debut EP. In fact, our first two or three songs are all on that EP; we don’t throw away songs often.

I think originally the way we wrote songs was like, ‘Okay, here’s a cool riff, let’s do a verse, chorus etc.’ These days we’re looking to create sections of music that immediately make you feel something. I think that’s important, using distinctive sounds to create a feeling, then using the lyrics and melodies to drive that feeling home.

YOU’VE SAID THE SONGS ON YOUR NEW EP ARE “ABOUT TRYING TO UNDERSTAND YOURSELF BETTER” - DID WRITING IT HELP YOU UNDERSTAND YOURSELF BETTER?

Yeah, definitely, to an extent. One of the things I always try to do when I’m writing a song is to have my say, and then try to look at it from the other point of view.

How does the person I’m singing to see me in this situation... how do my friends and family see me? Am I doing all the right things? Am I being selfish? Could I have done something better? All that kind of stuff. And in a lot of cases, I’m writing about situations where I think I’m 100% dead right, and by the time I’ve finished the song, I feel completely guilty about how I mishandled a situation.

DO YOU ALL HAVE TO JUGGLE BAND COMMITMENTS WITH REAL LIFE JOBS AND STUFF? HOW DO

YOU MAKE IT WORK? Yeah, it’s really, really hard. I think some bands get away with it because they’re maybe 20-21, living with parents or whatever. We’re all a little older; we have quite serious jobs that we need to stay at for the time being. But we’re lucky that our partners, friends and bosses are all supportive. We’re all super hard working people so we’ve worked hard to put ourselves into positions where we can take extra time off to go on tour and stuff. And it’s just a case of keeping that work-rate extremely high. If you come to a Woes show, and it’s the last night of a tour, you can probably guarantee that I’ll be back at my desk at 9am the next morning. The last show of the tour with Frank Carter was in Amsterdam, as soon as the show finished, we drove 20 hours in a row to get back to Edinburgh and were in work the next morning after that.

WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GOT COMING UP? We’re writing our debut album just now! It’s going great so far; it’s getting very weird, very experimental, a lot of different influences and sounds in the mix, which is great. That’s the kind of album I’ve always wanted to make. I suppose that goes back to what we were talking about earlier; I want to make an album that’s interesting, challenging, doesn’t stick to a genre but is made up of structurally great songs that people can resonate with. No pressure! Asides from that, we’ve got a couple of great tours lined up, loads of festival dates. This year has been the absolute best of my life, so just trying to work hard to keep that going as long as possible! P WOES’ EP ‘SELF HELP’ IS OUT NOW. DISRUPT THE NOISE 23

T

R

A

U

M A T I C LAST YEAR, EVERYTHING CHANGED FOR MIKE SHINODA. WITH HIS DEBUT SOLO ALBUM UNDER HIS OWN NAME, HE’S FINDING CATHARSIS IN MUSIC. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.

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“T

HERE’S A VAST, UNEXPLORED ROAD IN FRONT OF ME,” ADMITS MIKE SHINODA. Last year, he lost one of his best friends to suicide, and it changed his world. His debut record, ‘Post Traumatic’ deals with that loss and the journey that follows.

It’s personal, as all grief is, but it also taps into something bigger. See, Chester Bennington meant a lot to Mike, but he also meant a lot to the world at large.

As the twin peaks of Linkin Park, the pair had worked side by side for almost twenty years, becoming one of the biggest, and most successful rock bands in the world across a legacy of seven albums, countless world tours and a connection with the people who were listening.

Linkin Park changed the game time and time again while standing for something real, vulnerable and important.

The loss of Chester was felt around the world; people had lost a hero, a role model and someone who they felt understood them. Mike though, he’d lost family. He lost purpose, too. For almost half his life he had been ‘Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park’. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

Initially, Mike didn’t know what to do. His usual method of dealing with emotion was to get into the studio and use it to create, but now it scared him. For nine days he let that fear control him until he decided to face it head-on. At first he just started playing around, creating for creation’s sake, but eventually, the music he enjoyed began to appear.

That’s what ‘Post Traumatic’ is; snapshots of what happened next, as Mike comes to terms with the past and looks to the future. Right now, he’s in LA, putting the finishing touches to the record and talking about the weather.

“I’m doing pretty good; I’m in the finishing stages. We’re starting to get the mixes, we’re getting into the rest of the record in terms of finishing, and I’ve got maybe a song or two left to do.

One song that’s 90% done and there’s another song that’s maybe 75 or 80% done, and the rest is finished. It’s close.

“Right now though, I’m just hanging in LA enjoying the sunshine and rain at the same time. It’s weird, I woke up this morning, and I thought it was going to be pouring all day, and now it’s hot. It can’t make up its mind.”

It’s the same in England, as London gets its first real taste of warm weather.

“My brother used to laugh because he lived out there for many years, and being a California kid he really missed

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the sunshine, but it was hysterical to him that it would get sunny, and people would literally pull their car over on the highway just to get out and enjoy the sun.”

Mike talks about his experiences without a filter, and when he can’t find the words or words just won’t do, he uses stories to mirror his own journey.

From the opening steps of ‘Place To Start’ and on into the unknown, everything about ‘Post Traumatic’ finds him facing the world head-on.

“At some point I got curious, and I looked up other artists and other bands that went through a similar situation that I went through. I looked at what they did next. How soon did they play music, play live, or write or release an album?

“It was all over the place, obviously.

Some people never did, some people took ten years off, and some people, AC/ DC, for example, turned around and put out ‘Back In Black’ in less than six months [after the death of singer Bon Scott]. I relate more to the AC/DC version, but in a sense, the thing they had going for them was that they already knew [new vocalist] Brian Johnson.”

It’s not like Linkin Park found themselves alone though. Their tribute concert to Chester at The Hollywood Bowl saw everyone from Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes, A Day To Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon, and blink-182 share the stage with Alanis Morissette, Daron Malakian and Shavo Odadjian from System Of A Down and M. Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold.

“The primary focus was honouring Chester and giving the fans a memorial event for him and for them. We know lots of people that sing, and they’re great, but we got onstage at the Hollywood Bowl, sang a lot of songs with a lot of people, and, after we got offstage and in the week after, I was reflecting on the show that had happened. I was thinking god, all those singers were great, and none of them were Chester.

“Besides being such a unique human, he was one of the world’s best rock singers ever and one of the most versatile. He had such a unique voice.

It’s been very hard for me to wrap my head around doing anything in that lane.

We don’t have plans with Linkin Park, but meanwhile, I was working on these songs on my own and feeling really passionate that if it was therapeutic for me, it would probably be therapeutic for fans to hear. That’s how this whole solo album business came together.”

In making this record, in touring it, in sharing it, there’s a hope that Mike will find the answers he currently doesn’t have.

“I don’t know if I could have done anything else,” he continues. “The only other things that occurred to me were, I love writing with other people, and I’d be happy to produce people’s albums or write with other artists, and I love to paint, and I’d have loved to have done some gallery art shows.

“But, those wouldn’t have given me the catharsis and therapy that this album has, not only for myself but to also catch the fans up on where I’m at.

That conversation is happening in real time, and that’s something that has been important to me.”

From the ‘Post-Traumatic’ EP, the first solo songs Mike shared alongside shaky, home studio footage for ‘Crossing The Line’ and ‘About You‘. They were just as intimate and confronting as the ongoing conversations he was having online and in person.

“I’m trying to be more open about how things are going. Inevitably, I have to talk about it in interviews and talk about it with fans, and I’ll have to get onstage and play these new songs and our old stuff too.

“I really took a long, hard look at all that. I made sure that as we go, I’m prepared to do that. I can’t prepare for every possible outcome or every situation but I wanted to feel like I thought it through and I was going into this with a certain sense of knowing what I was getting myself into.”

“One of the things I was most nervous about was seeing fans on my own,” he continues. “I would be singularly responsible when they come up and start talking about Chester, crying or asking me questions or whatever. I would be responsible for having those conversations.

“At first, I was concerned that it would be draining, that it would be hard to do.

I’ve had lots of fans come up and say, ‘I’ve had depression my whole life, I’ve tried to commit suicide more than once, so this whole thing has been hard on me, and I relate to it’.

“They’re just telling me things; they’re not asking me to fix it or give them advice or solutions, they’re just telling me things. That can be really, really difficult you know, but I remind myself

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that there’s a sense of generosity and love that goes into them being so vulnerable and telling me these things.”

On ‘Post Traumatic’, Mike tries to repay it in kind.

