Upset, March 2020

** Plus ** Waterparks Nova Twins Loathe InTechnicolour Orchards Le Butcherettes Crossfaith Social Animals + loads more

52

upsetmagazine.com

Slipknot Four Year Strong Sum 41

MILK TEETH

EXCLUSIVE VINYL AVAILABLE AT

MARCH 2020 Issue 52

HELLO. Milk Teeth will be no strangers to regular readers of Upset. They featured in our very first issue, blessed our cover approaching the release of their debut album, and have been a constant presence in our little corner of the musical universe along the way. But that doesn’t tell the full story of the road to that new, self-titled second record. Line-up changes, label swaps and all kinds of other forms of upheaval and struggle have buzzed around an band dear to our hearts.

Now, as they sit on the eve of something more than a little bit special, we’re checking in to find out exactly where they stand. Defiant to the end, we’re bloody happy they’re here.

RIOT 4. SLIPKNOT 8. INTECHNICOLOUR 10. ORCHARDS 12. WATERPARKS 14. THE REGRETTES 15. 2000TREES 16. SUM 41 ABOUT TO BREAK 18. SOCIAL ANIMALS FEATURES 20. MILK TEETH 30. FOUR YEAR STRONG 34. LOATHE 38. NOVA TWINS REVIEWS 42. GREEN DAY 45. LE BUTCHERETTES TEENAGE KICKS 46. CROSSFAITH

S tephen

Editor / @stephenackroyd

Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Jamie MacMillan, Kelly Twardziak, Martyn Young, Steven Loftin, Tyler Damara Kelley Snappers Frances Beach, Jessie Morgan, Sarah Louise Bennett P U B L I S H E D F RO M

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

All material copyright (c). All rights reserved.

Upset 3

Riot_

THIS MONTH IN ROCK

EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK

Brighton five-piece InTechnicolour have been working towards their debut album for bloody ages. p.8

SLIPKNOT REIGN SUPREME AT LONDON’S O2 ARENA Words: Steven Loftin.

Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

4 Upset

Brighton bunch Orchards tell us more about their debut album ‘Lovecore’. p.10

Slipknot’s story is one full of myth, tragedy, triumph and juggernaut resilience.

With the release of their sixth album, ‘We Are Not Your Kind’, signalling a new age for the band, Slipknot’s push and pull between their past and present is a fight they refuse to lose. And on their first go at London’s iconic O2 Arena, the future is undoubtedly held in the grips of their clenched dirt-ridden fists.

There’s an air of apprehension across the crowd when ‘Unsainted’ with its choral melodies flares up. Still, chaos soon reigns supreme with the inclusion of early cut ‘Eeyore’ in all its brash, unharnessed hardcore glory, straight after the mechanised brutality of ‘Iowa’ staple ‘Disasterpiece’.

More attesting to the raging heart of the Slipknot of today, each new track fits perfectly beside old classics. The epic ‘Solway Firth’ rears up, digging deep in search

Lydia Night of The Regrettes tells us what she takes on tour. p.14

of even more brutality, while ‘Birth Of The Cruel’ comes to life - flame thrower bass included, enhancing the bombardment it’s a continuous all killer no filler show with no respite.

Indeed, Slipknot have never had an issue with putting it all on the line, but given the fact they’re well over twenty years into a career of the most extreme extremes, the fresh blood feels like a new life. Bassist Alessandro’ Vman’ Venturella, drummer Jay Weinberg and the still-unknown ‘Tortilla Man’, are the continuation of the reckless, unhinged psychopathy that made the world fall in love with Slipknot in the first place.

Watching the frenetic energy pulsate, as each faction of the nine rises through the industrial network of steps and galvanised walkways; Tortilla lolling about his drum riser, Sid dashing and laboriously enticing like a hooded warlock, Clown and his playfully terrifying manoeuvres (including a flaming baseball bat during ‘Duality’) - the only issue with tonight is not knowing where to

Upset 5

Riot_

Black Peaks are back with a new UK tour. Following the cancellation of a run late last year due to illness, the band will perform a number of shows throughout April, including a headliner at the Scala in London.