“I know I’m in a place where I can’t fix people’s problems, but I can communicate my own journeys and struggles so that they have a point of reference and they know they’re not alone.”

If you’re reading this magazine, Chester’s death probably affected you.

It affected us. It was almost impossible to put into words just how deeply, but knowing you weren’t alone in that confusion, that loss, made it a little easier.

“For better or worse, it’s my job to put those things into words,” says Mike with a half smile. “I found that my take on everything changes slightly from time to time. The community around Alcoholics Anonymous, not the actual group but the support network for friends and family, it often teaches that being an enabler is part of the problem, but you’re not responsible for the person’s actions. You can do what you can to help but only within the boundaries. You can only help if you’re also protecting and loving yourself, right.

“Being in my situation and taking a cue from that, I have my own issues and struggles to deal with. I have at some point felt compelled to respond to people who are in obvious trouble on Twitter, but I have to remind myself that, that’s not helpful. It’s not good for them; it’s not good for me. I can’t solve their problems, all I can do is provide an example of what I’m doing on my own path towards figuring it out.

“It’s everyone’s responsibility to look at their own shit and figure out what the best way to deal with it is. We’ve all got our own shit,” he adds. “But, by the way, I’m also a human being. I see somebody hurting, and I want to do something.

“Sometime in maybe August last year, Twitter as an organisation realised that there’s a lot of mental health stuff going on, on the platform. They wanted to remind people that they have a button that you could click on if you see somebody that is in danger or thinking about self-harm. If you’re concerned, you can flag it up and they can get that person in touch with somebody that could potentially help them. I found that reassuring.”

T

he record places a heavy weight on talking. Across his back catalogue, Mike has shared himself with the world, but on ‘Post Traumatic’, it’s the act of conversation that feels important, not

the outcome. He shares his own journey, the good days and the bad, without fear of judgement and encourages people to go on their own, because they won’t be alone in it.

“On one hand, I wanted it to be relatively chronological, and on the other, it has to play through the album sequence has to be listenable, in terms of what an album should be. I tried to keep those things in balance, but it does go from a dark and claustrophobic kind of place to something brighter and more open.”

‘Over Again’ was written and recorded the days either side of the Hollywood Bowl tribute show and finds Mike at war with himself and those feelings of right and wrong. There’s a flickering of anger directed out at the world that he’s found himself in this impossible situation. It’s not pretty, but it is raw, unfiltered and honest. From the get-go, there’s no hiding. There’s no standing still either.

‘Crossing The Line’ feels like a fresh start. Capturing fears about telling his Linkin Park bandmates about his need to do something by himself and admitting, “I got demons inside me, so I’m faced with a choice. Either try to ignore them, or I give them a voice.” The song bursts with new beginnings and breaking dawns as Mike puts one foot in front of the other. Filmed on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, it’s the same location that Linkin Park played their first everpublic show in 1998. New dawns don’t mean yesterday is forgotten.

“The album goes from a dark place to a brighter place and ‘Crossing A Line’ is actually the middle of the album,” explains Mike. “It gives you a sense of the transition from not wanting to leave my fucking house to getting back to being part of society again. There was a month or so where I was having to go back out into the world and being okay with that.

“In the beginning, I didn’t want to leave my house and go to lunch because it was just too scary. People would come up to me, ‘Oh man, I’m so sorry to hear what happened’, and I’d be getting

into these horrible conversations with strangers. Every single human being in my life, every friend, every family member, we’d have to dive straight into the subject that everyone was thinking about.

“I had a situation where I went out to lunch for the first time since Chester passed away and I’m coming back to my car with my wife thinking, ‘That went well; I can do this’. But fucking paparazzi are stood by my fucking car shooting pictures of us and asking stupid fucking questions. And it was miserable.

“I told them they should be ashamed of themselves, and they just stared at me with these blank, sad faces ‘cos they knew they had done something wrong, but that’s their job. But what a horrible job and what a horrible place to be, right? It just made it harder for me to just go about my life.

“I’d go to get ice cream, and one of the songs would start playing. I could be having a completely normal day when I wasn’t thinking about it at all, then something like that would happen and drag me right down to the bottom.”

“At a certain point, I just had to face enough of that and be okay with it,” he considers. “I had to listen to our music, for example. I was in a car on a long drive back from Phoenix’s house [Linkin Park’s bassist Dave Farrel], and we were hanging out with all the guys in the band, and he’d asked, ‘Have you guys tried to listen to our music yet?’

Everyone said no.

“It had been a week and a half or something, and we hadn’t even tried because it was just terrifying. I said, ‘Why, did you?’ He said yeah, so I asked him what that was like. He said, ‘Y’know, not as scary as you think. I got through ‘One More Light’, and I could do it. Now I’ve been trying to listen to our stuff again and face it head-on’.

“As I was driving home that night, I listened to our music. It was hard, but it was something I could strike off my list of things I had done again.

“As I go, those things are more and more things that I can deal with. They’re things that are okay and things that I can enjoy. I mean, maybe not listening to our music all the time, but I’ve never been the person who listens to my own music all the time and been like, ‘Yeah, this is me’, but if it comes on in the ice cream shop, I’m okay with it.”

M

ike Shinoda has done solo albums before. His Fort Minor project released ‘The Rising Tied’ in 2005 as a place for him to explore his hip-hop influences before they were welcomed fully into Linkin Park. Then, in 2015, he DISRUPT THE NOISE 29

released the one-stop single ‘Welcome’ as an excuse to step away from the arenas LP were playing with their ‘The Hunting Party’ album and reconnect with fans, b-sides and spontaneity.

For a moment, it felt like anything could happen. And that’s how it feels leaning into Mike Shinoda’s first proper solo album.

“I had no concerns about being able to make an album,” he shares. “I do that for Linkin Park every time. I’m behind the steering wheel of that ship, I know I can do anything sonically. I can do anything I want to do. In terms of the craftsmanship and the process, it’s not a problem. It’s the opposite; it’s one of my favourite things.

“I essentially used my name because I didn’t want people to think it was going to be a Fort Minor album or a Linkin Park album or anything like that. It’s got its own sound.”

He’d wanted to do something solo post-‘One More Light’ anyway, but this record, it’s under his name. A sign that this is intimate, personal but also new, exciting and without expectations. A clean slate as new beginnings twist out of unexpected ends. After what he’d been through, he needed that freedom.

He needed that control.

“It’s a massive factor. Any time you go through something traumatic or stressful, one of the worst human emotions is feeling out of control. That extends from a girl not wanting to go out on a date with you, to your parents’ expectations that don’t line up with what you want,” he starts.

“I was just in China, and I stumbled upon Matchmakers Corner, at this park in the middle of Shanghai. It’s where parents go to negotiate arranged marriages for their children. The children aren’t even there, and the parents don’t even have pictures. They just have descriptions and information like monthly income and what kinda car they drive, and it was so foreign to me, but it does come back to that feeling of control.

“I’ve been through this thing, and I just felt like I had absolutely no control.

I didn’t even have control over who I was. To some degree, my identity was in danger of being taken away from me.

That was the worst feeling.

“So, in doing this record, getting through this whole thing and being able to have an idea for a video and then in six hours, be out shooting it - I can literally make a decision and go do it. I don’t have to ask anyone else. For me, that’s crazy. I’ve never had that. I’ve always had to bring it up to other people.

“In Linkin Park, if we were to decide on a show or a song, every step of the

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way, I’d be in conference with five other guys, talking about the pros and con.

This goes for every decision we ever make. People that have worked with us before have said it’s incredible how far we got having six CEOs. No business can have six leaders, and it’s hard for a band to be a democracy.

“In this period, being able to take everything by the reigns and say this is what I feel like will be best for me and for the fans that are listening, that’s a great feeling.”

As you would expect from someone with a back catalogue as varied as Mike’s, ‘Post Traumatic’ isn’t predictable or stays in one lane.

“There ended up being a lot of variety on it. We did a few albums with [producer] Rick Rubin, and at one point, we ended up talking about Public Enemy.

I grew up on that band, I love them, and we were talking about how [MC] Chuck D, to some degree, was Public Enemy, but you could never have Public Enemy without [hype man] Flavor Flav.

“Chuck was the super political hardcore rapper, and Flava Fav was the court jester who kept things fun and cracked a joke at just the right moment.

He kept things silly, and that’s important.

People need a break when they’re dealing with something heavy.