Support comes from The St Pierre Snake Invasion and Sugar Horse.

Boston Manor have announced their new album, ‘Glue’. Due for release on 1st May via Pure Noise Records, the full-length will be accompanied by their biggest UK headline tour to date. “I want people to listen to it and feel something,” says vocalist Henry Cox. “The aim of the whole record is to make people angry.”

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

Dance Gavin Dance have booked a new European tour. The band will kick off the short run at Slam Dunk - Leeds (23rd May), Hatfield (24th) - followed by stops in Amsterdam (25th), Paris (26th), Cologne (28th), and Berlin (29th).

6 UPSETMAGAZINE.

6 UpsetCOM

look first.

It’s a scene which, including the smell of fuel and smoke billowing out as fire erupts, is perfectly befitting both the soul of the band. It’s an act that, given the sheer number of bodies on the stage, always seems to be calling for disaster - a line Slipknot have relished toeing, and indeed crossing, countless times over the years.

Sincerity continually echoes from Corey. Especially pledging tonight to keep in their minds “Like we’re at the old fucking Astoria”, referring to London’s hallowed and lost iconic venue where Slipknot played their first-ever show on UK soil. The lamenting isn’t from a place of lost wandering, but instead an offering. That the same band that careened onto that stage all those years ago is still here, which Corey reiterates exclaiming; “We’ve been coming for twenty years, and we’ll be here for twenty more, I promise you that!”

Omitting set mainstay ‘Spit

It Out’, and any cut from ‘.5 The Gray Chapter’ for that matter, shows a band unafraid of removing themselves from comfort in the pursuit of something much higher.

Completing the evening with a tribute to Monty Python star Terry Jones by walking off to a joyously ironic ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’, Slipknot are a band with a face full of measured aggression but beneath lies a heart of understanding. One that the 18,000-strong crowd in attendance have anchored to for years.

Personal catharsis was once Slipknot’s sole purpose, channelling each component’s most visceral reaction to their world, and where this is still true, the focus is now on what Slipknot has become; a conduit for the worlds catharsis.

Be it the swirling mass of bodies battling like atoms on the floor, or encroaching downward from the nosebleed seats, this monster is far more than the nine on stage.

And now that energy is finally immortalised in The O2’s history books, while the guttural roar of Slipknot once more rings out across London Town. P

JIMMY EAT WORLD PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS ( 7TH + 8TH ONLY )

+

7TH JULY MANCHESTER ACADEMY 8TH JULY LONDON O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON 9TH JULY CHELTENHAM 2OOOTREES FESTIVAL METROPOLISMUSIC.COM GIGSANDTOURS.COM JIMMYEATWORLD.COM A METROPOLIS MUSIC & SJM CONCERTS PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH X-RAY

METROPOLIS MUSIC + THIS FEELING PRESENT

BANG BANG ROMEO THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD TOUR | APRIL 2020 | UK 01.04 | CAVES | EDINBURGH 02.04 | CITY VARIETIES | LEEDS 03.04 | LEADMILL | SHEFFIELD

09.04 | GORILLA | MANCHESTER 10.04 | BUSH HALL | LONDON

metropolismusic.com | THISFEELING.CO.UK bangbangromeo.com

A Metropolis Music & This Feeling presentation by arrangement with Solo

MARCH TOUR 2020 12 LONDON CAMDEN ASSEMBLY 26 NOTTINGHAM ROUGH TRADE 13 BRIGHTON THE GREEN DOOR STORE 27 MANCHESTER DEAF INSTITUTE 14 BRISTOL THEKLA 28 SHEFFIELD LEADMILL 2 METROPOLISMUSIC.COM THISFEELING.CO.UK

VISIT METROPOLISMUSIC.COM FOR TICKETS + TO SIGN UP FOR LATEST ANNOUNCEMENTS

Riot_

“TWO YEARS, THREE STUDIOS, FOUR DRUMMERS, FIVE CREDIT CARDS...”

8 Upset

Brighton five-piece InTechnicolour have been working towards their debut album for bloody ages. Pieced together across years of sweaty shows and scrimped studio time, now ‘Big Sleeper’ is finally here via indie faves Big Scary Monsters, and it marks the culmination of everything that’s come before.

Congrats on the album, it must be nice to have it done and dusted - how did you find getting it over the finish line?

Tobie: You guys know us by now, we have been promising this album for AGES! And it’s just taken us a long time to finish paying for it. Luckily the lovely folks over at Big Scary Monsters are InTechnicolour fans and decided to make room within the stable for us, and we can’t thank them enough for making sure ‘Big Sleeper’ doesn’t sit unheard on our hard drives.

Dave: It was a bit of a stumbling block, we had the songs we just needed to get them recorded and release them into the world, so it’s a huge relief to get ‘Big Sleeper’ out into the world. Some of the songs have been waiting years to be blasted out of speakers and annoy parents around the world.

What was the record’s timeline like, it was in the works for a while?

Vlad: The timeline for ‘Big Sleeper’ was pretty crazy to be honest - two years, three studios, four drummers, five credit cards... We needed to get the formula right with members, sound and feel.

It’s just that the feedback from the handful of sounds and tours with friends was so good that it

might feel like an even longer time coming. But we did get the formula right down.

How does the finished album compare to your initial plans for it, did it evolve much along the way?

Tobie: We always had a really good idea about what InTechnicolour is and what the album should sound like, and even though it took an unreasonable amount of time to finish the recording process the actual songs on ‘Big Sleeper’ have been in our set for ages!

Dave: Since Tobie and myself started writing together as InTechnicolour we’ve always had a pretty clear sound/style and over the last few years the band has grown with everyone bringing their own intricacies. So even though some songs are much older than others, a new life has been pumped into them!

How did you approach curating ‘Big Sleeper’’s tracklisting?

Tobie: We took our best songs and made sure they were on the album, ha!

Dave: It was a thin line between getting all the songs we wanted on there and making sure it all fit on one record! We had two minutes left by the time we got the last track ‘Tortoise’ on there.

Do you have a favourite song on it?

Tobie: Yeah, there is a cheeky little slow number towards the back end of the album called ‘Slow Moth’, that’s one of my favourites. Lyrically I’m really proud of that one as well as the build the song has. It starts out pretty unassuming, and by the end, it’s screaming in your face.

Lovely stuff.

Dave: ‘Slow Moth’ came really naturally, the song evolved over the space of about two hours. We were towards the end of the last day of tracking in Brighton, I sat down and showed the guys the riff, and within one hour we had tracked the whole tune.

Are any of the lyrical themes you cover particularly pertinent to 2020?

Tobie: Yeah, ‘Lend Me A Crushed Ear’ has some political themes, however you wanna interpret those.

You told us last year that you often write about whatever’s troubling you, what’s on your mind at the moment?

Tobie: Hmm, that’s a tough one. I always have a shit load of worry, and I tend to be a pretty ‘glass half empty’ kinda guy, so there is always a lot on my mind at any one time. Right now, my worries are less global and more personal.

Do you find more troubles you as you get older?

Tobie: For sure! When I was a teenager, the only thing that really worried me was girls and where we could score various intoxicants. I didn’t have to deal with a blown head gasket or job redundancy when I was 16. It’s why we do what we do so that we can sack off all the annoying ‘grown-up’ worries for a few hours a week and get together in a tiny box room with old broken amps turned up way to loud and not think about that stuff for a while.

Dave: I moved to the countryside, so I can play doom songs in my attic and ignore the outside world.

I find it helps.