“In terms of my stuff, I knew that the first part of the album was difficult to deal with but maybe more importantly, as it went along, I wouldn’t want to listen to an album full of this depressing stuff. So when I was feeling better, on days when I was feeling pretty good, I made sure to write a song that day, to write about something else. Then you get songs like ‘Lift Off’ and ‘Can’t Hear You Now’.”

On ‘Post Traumatic’, Mike Shinoda wants to be heard. Beyond sharing the music, doing interviews and releasing the album properly instead of dropping eight tracks for free on 1st January 2018 - which was the plan at one point - he’s also playing huge shows this summer at festivals around the world. Writing and recording the music has been therapeutic to him, now it’s time to show others the way.

“The thing that I’m watching out for,” he starts. “I’ve been through something almost unimaginable to me, and I’m still here. I’m still here, and I’m still able to enjoy life. I’m still able to make art that I love and do things that I love to do.

Things aren’t like they used to be, but they can still be great. There’s a vast, unexplored road ahead of me,” admits Mike Shinoda, before promising: “And I intend to explore every inch of it.” P MIKE SHINODA’S ALBUM ‘POST TRAUMATIC’ IS OUT 15TH JUNE.

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BROOKLYN GROUP BIG UPS PONDER TODAY’S PROBLEMS VIA SCRAPPY TUNES AND BIG OLD RIFFS. “I TEND TO GET PRETTY PHILOSOPHICAL,” SAYS SINGER JOE GALARRAGA.

F

Words:`Sam Taylor

rom faith and science to the role of society, Big Ups aren’t afraid to mull over great big, polarising issues. Now - four years on from their debut, ‘Eighteen Hours of Static’, and two years on from second album ‘Before A Million Universes’ - they’ve taken yet another leap forward with their new record ‘Two Parts Together’. Fuelled by growing up in a world that’s both crazy and unpredictable, this one sees them tackling the unknown.

HEY JOE, WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS HAD GOING ON SINCE YOUR SECOND ALBUM, ANY MAJOR LIFE EVENTS?

Yeah, a lot has changed for all of us.

Brendan [Finn, drums] got married a few months ago. Carlos [Salguero Jr., bass] and I have decided to go back to school. Amar [Lal, guitar]’s getting his immigration sorted. He’s been working on a lot of records. It’s pretty shocking how much can change in two years.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CURRENT MOOD OF THE BAND?

We try our best to enjoy the present, as hard as that may be. It sometimes feels like the world is so crazy and unpredictable, but for us, this band is something that the four of us can do that makes us feel right in some ways. We’re happy to be doing this now.

YOU’VE SAID YOUR NEW ALBUM OFTEN FOCUSES ON “UNKNOWABILITY”, DO YOU THINK THAT’S A SYMPTOM OF THE SOCIO-POLITICAL CLIMATE, OR MORE WHERE YOU ARE IN LIFE RIGHT NOW?

I think the “unknowability” that we focus on throughout the record comes from where we are temporally - so a bit of a combination of both. I became interested in the idea of liminality while writing a lot of these lyrics - being in-between and what lies on either side of that. I think that focus was a byproduct of ageing and growing, whether I was conscious of that or not.

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT YOURSELF DURING THE RECORD’S

CREATION?

I learned quite a bit about myself simply because it took over a year to make! A lot has happened, it kind of feels like a different era. So I think the process of making a record varies when the world around you is different, and you take different things away from that experience. This time around, I felt like this album was a lesson in perspective.

We’re four people making music - very discrete statements over periods of years.

It will inevitably change and grow with us. It’s nice to remember that it’s nothing more than that, sometimes.

WHAT WAS THE RECORDING PROCESS LIKE, WHEN AND WHERE DID THE MAGIC HAPPEN?

This process was unlike any recording we’ve ever done. We started these recordings in November of 2016 and finalised them in January of 2018. We recorded the majority of the songs at Gravesend Recordings in the back of the Silent Barn on Bushwick Ave. with Carlos Hernandez and Julian Fader from the band Ava Luna. We thought initially that these recordings were just going to be demos for us, but they came out so good that we kept them. Over the next several months, we added overdubs and layers at a number of different studios that we could gain access to through friends and Amar’s job, including Thump, Moon Studios, and Crew Cuts. Because we didn’t have much of a deadline or anything, I think we tried a lot more things than we ever had previously in terms of recording and mixing.

‘PPP’ TOUCHES ON GETTING A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE VIA A CRYSTAL BALL, DO YOU SPEND MUCH TIME CONSIDERING THE PHILOSOPHICAL OR SPIRITUAL?

I’ve been thinking about art a lot recently, especially relating to music, so yeah, I tend to get pretty philosophical.

Spiritual, too. Some of the lyrics relating to the aforementioned “unknowable” themes touch on things from a spiritual perspective - some pseudo-mysticism if you will.

DO YOU THINK IT’S POSSIBLE TO MAKE MUSIC THAT ISN’T IN SOME WAY POLITICAL? HOW DO YOU THINK THAT RELATES TO BIG UPS?

I don’t think it’s possible to make music that’s completely apolitical because you can’t strip the music away from the context in which it’s being made or exists. All things are in constant dialogue with each other. Even if an artist makes something without any political considerations, it’s political simply by that omission. I used to get frustrated when we would be presented by the media as a “political band” because I thought that

summation of what we do didn’t actually say anything about the project. It’s the bare minimum analysis, really. Our music - more than being “political” in content - is existential, exploratory, and attempts to catalog a feeling about this place and time in the world. There’s a larger range of emotion than just anger or frustration.

LYRICAL THEMES ASIDE, WHAT ELSE DID YOU GUYS WANT TO EXPLORE WITH THIS RECORD, AND TO WHAT EXTENT HAVE YOU ACHIEVED YOUR INITIAL INTENTIONS?

We never really want to make the same record twice, but we didn’t have a set vision of how we wanted this record to come out or anything like that. The songs came about from us brainstorming and working in our practice space. We did a lot more in the studio than we ever have with overdubbing, experimentation, etc. when it finally came to recording the songs. We played around a lot with rhythm on this album. In terms of our “achievement” with this record, I think making records for us is an exercise in self-satisfaction; if we like the finished product, we have done something right.

Working in any sort of rigid way doesn’t make sense for this project as it’s pretty collaborative through and through and we open ourselves to each others’ ideas.

So the sense of “achievement” happens when we come out of the process with something that all of us made together.

IT FEELS LIKE YOUR FIRST THREE RECORDS ALL HAVE FAIRLY DISTINCT VIBES, DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO EXPLORE NEXT?

I don’t think we’ll know what the next batch of music will sound like into we start making it. It’s always pretty organic and collaborative. Even if one of us has an idea for a specific kind of sound that we want to get, it’s always subject to change or interpretation depending on who is playing the part, mixing the sounds, etc.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT ‘TWO PARTS TOGETHER’?

I like that it is concise. There are only eight songs, but there’s a lot of connective tissue that helps the album flow and create a feeling. To me, it’s more about how it feels than any specific story it’s trying to tell or anything.

WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GUYS GOT COMING UP OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS?

We’re excited to tour in Europe again; we haven’t been there since 2016. We also have a number of dates in the USA, too.

We’ll be going to the West Coast for the first time in like three years. Who knows what else will happen! P BIG UPS’ ALBUM ‘TWO PARTS TOGETHER’ IS OUT 18TH MAY. DISRUPT THE NOISE 33

SURPRISE! CANCER BATS PULLED THEMSELVES BACK FROM THE BRINK FOR THE UNEXPECTED DROP OF NEW FULL-LENGTH, ‘THE SPARK THAT MOVES’.

Words:`Steven Loftin

D

ROPPING A SURPRISE ALBUM IN 2018 IS A BOLD MOVE, CONSIDERING HOW “OVERDONE” THE ENTIRE CONCEPT SOMETIMES FEELS. AND YET, BANDS KEEP ON DOING IT. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? IT WORKS. Now, how about dropping the album pretty much on the tenth anniversary of one of your most-acclaimed records, propelling your fanbase into a catatonic state of joy? Sounds good, right?

That’s precisely what Cancer Bats did.

The week before the tenth anniversary of their second album, 2008’s ‘Hail Destroyer’, out of nowhere those cheeky 34 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

Canadian rascals dropped sixth fulllength ‘The Spark That Moves’.

Meeting with frontman Liam Cormier in a restaurant across the road from where he and the band will soon take to the stage for the first of their four-night stint at Camden’s Underworld, it’s clear he’s bursting at the seams to talk about Cancer Bats’ latest chapter.