What else are you up to this year, there’s a tour coming up, right?

Tobie: Yes, yes! UK co-headline tour in February with the beauties over in CLT DRP - that one is going to be carnage! Then we have another tour in the works, but it’s a little early to tease much more for that one. And I am currently speaking to you from a stunning old chapel recording studio in the arse end of nowhere, so that might give you a little idea... P

InTechnicolour’s album ‘Big Sleeper’ is out 21st February.

Upset 9

Riot_

Photo: Jessie Morgan.

Brighton bunch Orchards deal with everyday life via sunny hooks and plenty of side-eye. It’s heaps of fun, and their debut album ‘Lovecore’ is a real highlight for spring.

The band tell us more. early morning commutes, loads of Casefile True Crime Podcast, stops at M&S Chelmsford and coffee for the late-night drives home. If you happened to be doing your M&S or Aldi shop last August in Chelmsford, you probably saw us four in shorts and baggy t-shirts shouting ‘has anyone got bananas?’ to each other.

Good ol’ British Wildlife.

Everything you need to know about...

Orchards' We wrote most of the album in Will’s bedroom.

We all (like a lot of musicians) still all work full/part-time jobs, so most of the album was written after work in Will’s bedroom with an electric kit, the guitar and bass through the same amp. It worked super well in the long run because it meant we were a little more critical of what we were creating.

We made enough noise that Daniel’s girlfriend, who was in the room next door, was humming the songs after we’d finished. A good sign, we think.

‘Social Sobriety’, track 7, was written while Lucy did her vocal take.

This track was not written before we started recording. It was week three of recording with only a few days left when Lucy had written the vox and just jumped in the

10 Upset

debut album

'Lovecore' booth to record them while she was in the right headspace. Sam sat in the control room on the Yamaha Synth, Daniel on the bass and Will had the acoustic and wrote the track while she did her take. It was the fastest we have ever written a song. Ever.

We recorded drums on a boat.

We recorded all the drum tracks for ‘Lovecore’ aboard The Grand Cru moored at the St Katharine docks in central London; a 100-year-old Dutch barge that Pete Townshend had converted into a recording studio in the 1970s.

We clocked up some miles while we recorded this album.

We stayed with Lucy’s family while recording ‘Lovecore’, which meant that we had a commute of an hour each way to get to the studio and back. Tons of super

The studio in Braintree was right out in the countryside in a village called Great Bardfield. We spent a lot of time going out for walks when we needed to take breaks from the studio room and noise.

We quickly realised we were right next to a huge partridge farm, they were everywhere, and there were so many of them! We managed to get a feel of this on the track ‘Social Sobriety’. Every evening at about 8pm all of the birds in the surrounding woods would fly over to roost in the nearby woods, and the noise from them was amazing - that’s what you can hear throughout the track.

Nettle bushes.

It must have been the best weather of 2019 for the whole time we recorded the album, it was roasting hot constantly. Those brief breaks outside would involve ‘nerf’ tournaments (between the lads, Lucy would sit on the only outside chair and umpire). We would have to clamber through nettle bushes when someone threw it a little too far, so we came back pale, tired, bruised and covered on nettle stings - normal, right?! P

NEW ALBUM OUT FEBRUARY 28, 2020

APPE ARING AT

Riot_

12 Upset

WHAT HA

APPENED NEXT...

Words: Ali Shutler.

Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

Waterparks have always been a great band.

Their debut album ‘Double Dare’ was a hyperactive blitz of sugary punk sing-alongs while 2017’s ‘Entertainment’ saw them spread their wings and add some polish to their energetic bounce. However live, things have always been a little messy.

Not anymore, though. Tonight, as the band play the first of two sold-out shows at London’s Electric Ballroom, Waterparks have done some growing. From the opening of ‘Cherry Red’, a cinematic love song with a bruised heart on its sleeve, it feels like an arena-ready show. Waterparks have always had ambition, but now they’re fearless with it.