“There was a lot of stuff that happened by default,” Liam explains.

“Doing it around the ten years, I never thought of it strategically. We were just like, everyone here is a fan - this [the UK] is a real collection of all of our Cancer Bats fans. This is who I want to hear the new record first. It’s just convenient they’re all in the same place!”

“Everyone has been drawing the comparison to ‘Hail Destroyer’ because of it,” he explains. “It’s inherent, and it’s rad because, in a way, people are like, yeah you put out this crazy record ten years ago, and now I’m hearing this brand new record for the first time - and I’m stoked! I’m just as stoked as I was ten years ago.”

An amalgamation of everything Cancer Bats have done previously, ‘The Spark That Moves’ feels like a celebration. Even the bright colours of the artwork scream that there’s fun to be had here. They’re a band who are now free from the shackles of a label, and able to undertake whatever they wish - Cancer Bats are back. Getting to this point, however, was tricky.

“There was the genuine mystery of, are Cancer Bats done?” Liam admits. “I mean, once we did Bat Sabbath [the band’s Black Sabbath tribute act], people were like ‘Oh okay, you’re still sort of doing stuff...’

“And to be honest, us doing the Bat Sabbath stuff was a good encouragement to keep working, and to keep writing. Those shows, again, we did not expect that reception. Seven years of doing that have made it become its own animal.”

Bat Sabbath was a crucial part of finding their ignition again, and after finding out they were no longer a part of the BMG family, everything kind of made

sense to Liam.

“Everyone was like, ‘Uhh, what’s happening with the band’? And we said, I don’t know, we’re jamming? The label was just; you’re out of contract.

“I guess it wasn’t the answer anyone was looking for, which I kind of liked as well, because no one was leading the charge and being ‘Oh my god, yes!’ They were just, ‘Okay then, I guess...’ In their mind, the band was done.”

What Cancer Bats have done here though is what a lot of bands can struggle to reignite when they rock and roll on past a decade - rediscovering the passion. This involved not only the Bat Sabbath experience but also meeting fans in unlikely places, such as the motorcycle conventions that Liam frequents.

“It was these interactions that got me excited to go work on the album; a bunch of bikers telling you how cool your band is! Those experiences are the best - it’s the little things, like the woman in Poland who loves our band that made sure the pressing got done.

LIAM CORMIER We couldn’t have done this if it was our first record; it only lined up as well because we’ve made these relationships.”

And so, ‘The Spark That Moves’ sees Cancer Bats considering the past and rocketing into the future.

“I was sending emails to everybody saying to look at the fifteen songs we just played at this festival, like why did we pick those fifteen? Let’s dissect. Why is ‘Bricks & Mortar’ stoking people out? I don’t want it to be the formula, but I do want it to be the vibe,” he muses.

“We don’t need to write ‘Pray for

Darkness’ round two just to fill the thrash song quota of a record - we have ‘Pray for Darkness’. That song rips, but we also wrote another really good thrash song, so, do we need a third thrash song?”

Doesn’t it all boil down to what the people want, though?

“What do people like, but what do we like? It’s usually the same. None of the songs on the setlist feels like, ‘Oh man, I can’t believe we have to play this song’. It’s cool we all agree! Let’s keep partying!”

And keep partying they shall.

“I’m stoked on how everything is happening. There’s a really genuine and organic vibe to it all,” Liam enthuses. “I’m a firm believer in if you’re going to do something you need to come out full force. Don’t halfway. Maybe that’s why I don’t even like the teaser ideas.”

Most importantly though, he concludes: “You take a step back, and it’s casual, and it’s fun, and that’s why we’re all in this. Because we’re fans of music.”

P CANCER BATS’ ALBUM ‘THE SPARK THE MOVES’ IS OUT NOW. DISRUPT THE NOISE 35

THE NEW PROJECT FROM LETLIVE.S’ JASON AALON BUTLER, THE FEVER 333 ARE HERE TO SOUNDTRACK THE REVOLUTION. WORDS: LINSEY TEGGERT.

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J

ULY 4TH, 2017.

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY, AND THE DAY THE FEVER FIRST BEGAN TO SPREAD. A rented U-Haul truck pulled into the parking lot of the iconic Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood, California. A few hundred people who had followed cryptic Instagram posts featuring a date, coordinates and a panther logo gathered in anticipation. From the back of the truck burst ex-letlive. frontman Jason Aalon Butler, Night Verses drummer Aric Improta and former The Chariot guitarist Stephen Harrison, for The Fever 333’s first ‘demonstration’.

This short, sharp three song guerrilla performance, though completely unauthorised, had taken some precise military-style planning. Luckily, it paid off – not only did the trio complete their demonstration before the police arrived, but the first seed of The Fever 333’s revolution had been sown.

“I just wanted to put my money where my mouth was,” states Jason. “I wanted to show people that the constraints we observe and the cumbersome ideas of what we can and can’t do in society, a lot of them are just words on paper or constructs we harbour in our minds. They don’t necessarily have to hold us back, we shouldn’t be afraid to speak our minds.”

When letlive. disbanded, Jason, the outspoken, charismatic frontman was never going to retire from the role he was built for. The Fever 333 was born from his desire to put what he wanted to see in music and culture into a project that focused on community and change. “I wanted to see a collection of people putting efforts forward to make something beyond themselves.

By no means am I saying there aren’t other people doing that, I just wanted to deliberately distil the message that I was sort of already carrying through my other endeavours and projects.

“I feel like letlive. had a very particular purpose for myself as an artist and as a person, and that purpose was shared with so many people, beyond anything I’d ever fathomed. I was 16 when I started letlive., it was a place for me to express a lot of the inward struggles I was experiencing, and I wanted to open it up to anyone who wanted to exorcise those same demons.

“When I felt that I had fulfilled my purpose with that project, I didn’t want to bring it to a point where it was exhausted.”

It was a conversation with legendary producer and Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann and Blink 182’s Travis Barker on Super Bowl Sunday 2017 that sparked the fire. “We were talking about how we wanted to see a new people of colour punk rock band. That mixed with both my

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JASON AALON BUTLER love and Travis’ love of hip-hop and John’s production prowess, led us to putting this thing together to see where it took us.”

It was almost inevitable that Aric and Stephen would join Jason on this new revolutionary path. Aric and Jason had always shared an artistic connection, often writing together late at night when Jason had an idea he needed to get out.

He met Stephen through touring, and they always said it would only be a matter of time before they made music together.

And vitally, all three share the same headspace when it comes to the issues they want to tackle: The Fever 333 are on a mission.

“The 333 at the end of our moniker represents the three Cs,” explains Jason. “C is the third letter of the alphabet, and the three Cs at the end of our name represent community, charity and change. That is the mission, to make sure everything we do holds true to those three Cs. “The movement is already happening, and it’s here, we want to create a safe space for people to be who they are or who they want to be. I encourage discourse, even the uncomfortable conversations, because that’s the only way we’re going to move forward. Then, of course, there’s the sonic mission - I’d like to be able to write the soundtrack to the revolution.”

The first part of that soundtrack dropped unannounced on 23rd March in the form of the ‘Made An America’ EP, seven explosive tracks of hip-hop-tinged punk rock that burn with passion and fury.

Uncompromising and unabated, the EP takes no prisoners. ‘We’re Coming In’, the first taste we were given of the EP, is a big, brash police-baiting statement of intent, reminiscent of Rage Against The Machine at their hard-hitting best.

Whereas with letlive. the themes were tangled in metaphors; The Fever 333 affords Jason the opportunity to be more direct. There is no lyrical ambiguity.

“These are the facts man; I’m just spitting facts! I may be emotional when singing the material, but I am literally addressing the FACTS. I’m addressing dead bodies; I’m addressing money or lack thereof, I’m addressing sexuality, patriarchy, misogyny, policy. Whether it be policies that are made to subjugate women or people of colour or people not from this country.”

“We shine that beautiful bright light from the Statue of Liberty and tell people to come here and make something of themselves, to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and become American, yet we’re closing borders and making it harder for them to become an American.

We should be able to speak about all this in an educated and acknowledged way so that we can stay safe and share an understanding.”

In true revolutionary fashion, it was largely through word of mouth that The Fever spread. “We didn’t need to pay for a giant marketing plan, sometimes that stuff surrounding a release just feels like fodder, and we didn’t want to dilute what we were trying to accomplish - we created our own buzz. When I say ‘we’ I don’t just mean the project, I mean everyone.

People saw it and shared it; then the radio people had no choice but to listen to people yelling at them to play it.”

It’s this sense of community and inclusion that sets The Fever 333 apart; the message and the music are a means to an end, and that end is to effect actual ground level, grassroots change. The evidence for this is their commitment to charity by donating a percentage of their demonstrations and the formation of the Walking In My Shoes Foundation. Actions speak louder than words, and The Fever 333 are certainly following through on their promises.

“When you try to mobilise a movement, starting on a local level is very important.

We do a little research, find out what charities are in the area and what informs the project, and pick a local cause. We’re currently working with a non-profit that is helping us to facilitate the foundation.

My ambition is to host tri-yearly events where we highlight current events and offer a space for people to understand and interact.”

In less than a year, The Fever 333 have already evolved way beyond that first demonstration in the parking lot of Randy’s Donuts, taking their message further and wider. Does Jason worry that graduating to more corporate, larger venues runs the risk of being contrary to the band’s core message?

“I think that it’s an echo chamber, if you keep shouting at the same people every day with the same views, in small places, I think that would be counterintuitive to what it is I’m trying to accomplish. With the bigger venue thing, that’s an effort to get into a larger forum, that is paramount to achieving any sort of real change. You have to talk to everyone, not just the choir that you’re preaching to. I want to play to more people in bigger venues; I want to shock the shit out of people, shake them up, have the conversation and be uncomfortable, I like that.” P THE FEVER 333’S EP ‘MADE AN AMERICA’ IS OUT NOW.

DISRUPT THE NOISE 39

40 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

IT’S BEACH SLANG, BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW THEM. WITH THEIR STRIPPEDBACK ALTER-EGOS QUIET SLANG, THE GROUP REIMAGINE SOME OF THEIR MOST LOVED TUNES.

“F

Words: Dillon Eastoe

all in love with the failure. Write a thousand bad songs before you get to a good one. Go on a bunch of miserable tours. That’s the stuff that forces you to ask, ‘How bad do you want this? How hard are you willing to work for it?’”

James Alex, founder and vocalist of Beach Slang, is reflecting on what it means to carve out a career playing punk rock. Five years into Beach Slang’s story, Alex speaks from a position of authority as the band take stock after a busy few years.

After a whirlwind period encapsulating two albums of fizzing four-chord punk and shows around the world, Beach Slang can be forgiven for pausing for a breather.

With a US run supporting veteran emos Dashboard Confessional in its final stages, James Alex’s power-punk outfit have more than earned the chance to put their feet up.

While his bandmates take a step back, however, Alex is throwing himself into promoting Quiet Slang, reimagining the best of the band’s songs in stark arrangements of piano and cello.

Quiet Slang is a project James has had in the back of his mind for a long time, but a random jam of ‘Bad Art and Weirdo Ideas’ on the singer’s piano made him realise he could pursue a new sound while remaining faithful to the spirit of Beach Slang’s music. The challenge then was to craft a whole album that matched his vision.

Stripped of drums, bass and electric guitars, ‘Everything Matters But No One Is Listening’ puts Alex’s cigarette-soaked vocals at the forefront, with melodies uttered in a softer tone than Beach Slang’s all-out assault. Delicate piano and considered cello take the instrumental lead, but if this sounds decidedly unBeach Slang, the songs feel totally natural.

It would have been tempting to merely peel the band back to an acoustic guitar for this project, as many acts do, but Alex is never one to take the easy path.

“No, I wanted it to be more thoughtful.

I didn’t want it to be as simple as ‘I can

JAMES ALEX pick up a different guitar’. I wanted it to be more than that. The cello, piano thing I’ve always thought there’s a haunting melancholy to it that I’ve always connected with. It was always going to be piano and cello; acoustic guitar never factored into it for me. I’m glad it’s coming across natural, I didn’t want to dive into schmaltz, or try to jam a square through a circle.”

Now that the ten tracks that make up the Quiet Slang are ready for release, thoughts are already turning to taking the project out on the road, something Alex didn’t necessarily expect to be the case. Given the raucous, communal nature of Beach Slang shows, a Quiet Slang tour poses a very different proposition.

“It’s going to be different for sure.

We’ve done one show; we debuted it live at SXSW. It was in a church, and everybody sat, and we sort of played these quiet songs and I was terrified!

Because my guitar is my safety blanket, and noise is my kind of armour, right?

I can kind of hide behind that. So the vulnerability, it was kind of palpable right? So yeah, that to me as a performer was the scariest thing.”

Getting through that first show unscathed has given James the confidence he needs to drive forward and take this new sound out across the US this summer, safe in the knowledge that it can connect just as strongly as Beach Slang does.

“That show was incredibly special to me. If the tour feels even remotely close to what that night felt like, I’m pretty excited to do this more often.

Obviously, it’s a tamer kind of vibe, but it becomes very song-focused. Beach Slang is obviously song-focused but also performance-focused too, like this sloppy little hurricane. Whereas, Quiet Slang is this sort of minimal thing, stripped away.

There’s nowhere to hide, nowhere to run.”

This feeling of vulnerability isn’t just limited to the performances but is inherent in the ethos of Quiet Slang, from studio to stage. The title ‘Everything Matters But No One Is Listening’ reflects the feeling that in amongst the wild head-rush of Beach Slang’s communion, Alex’s words can be overpowered by the performance.

“I love the idea of the lyrics being able

to step out a little bit and be framed with a little more weight. With Beach Slang I love the walls of guitars, but there’s something nice about my little adolescent daydream about wanting to be a novelist.

It’s kind of cool that I can allow the words to be weighted a little differently, and they’re allowed to take that sort of advance a little bit more on the Quiet Slang stuff.”

That shift in emphasis does imbibe Quiet Slang with a touch more sorrow than the bottle rocket exhilaration of the original compositions, but the songs still retain a certain youthful optimism. They celebrate those magical teenage nights and, in amongst the swirling chaos, the potential to embrace those feelings again.

Where ‘Everything Matters’ breathes new life into old songs, Alex is always thinking one step ahead, and has Beach Slang’s third LP coming together already in his mind’s eye. The songs are written, and studio time lined up for the next ‘loud Beach Slang record’.

“It’s a nice little non-stop ping pong match now between quiet and loud. I’m incredibly excited about it; I cannot wait to make this record.”

Alex optimistically hints at a January 2019 release and is even teasing a heavy power-pop influence on the band’s third album, which is sure to up the ante.

Even crackling over a phone line across the Atlantic James Alex’s unbounded enthusiasm for the world he inhabits is contagious.

“I’m loving being on the road, loving hitting this guitar through that amplifier.

That is the whole reason I got turned onto rock and roll when I was fourteen.

All of that stuff feels like it’s so present in me again. And I missed it. “ “For a while there it was just sort of the chaos of what was going on” Alex reflects. “It was like I was forced to be caught up in the theatrics of being a rock band, and I’m not interested in that. I just want to be in a rock and roll band. I want to just play shows and sing songs and do all that kind of stuff, and I feel like I’m in that mode now.”

With ideas for Beach Slang flowing over and plans to revisit the Quiet Slang project further down the line, Alex is cautiously confident that his music has found its place amongst the noise.

“It’s the honesty and the realness with which this is being said; it resonates with people. The ‘we’ is much greater than any one ‘I’. That’s what important, we all feel, band and listener, that we’re part of something that’s bigger than any one person, any one record, any one thing.”

Quiet or loud, Beach Slang matter, and there are plenty of people listening. P QUIET SLANG’S ALBUM ‘EVERYTHING MATTERS BUT NO ONE IS LISTENING’ IS OUT 18TH MAY.

DISRUPT THE NOISE 41

So it’s easy to feel that support and feel built up from that.

IT’S BEEN QUITE A LONG TIME BETWEEN ALBUMS, DID IT TAKE A WHILE TO FEEL CONFIDENT IN YOUR NEXT STEP? NOW, NOW’S NEW ALBUM ‘SAVED’ IS MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER RECORD. FOR VOCALIST KC DALAGER, IT’S HER SALVATION.

R

Words: Sam Taylor

eaching their third album ‘Saved’ has been a tough old journey for cult pop faves Now, Now. Following the unanticipated success of their 2012 record ‘Threads’, they were thrown under the spotlight and feeling the pressure of expectation in a way they never had before.

Thankfully, after a lot of hard work and soul-searching, the duo found their feet and have back fighting fit.