You can hear it in ‘Fandom’, an album that deals with the pressures of expectation, disappointment, devotion, and finding yourself. Its fifteen tracks toy with genre as the band set their sights on being more than just another pop-punk band. That want for something bigger is also there in the choice of support acts. Opener De’Wayne delivers a chaotic blend of glam, punk, nu-metal, hiphop and excitement with equal parts sass and sex. It’s angry, it’s loud, and it’s full of soul. Their music sounds nothing like Waterparks but side by side, it’s the perfect combination as they try and push things forward.

There’s nothing getting in the way of Waterparks anymore. Pulling heavily from ‘Fandom’, the night flies by in a burst of bright colours and confident shapes. From the snarl of ‘Watch What Happens Next’, through the shining light of ‘Dream Boy’ and into the sideways bop of ‘I Miss Having Sex But At Least I Don’t Want To Die’, Waterparks never cover the same ground. The crowd follows every bold leap forward, not since My Chem has a band inspired so many haircuts (and there are green wigs for sale for anyone who’s got work in the morning), and every song rides a deafening roar. Awsten Knight has always been a star, whether he’s reading out good luck texts from his mom, leading the room in a selection of vocal warm-ups or sharing his soul with the room, it’s heartfelt carnage throughout. Tonight, the great get greater. Watch what happens next. P

Upset 13

Riot_

Slam Dunk has confirmed a few more bands, including While She Sleeps, Code Orange, This Wild Life, Doll Skin, Chunk!

No, Captain Chunk!, Spunge and A. The event will be held in Leeds’ Temple Newsam Park and Hatfield Park on 23rd and 24th May respectively. Tickets are on sale now.

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

THE REGRETTES

Ever had to pack for a tour?

You’re gonna be spending weeks in a small, intimate space with several other smelly people and - for hours a day, not a lot to do. You’re gonna need to be prepared. That’s why we’ve asked our fave musicians for tips. This month, Lydia Night from The Regrettes let us inside her tour suitcase.

The 1975 have booked a huge outdoor London show. The band will host their own one-day event in Finsbury Park on 11th July, with support from Charli XCX, Clairo, Pale Waves, Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, Cavetown, Deb Never and more to be announced.

The best almond butter of ALL TIME: I eat this every day for breakfast with oatmeal.

Paleo vegan chocolate: I have a huuuuge sweet tooth and like to always have enough chocolate with me on tour to not let it run too wild.

My fav lip balm: I love this scent because it smells exactly like the artificial cherry scent of some soap in public restrooms. I love that smell.

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

Demob Happy and SHVPES have been added to the line-up for Marshall Live. They join a bill that currently features Deaf Havana, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Dream Wife and Press To MECO, who will all perform at Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on 6th June.

14 UPSETMAGAZINE.

COM 14 Upset

A toothbrush: Cus nobody wants a stinky mouth in the van. That’s gross.

Lamby: The stuffed animal I’ve slept with since I was a baby. I rub its bow to destress and relax, haha.

The Regrettes tour the UK from 13th March.

2000TREES

HERE’S WHO THE BANDS THINK YOU SHOULD SEE AT...

Festivals are not a popularity contest, guys.

Except when we make bands choose who they most want to see from the line-up, and then count the answers. Then they kind of are. With that in mind, congrats The Wytches, Dinosaur Pile-Up and Hot Milk - you’ve won our very scientific study to figure out who’s gonna have the hottest sets at this summer’s 2000trees.

“Go and see Lizzy Farrall! She’s super creative and a lovely, bubbly human to boot! Perfect summer vibes.”

Rhys Wilcox, Dream State “I’m really looking forward to We Never Learned To Live over the Trees weekend. Their latest album ‘Sleepwalk Transmissions’ is a beautifully crafted melodic hardcore hook-fest. Think if Deftones, At The Drive-In and Alexisonfire bred with an extraterrestrial songsmith, writing lyrics on the conceptualisation of mankind and its shortcomings.”