HEY KC, YOU GUYS HAVE LOADS GOING ON AT THE MO, ARE YOU

42 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

READY FOR THE YEAR AHEAD? HOW DO YOU GET INTO THE RIGHT MINDSET? IT MUST BE PRETTY FULLON.

It has been a bit of an adjustment. When we switch gears from writing alone in the cave of our basement, back to having to actively engage with everyone all the time, it can get a little overwhelming.

I’m a very socially anxious person, so I need to build what I jokingly call my ‘social tolerance’ back up. So that is the most difficult part for me personally. I think it’s been a huge shift in mindset for us. Approaching things now from a standpoint of having fun and enjoying ourselves. Instead of the fear of how we could mess something up. But I’m much more confident playing shows now, so what I lack as myself socially, can be rounded out by the confidence I get from playing. Everyone at shows (and online) has been so wonderful and encouraging.

We had a very difficult time finding our footing after our last album, ‘Threads’.

We had never had people rally behind a body of our work the way that they did for that album, so we felt a huge amount of pressure. We went through a dark couple of years of doubting ourselves and not being able to complete a song.

I was in a bad place personally, I didn’t feel like I could express anything I needed to express. I had completely shut off emotionally. Everything I’ve ever written has been based on an emotion I feel very deeply, but since I wasn’t allowing myself to feel anything, I couldn’t write anything. But you can only hide from yourself for so long. After having that breakthrough, the album wrote itself in about eight months.

WHERE DID YOU FIND YOURSELF LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION?

I love Shania Twain, Fleetwood Mac, The Cranberries, New Order, Britney Spears, Grimes, Yoko Ono, MIA, and all

KC DALAGER

boy bands. I grew up obsessed with Michael Jackson and Destiny’s Child. We were listening to a lot of Shania and Sheryl Crow and MIA when the album started to fall into place. But we kind of listen to everything. The radio stations I have programmed in the car are Top 40 pop radio, classical channel, a hip-hop station, and the 70s/80s classics station.

We wanted things to feel classic and simple, but timeless. To draw inspiration from different phases and time periods of our lives, but to not sound like any one of them in particular. We wanted to sound like us, and not anyone else copy and pasted. We wanted the emotions to be genuine and real and palpable.

Protecting that was our biggest concern.

WHAT ELSE DID YOU GET UP TO DURING YOUR TIME AWAY?

We really didn’t do anything else. We had only stepped away from playing shows live, but every single day we were working on writing music. The last few years are always kind of seen as a break from an outside perspective I think, but we were totally submerged in writing the album. I did literally nothing else.

It was very consuming and probably not the best for my mental health. Also

probably a huge part of why I wasn’t able to write anything I liked.

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE STILL THE SAME PEOPLE AS LAST TIME AROUND?

We’ve gone through a lot. I’ve gone through a series of bad personal relationships of different kinds, and learned who to not let in emotionally. It was a very painful time of my life. It is the lowest I’ve ever felt. I didn’t think I could be involved with music anymore. I lost my sense of purpose and had zero self-confidence. But it has been very rewarding to overcome that feeling.

We learned a lot about ourselves and each other. I feel like we went through multiple lifetimes the last handful of years. I wouldn’t change any of it looking back. We needed to go through it to end up where we are now.

HAVE YOU DEVELOPED NEW COPING MECHANISMS FOR DEALING WITH THE PRESSURES OF BAND LIFE?

The biggest adjustment was learning to have fun. To remember that the reason we started this in the first place is that we love to write music with each other. I get to work with my best friend. That is incredibly special. When we approach a

situation that we feel anxious about, we remember that we do this for us. So the pressure we feel from anyone else is not what matters. We are learning to push that away. That has made a world of difference for us.

HOW WAS PARAHOY, WAS IT YOUR FIRST TIME GOING?

Parahoy was an incredible experience.

The shows were so fun and very validating. It was our first time being a part of it and our first time on a cruise.

And our first time being in the Bahamas.

So it was a lot of firsts!

WHAT ELSE DO YOU GUYS HAVE COMING UP? We are going to be travelling a lot for our ‘Saved’ album release tour. We have our first headline tour overseas and our first full headline tour in the states.

We have a lot of visual content that we are always working. So continuing to work on/release our visual projects and touring are our main focus for summer. We’ve never felt this proud and energised, so this is a really exciting time for us. P NOW, NOW’S ALBUM ‘SAVED’ IS OUT 18TH MAY.

DISRUPT THE NOISE 43

D. THE ONLY VER DIC T YOU NEE

BIG UPS

TWO PARTS TOGETHER eee

ON HER SECOND ALBUM, COURTNEY BARNETT CATCHES US FEELING PRETTY FINE.

I

n the build-up to ‘Tell Me How You Really Feel’, Courtney Barnett posed that simple suggestion on her website. Fans could share their innermost thoughts directly with the Aussie songwriter providing they could condense them to no longer than 250 characters.

It would probably have been dismissed as a simple PR exercise for most artists, but not Courtney. She’s built a reputation on her earnest songwriting, brutally acerbic lyrics and wholesome tunes you can cling to when life seems to be pulling away.

Quite simply, she doesn’t do bullshit.

In some ways ‘Tell Me How You Really Feel’ is a slightly darker, heavier and more mature record than Courtney’s debut.

Where ‘Sometimes I Sit…’ often felt like listening to an internal monologue, its follow-up is more extrospective; Courtney’s songwriting remains deeply personal, but she has an eye on wider themes.

In the excellent ‘Nameless, Faceless’, she tackles misogyny by paraphrasing novelist Margaret Atwood: “Men are scared that women will laugh at them… women are scared that men will kill them.” ‘Tell Me How TELL ME HOW YOU You Really Feel’ is REALLY FEEL littered with wry MARATHON / MOM + POP / MILK lyricism. eee e Musically, Courtney IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU’LL has stuck with LIKE... KURT VILE, JULIEN BAKER, SUNFLOWER BEAN what she knows; her grungy guitars and occasional punk thrash don’t tread new ground, but Courtney has always been more of a storyteller - and, judging by this latest effort, there are currently few songwriters who can match her. ALEX THORP

COURTNEY BARNETT

‘Two Parts Together’ is a misnomer of a title, a thematic misconception of the underlying narratives running throughout Big Ups’ ocean-like body of work which is more like twenty parts together than two. An expansive rewriting of the post-genre rulebook, it’s difficult to quite describe whether disorientation through sound is something to praise or critique, and yet that is where the magic of ‘Two Parts Together’, and Big Ups as a whole lies: it doesn’t make sense, and that is okay. JACK PRESS

COLUMBUS

A HOT TAKE ON HEARTBREAK eeee Aussie three-piece Columbus’ second album knows how to pull the right influences, drawing from mid-nineties college rock royalty. Everything from the iconic melody of Weezer (‘Don’t Know How To Act’) to a lexicon of pop-punk perfection (‘Care At All’) nudges the direction of ‘A Hot Take On Heartbreak’. At times it’s stupendous, at others kind of generic - but with a sunny disposition in the face of adversity, Columbus are never without a knowing honesty. DAN HARRISON

GALACTIC EMPIRE EPISODE II eeee

Star Wars-themed progressive instrumental bands would feel to be a remarkable oddity just a few years back. Now, Galactic Empire seem less like a novelty joke and more like a perfectly sensible suggestion. With their second full-length, ‘Episode II’ (Obviously - Ed), the band claim to be “confident that any rebel strongholds that remain after the last cycle will soon bow before the Empire”. While at times, such as ‘Scherzo for X-Wings’, this ends up with familiar refrains linked by increasingly massive riffs and solos, ‘Episode II’ is delivered with a sense of knowing fun and ambition that resistance seems futile. These are the bangers you’re looking for. DAN HARRISON DISRUPT THE NOISE 45

HALFNOISE FLOWERSS EP e eeee

Filled to the brim with banger after banger, Halfnoise (aka Paramore’s Zac Farro) is ready to stride forward into his own self-made spotlight with this latest EP. Littered across the seventrack offering are songs that invite you to dance, laugh, love and cry. It’s all things all at once and immaculately executed at that. Having confidently found firm footing in the indie-pop world, Zac is a master of ceremony.