James Thompson, Creature “Another fantastic line-up from 2000trees for 2020. Really looking forward to catching Black Futures, whose debut album was fantastic, not caught them live yet. Check out their video for ‘Youthman’, love that song. And a shout-out to The

“We recommend Dinosaur Pile-Up coz their album last year was the warmup anthems to every show we played.

Guaranteed to pump you the fuck up and make you lose your shit, clear your head and find your authentic self.”

Han Mee & James Shaw, Hot Milk Wytches too, looking forward to a great year of new music from them.”

Ritzy Bryan, The Joy Formidable “We’re super excited to catch The Wytches as we haven’t seen then live for ages. Tom and I went to a sold-out green door store to see something I’ve never forgotten.

People were crowd surfing to their stage entrance before they had even turned up. The whole show was absolutely mental, and considering I hadn’t heard a single track and was going purely off Tom’s recommendation, it was easily one of the best live shows I’d ever seen.

“It would be too easy to pick Jimmy Eat World as they were the first band I saw live about 25 years ago, so we’ll go with Dinosaur PileUp as our second pick. We’ve been fans of theirs for a few years now, but their latest record Celebrity Mansions is just packed full of smash hits! Tom saw them at Scala and said it was mental, so we’re looking forward to smashing back a cider while they’re on stage...”

Mark Harfield, GLOO “It’s pretty tricky to recommend just one band to watch at 2000trees as the line up is covered

“I will 100% be seeing Jimmy Eat World at Trees. They are a big nostalgia band for me. ‘Bleed America’ is one my favourite albums, it’s one that helped me through a lot. So much so, I have some lyrics from that record tattooed on me.”

Lizzy Farrall

with bands I love, but I’ve picked three pretty different bands to cover all bases that I wouldn’t miss.

Kicking things off on the first day with high energy party anthems check out Hot Milk on The Axiom Stage. Always such great vibes from them, ones to watch for sure.

Switching things up on the Friday, check out Silverstein. Emo me is very happy they’re on the line-up.

I’ll be singing along to every word and reminiscing my teenage years.

Finally, on Saturday you’ve got heavyweights Knocked Loose on the main stage. I saw them at Slam Dunk last year, and they make me want to put my fist through the wall in the best possible way.

Highly recommend it!”

Roland Johnson, Counterfeit “Here at the Halflives camp, we’re big fans of Hot Milk! When we saw they were playing 2000trees too we got very excited! We’re happy to have the occasion to see them live, we will definitely be in the pit for their set, and we hope many of you will join us!”

Linda Battilani, Halflives “Make sure you check out Calva Louise, we’ve played with them a few times and have always been totally blown away by how fun their live shows are and the intensity of their energy, musicianship and vibe. Their songs are catchy as hell and pack a fuzzy riotous punch in all the right places.”

Jen Hingley, False Advertising 2000trees will take place from 9th-11th July at Upcote Farm, near Cheltenham.

Upset 15

Riot_

DOES THIS LOOK INFECTED? Words: Ali Shutler.

Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

16 Upset

Later this year, Sum 41 will return to the UK to headline Slam Dunk. In the darkest depths of January though that feels like a lifetime away, so the band decided to swing

by London’s The Dome to give us a taste of their own brand of chaos.

Unlike many of their peers, Sum 41 have never really struggled to bridge the gap between the past and the present. Since the release of ‘Does This Look Infected?’, the band have leaned into their love of all things noisy rather than trying to echo the success of ‘All Killer, No Filler’. It’s kept them agile, unpredictable and free to do whatever they want. It’s why tonight, instead of promoting their ace new album ‘Order In Decline’, the band play ‘Does This Look Infected?’ in full.