Reverberant guitars, shuffling drums and glowing synths combine to create a sound that feeds the soul’s warmth; Zac’s filled to the brim with ideas and inspirations that culminate in an EP of pure enjoyment. STEVEN LOFTIN

HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS

BAD FREQUENCIES e eee Their first full-length since 2013, ‘Bad Frequencies’ marks the longest Hawthorne Heights have spent writing an album, crafted over the course of a year on the road. Demoing and recording in between playing 170 shows, it’s no surprise it showcases a well-oiled band at the peak of their powers. Opener ‘In Gloom’ hits its mark perfectly, drawing on well over a decade of experience in the process, while ‘Pink Hearts’ matches the familiar with the refreshing, its chorus every inch the ear worm. These frequencies sound pretty good to us.

DAN HARRISON

JONATHAN DAVIS BLACK LABYRINTH e eee

Tapping into his deepest and darkest influences, Korn’s Jonathan Davis cooks up a cocktail of all-out alt-rock, gothic tendencies via way of The Cure, New Romantic aesthetics, electro-industrial Nine Inch Nail-infused grooves, and world instruments; pouring its nectar down the thematic mouths of spirituality, religion, and consumerism and the enlightenment that comes from removing oneself from these factors. ‘Black Labyrinth’ is a collection of songs only the mind of Davis could deliver. JACK PRESS 46 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

CHVRCHES MIX BRUTAL HONESTY WITH AMBITIOUS POP TUNES.

C

hvrches expectations with have every purposeful always stride and playful existed in the dance. middle. Torn In this twirling between being a freedom though, punk band and a Chvrches have pop group, debut lost none of their ‘The Bones Of bite. ‘Graves’ is What You Believe’ a relentlessly and follow-up powerful moment, ‘Every Open Eye’ taking aim at those snarl, shimmer with the power to and shake with change the world the best of both. but instead choose ‘Love Is Dead’ does indecision, before LOVE IS DEAD away with any hint ‘Heaven/Hell’ sees VIRGIN RECORDS of compromise them wrestling with eeeee though, as the shadows and DID YOU KNOW? ‘GRAVES’ IS THE ONLY SONG IN Chvrches embrace hope surrounding WHICH LAUREN HAS EVER it all. conversations about SUNG THE WORD ‘BABY’.

Deliberate inequality. in every move There are plenty it makes, their of questions as third record is as they get vulnerable, defining as they defiant and lost come. The spray paint love of ‘Graffiti’ in the face of being let down, growing sees them running for the sunset, not older and struggling to believe. Sure, worried about the journey back, before ‘Love Is Dead’ shines so bright it ‘Get Out’ snarls, snaps and claims this practically sparkles, but that doesn’t space for its own. detract from Chvrches sharing their ‘Love Is Dead’ doesn’t so much pop, bruised, beating heart at every angled but bang as ‘Forever’, ‘Never Say Die’ turn. and ‘Miracle’ all stand tall, glittering There’s no time for the middle in the spotlight. Shifting shapes and anymore, Chvrches are heading for the wearing their colours, the band toy with top. ALI SHUTLER

CHVRCHES

NOW, NOW

DREAM STATE

Now, Now aren’t really a rock band, and yet in so many ways they are. In a genre-lite world, where influences mix at will, they take emo sensibilities and match them perfectly with the shiniest of pop. One listen to album highlight ‘AZ’ proves it. A salted caramel, it doesn’t stomp awkwardly nor grin wildly, finding a happy middle ground to inhabit. Rather than a muddle of half measures, it highlights their skill in both camps - a trick that runs through ‘Saved’ like a message through Brighton rock. DAN

The fizz of potential bubbles throughout Dream State’s debut EP. Not defined by any single trait or sonic trick, they’re a band that already sound like they’re destined for Brit rock’s big leagues. The spark of ‘Help Myself’, the crashing maelstrom of ‘White Lies’, excitement drips from every riff. With a full festival season ahead to sharpen those senses, 2019 is already waiting for Dream State to call it their own. DAN HARRISON

SAVED e e ee

HARRISON

PARQUET COURTS WIDE AWAKE e e ee

The pairing of Danger Mouse and Parquet Courts at first glance seems like chalk and cheese.

The former specialises in tight production, every second of a track meticulously arranged and polished. The latter prefer to keep things loose and fancyfree; inspired by hardcore punk and bringing a cheeky yet politicised sense of humour to the party. But, like an immaculately plated Eton Mess, on ‘Wide Awake!’ it just works. An album as ferocious and funny as anything that‘s come before, it’s hard to be in a dour mood around these funky, punky treats. CHRIS TAYLOR

RECOVERY EP e e e ee

SEVENDUST

ALL I SEE IS WAR e e ee Twelve albums in, and Sevendust aren’t showing any signs of hanging about. ‘All I See Is War’ might bring up a dozen full-lengths for the Grammynominated group, but nearly two and a half decades since forming, they’re not against new ideas, either. Standout ‘Not Original’ explores fresh ground, slowing things down and bringing in more new wave influences. Apparently conceived while watching a lot of Netflix Stranger Things, it’s far from an Upside Down terror. While Sevendust tread in well-worn tracks, they still know how to rock. DAN HARRISON

QUIET SLANG

SKATING POLLY

With their standard sound swapped out, James Alex’s cigarette-soaked vocals are the constant here, intoning his heartfelt melodies in more hushed tones than the in-yourface bark of Beach Slang.

Instrumentally, there’s not a drum kit or distorted guitar in sight. Beach Slang’s four-chord vignettes are instead carried by delicate E-Street piano and a sombre cello. Musically, these new versions feel totally natural, with Slang’s melodies holding up to scrutiny and the simple chord patterns leaving room for piano and cello to decorate the songs. DILLON EASTOE

Always seeming on the cusp of unhinged, there’s something unwieldy about now-trio, Skating Polly. From the perfectly 90s sound of ‘The Make It All Show’ opener ‘Classless Act’ to the unharnessed quality of ‘Camelot’, the band have grown in all the right ways for their fifth outing. It’s the manic vocals that truly make Skating Polly a force to be reckoned with; the attitude-packed lyrics pack a punch all of their own, screeching and rollicking through contained chaos. They’re always been ahead of the curve, and ‘The Make It All Show’ is another step for a band who could be mainstays of the future. STEVEN LOFTIN

EVERYTHING MATTERS BUT NO ONE IS LISTENING e e ee

THE MAKE IT ALL SHOW eee

A TRACK BY TRACK WITH...

D

ream State vocalist CJ Gilpin talks us through the band’s intensely personal new EP ‘Recovery’, track by track.

WHITE LIES: ‘White Lies’ is about

surrendering to the fact you are an addict, becoming self-aware but struggling to let go of the attachment that you have created with this substance.

IN THIS HELL: When you’ve used a

substance as a crutch for so long, and you leave that crutch behind and go it alone, there are some obstacles you have to face along the way. ‘In This Hell’ is about facing your feelings for the first time and addressing them.

HELP MYSELF: During my time of

leaving everything behind me, I did hit a wall, and I did relapse, and I absolutely hated myself for it. The lyrics where I say, “Eyes open wide open, mind set in stone” is about me saying I know what I’m doing, but maybe I can’t be any other way? It was ‘White Lies’ all over again, but I was stronger that time and more aware, and you hear that towards the end of the song where I say “I can change, I can save myself again,” and that is was I did.

SOLACE: Addiction and anxiety

haven’t just affected me, but loved ones around me, and it was me learning from my mistakes and passing on the knowledge I have learnt to them. This is your life; make the most of it.

NEW WAVES: You’ll notice on the

cover of the EP, a snake wrapped around the woman. The snake is a great representation of what ‘New Waves’ is about. Snakes shed their skin as they grow and in a metaphorical sense, so have I. We have been given another chance to start fresh, let go of those old ways and ride new waves! P DISRUPT THE NOISE 47

SLOWLY SLOWLY ST LEONARDS eeee

Running on what appears to be a melancholic overdose of anxiety and coffee, ‘St Leonards’ continues the formulaic songwriting that masterminded Slowly Slowly’s adequately average debut ‘Chamomile’. From the depths of family dynamics to finding love in the modern age on social networks, Ben Stewart jumps from thought to thought, while lacking the ability to evoke anything memorable; there’s no chorus to sing to, no bassline to groove to, no jam to dance to. Much like its predecessor, ‘St Leonards’ is jam-packed with potential waiting to be unlocked. JACK PRESS

SWISS ARMY

PARIS MOUNTAIN e eee Anti-Flag’s A-F Records are on fire at the moment, and hot on the heels of Spanish Love Song’s exceptional ‘Schmaltz’ comes Pittsburgh indiepunk quartet Swiss Army, and their equally captivating ‘Paris Mountain’.

By golly do they like a face-melting riff to back up the considered lyricism. The band live on their own in some nicely-crafted niche; too serious when compared to Rozwell Kid’s eccentric and infectious noodling, and far too direct when set against Into It Over It’s contemplative musings. ‘Paris Mountain’ showcases the strength in Swiss Army’s versatility; it’s an album of sugar-rush highs and considered and meaningful depths. ROB MAIR

THE WORD ALIVE VIOLENT NOISE e eee

Down to a trio after losing their drummer and bassist, with ‘Violent Noise’, The Word Alive could be described as sitting at a crossroads. Their metalcore peers have increasingly stepped away to more melodic climes, some nailing the shift spectacularly, others dropping the ball with disastrous effect. In case of any doubt, The Word Alive’s progression falls far closer to the former camp than the latter, delivering their most cohesive, immediate record so far. DAN HARRISON 48 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

ARGUABLY CANCER BATS’ BEST ALBUM IN A DECADE

T

en years Cancer Bats have ago, a aced up to this point foursome – transcending of Canadians hardcore, punk rock, declared doom and groovethemselves done laden metal – but with standing in it builds upon what the peripherals is already a mighty of a scene which legacy. had, for the most As one of punk’s part, slipped into a most charismatic state of regression. frontmen, Liam Their mission Cormier is in statement? A inspired form, second album letting a little bit aptly titled ‘Hail of melodic postDestroyer’. Its hardcore angst drip THE SPARK THAT impact? Earthinto his sandpaperMOVES shattering. rough vocals.

BAT SKULL RECORDS Ever since, Once you add the e e e e most bands would rumbling backbeat DID YOU KNOW? CANCER only ever dream of drummer Mike BATS HAVE THEIR OWN of gingerly laying Peters and bassist BLACK SABBATH COVER a fingertip on Jaye Schwarzer, BAND, BAT SABBATH. the bar raised you have a band in 2008 by the ready to level the motherfuckin’ landscape once Cancer Bats. again.

Such is their defiant attitude that, 13 On what is arguably their best album years into their career, the Toronto punks in a decade, Cancer Bats take the criteria have released their sixth album on their for what an outstanding heavy band own label, on their own terms and on the should be, and tick every box with the blind side of everyone else. same air of defiance that made them From the moment ‘Gatekeeper’ comes great in the first place. Strap yourselves hulking out of the traps, ‘The Spark That in – it’s time for these winged beasts to Moves’ not only combines everything soar to new heights. DANNY RANDON

CANCER BATS

ON STAG E. IN HERE .

THE WONDER YEARS MADE AN ALBUM ABOUT CONNECTION AND TONIGHT, EVERY ONE IS FELT. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

T

he Wonder Years’ ‘Sister Cities’ is a record about connection. It sees them take bold new steps forward and become the sort of band they’ve always wanted to be. Live, they’ve been living that life for a while.

With songs about claustrophobic hometowns, unfulfilled potential and the looming shadow of growing into someone unknown, their music puts cathartic storytelling to big moments of unity. The past four albums (‘The Upsides’ through ‘No Closer To Heaven’) are made for big rooms and big voices.

‘Sister Cities’ takes all that community, confidence and chemistry and lights it up under firework explosions. Big meets bigger.

Tonight, the first of two sold-out shows at London’s Islington Academy and the first proper date of the ‘Sister Cities’ tour, The Wonder Years roar into life.

‘Pyramids of Salt’ treads carefully, fragile but driven by purpose, starting things off with midnight blue promise

before erupting. Words not only memorised and screamed back, but meaning something important in the exchange. We’re only one song in and glory fills the room. (“To hear you sing that song, at that volume, that’s something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” beams Dan.) It doesn’t let up either. ‘We Look Like Lightning’ climbs and breaks apart in real time, all synths, stares and fearless dance. ‘Came Out Swinging’ comes with the smirk of, “I already know you know the words, the questions is how loud can you sing them,” as the band move the night at their will before an acoustic run of songs sees The Wonder Years conjure powerful urgency from beautiful little moments.

The title track to ‘Sister Cities’ tears down everything that stands still around it, the cry of “I want to swallow the sun,” ringing true as The Wonder Years swell in front of us before ‘Raining In Kyoto’ transforms all that burning excitement into something delicate, heartfelt and sweeping. ‘The Oceans Grew Hands To Hold Me’ closes the main set, bundling

up everything that came before it and plucking out the very best of it, the band are both everywhere at once and bare before us.

‘Passing Through A Screen Door’ and ‘Cigarettes & Saints’ wring the last drops out of the evening, band and crowd locked in a battle to give it their absolute all as they celebrate their connection wholeheartedly with sweat, screams and soul.

Punk was born on the foundations of community and The Wonder Years have been building their own little gang for years now but tonight, it’s different. The Wonder Years have given it a voice, and out loud, it’s deafeningly wondrous. ‘Sister Cities’ is a record about quiet little moments that make you long for something bigger and tonight, everything is huge. Larger than life but life-affirming, it stands on the shoulders of tiny, intimate connections that burst with colour and unite the room. The Wonder Years made a record about connection and tonight, every one is celebrated. ALI SHUTLER DISRUPT THE NOISE 49

WITH...

EVERYONE HAS THOSE FORMATIVE BANDS AND TRACKS THAT FIRST GOT THEM INTO MUSIC AND HELPED SHAPE THEIR VERY BEING.

This month, Valentino Arteaga from Of Mice & Men takes us through some the songs that meant the most to him during his teenage years.

These are some of my favourite tracks from bands that influenced my “core” understanding of metal and hard music. I grew up seeing them in clubs all around Southern California and being so engaged by their aggressive music and killer musicianship that I’ve dedicated more than half my life to doing the same thing!

Let’s start with some Southern California native bands; AS I LAY DYING - FOREVER

THRICE - TORCH TO END ALL TORCHES

These guys were another band from Orange County, CA that blew my mind! I remember seeing them once with AntiFlag which made sense cause their earlier material has a lot of punk influence. Then I heard this song live and was mind blown.

ATREYU - TULIPS ARE BETTER

Another Orange County band, I remember first hearing this song and being mesmerised at how melodic and heavy it went from singing to screaming. So I went to see them live and it was the drummer singing, I knew I had to go home and practice more!

Now on to some bands that weren’t from my home area, but would come thru on tour all the time.

POISON THE WELL - NERDY

I was at the video shoot for this song; maybe you can find me somewhere in the madness?! It was so cool to see this band dominate the local metal scene and put metal on the map for San Diego!

A band that quickly became one of my favourites, these guys had the perfect mix of melody and heavy, and they were from all the way across the US! Kick ass drumming and lyrics that always spoke to me.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD - DARKNESS SURROUNDING

THE BLED - RUTH BUZZI BETTER WATCH HER BACK

I had seen these guys a couple of times up in Orange County, CA and really wanted to make sure people knew about them down in San Diego. I wrote to Matt saying that I would love to design and print a ton of concert flyers and do everything I could to promote their upcoming show at SOMA. He was so rad to teenage me, he made a lifelong fan that day!

50 UPSETMAGAZINE.COM

I saw this band as an opener on a tour and when they played this song, and I couldn’t believe they were human! So much hair, so much riffing, these guys blew me away with how hard they could go and still play so well.

FEAR BEFORE THE MARCH OF FLAMES - GO WASH YOUR MOUTH... I DON’T

OF MICE & MEN

KNOW WHERE IT’S BEEN

This band was absolutely mental live.

This was one of the first Rise Records bands I truly got into. They were throwing themselves into each other while playing, kicking and punching everything in their way; it was the most badass thing I’d ever seen on a small stage.

THE CHARIOT - BEFORE THERE WAS ATLANTA, THERE WAS DOUGLASVILLE

I had known of Josh the screamer because he fronted one of the cornerstone underground metal acts, Norma Jean, but I never saw them live with him as the vocalist so when I found out his new band, I latched onto it immediately. I loved the raw recording and thrashy everything.

HOPESFALL - WAITRESS

The imagery of this band was always so cool; it was always really spacey album art with cool guitar soundscapes that felt otherworldly. I remember waiting and waiting for them to come to my city; I was forever hooked.

GLASSJAW - SIBERIAN KISS

I recognised the producer, Ross Robinson and assumed it would be heavy but it took heavy to a whole new level for me. The fury in Daryl’s voice was something you just couldn’t fake. It made me appreciate how big of an impact you can make if you let your visceral emotions out into your music and sound. P Follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more music recommendations! @youngfuego

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