From the opening spit of ‘The Hell Song’, all bubbling intensity and marching direction, through the sugary hit of ‘All Messed Up’, the confused battle of ‘My Direction’ and the gnarled destruction of ‘Hooch’, the album hasn’t aged a day. ‘Still Waiting’ is still a diamond-laced anthem of frustration, anger, hurt and hopeless dreaming. It’s not just the album that remains relevant in 2020, though.

Sum 41 seem to be making it up as they go along tonight. There’s a smirking, devil-may-care attitude to the band as they rip into deep cuts from 2000’s ‘Half Hour Of Power’, tear into newie ‘Out For Blood’ (“we’ve got to do at least one song from the new album,”) and play around with covers of Queen and Pink Floyd. It’s a whole load of fun, but still, the band sound incredible.

Rough, ready, but always in sync, their chaos sounds crystal clear.

As a closing one-two-three of poppunk classics ‘Motivation’, ‘In Too Deep’ and ‘Fat Lip’ squeeze the last of the energy from a room that hasn’t stopped moving, it can’t just be us that are that bit more excited for Slam Dunk now. P

WWW.SHARPTONERECORDS.CO W W W.FACEBOOK.COM/SHARPTONERECS

THE BEST NEW BANDS. THE HOTTEST NEW MUSIC.

18 Upset

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

PABST Berlin punks PABST have started out 2020 with a set at buzzfest Eurosonic, and a song about their drug of choice - ibuprofen...

STRANGE BONES This Blackpool four-piece are setting themselves up to be a vital new voice, with social commentary delivered via forceful, experimental punk.

WARGASM Picking up fans like no one’s business, Wargasm are a mustsee for festival season. Catch them at The Great Escape, 2000trees, and Live At Leeds.

SOCIAL ANIMALS

Newly signed to Rise Records, Minnesota newcomers Social Animals make emotive, scenic indie rock. Fresh from touring with label mates Angels & Airwaves, frontman Dedric Clark introduces his band.

Hey Dedric, how’s it going? How was the Angels & Airwaves tour?

Aside from Tom [DeLonge] being way taller than me, the shows have been amazing. We’re really looking forward to a few more with them in Canada this month. Also, watching Ilan rip those drums to pieces every night is truly flooring.

the Shanty Bottle Shop in Duluth, MN where he was playing bass behind the counter. I had an insane hangover, and I asked him to play the show that night so I could have less responsibility. He never left.

Did you grow up in a musical household? What drew you to becoming a musician?

No, I didn’t. I wrote poetry my entire life and it eventually started to make more sense in song form.

I played a half-assed “show” at a restaurant when I was 18, and they were naive enough to pay me for it.

Once I realised I could make money from it, I never turned back and never got another job.

Tell us about your band - where are you from, and how did you get Is being in a band living up to the together?

We are all from northern Minnesota hype so far? here in the US. Tony (guitar) and I were drawn together out of pure desperation in a musical ghost town. We started playing for whoever would give us the best drink specials. Boyd (drums) tried out for a show, and we tried to fire him right after. He refused to leave and just kept showing up to shows and setting up. It was really awkward. But it was a testament to his relentlessness, and he eventually got really good and we are of course best friends now. I met Roger one morning at his job at

If you mean living in a van, sleeping in Walmart parking lots every night, peeing into empty windshield wiper fluid bottles, all while surviving off a steady diet of alcohol and stolen gas station saltine crackers for about five years with your best friends before eventually signing to Rise Records; I’d say yeah it lived up to the hype.

Can you recall the first song you wrote together? What was it about?

It was about the insane winters in

Duluth, MN. I wrote it in the car on the way to a recording session in college. Eventually, we all moved to Portland, OR to take the band full time around 2014, and re-recorded there in Modest Mouse’s Ice Cream Party Studios. We ended up scrapping that whole album. It was for the best, trust me.

Has your songwriting style evolved much since then?

I hope it is much, much better.

How does being from the Midwest inform the kind of music you make?

I think it makes it more straightforward, cold, and dark.

How did you come to sign with Rise Records?

We just never gave up. It would have been easy too many times. I think our best quality is our ability to relentlessly lose, because we became amazing at it. But once the sting of losing wears off and you’re able to just plough through it, you get better. And once you get better, people notice.

What are you currently working on?

We finished our debut album, so I am piecing together words for album two. Constantly writing. P

Upset 19

20 Upset

Over the past few years, Milk Teeth have been through more than one change. Now, though, there’s a second album.

Spoiler; it’s worth the wait.

Words: Ali Shutler.

Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

Upset 21

At the end of 2015, Upset bundled into the backstage of London’s Electric Ballroom to catch up with Milk Teeth as they prepared to support punk legends Refused and to look ahead to the release of debut album, ‘Vile Child’. After years of DIY tours, weekend house shows and scrappy EPs (‘Smiling Politely’ and ‘Sad Sack’), the mates from Stroud looked set to leave their hometown behind and take on the world. Behind the scenes, though, it wasn’t as jubilant.

Before ‘Vile Child’ was even released, co-vocalist/founding member and guitarist Josh Bannister quit, explaining: “I left before I had to leave music entirely.” Former Hindsights frontperson Billy Hutton stepped in to fill the gap as Milk Teeth reshuffled, with bassist/vocalist Becky Blomfield taking on more of the spotlight. The double hit of their ‘Be Nice’ and ‘Go Away’ EPs followed the next year, and in 2018 it was announced that guitarist Chris Webb would be leaving Milk Teeth with immediate effect. No explanation was given, and still the band aren’t allowed to talk about it.

Nervus’ Em Foster stepped in and became a full-time member after Bill left the band. Drummer Oli Holbrook departed a year later, with both of them wanting to try their hand at something else.

Jack Kenny, Nervus’ drummer, joined the band and after a fierce, formidable and defiant performance opening the Main Stage at Reading & Leeds, the trio hit the studio to finally get album two sorted. It’s been turbulent and trying, but still, Milk Teeth never say die.

22 Upset

“THERE HAVE BEEN POINTS WHERE NONE OF US HAVE WANTED TO CARRY ON” “There’s so much that I can’t talk about publicly. And also, there’s so much that I don’t want to talk about it. So much crazy shit has happened behind the scenes over the past five years. If it was a movie, it would be the most action-packed movie going,” smiles Becky, before faltering.

“But it has not been healthy. It has not been okay. It’s been at the expense of peoples lives and mental well-being. There have been points where none of us have wanted to carry on.” But somehow, Becky is still standing.

Milk Teeth are still a band. “I guess that’s why this album means so much to me.”

‘Milk Teeth’, out in March via the band’s new, new home on Music For Nations, is a grungy blast of gnarled vulnerability and barbed wire hope. That self-titled name is a promise of intent. Becky has never wanted to change the name of the band because of “stubbornness”, she explains. “I didn’t want to have to let go of something that I helped build and was a very prominent part of. I think it was quite a statement to come back and actually be like, ‘No. I shouldn’t have to change this name’.” In fact, it’s the name of the album as well. “We’re still Milk Teeth, this is just the next part of it. We don’t want to forget the past ‘cause I love what we’ve done, but this is something new now. Let’s start over.”

While ‘Be Nice’ and ‘Go Away’ saw the band veer towards colour.

Shiny, polished and cartoonish,

“those EPs started to go too much towards the pop-punk scene, which is something I don’t identify with or associate myself with. That’s not where I see us,” Becky states. “We’ve always been noisier than that. The juxtaposition between ‘Owning Your Okayness’ live and on record is like Miley Cyrus and Courtney Love. It was frustrating, I was coming up with the songs, but I didn’t really have much to say in the final shape of what those songs look like.” As she admitted backstage at Reading, “I definitely lost my voice for a really long period of time. I was there, but I wasn’t there.”

To course correct, ‘Milk Teeth’ is a rugged, chaotic embrace of alternative rock. “We want it to sound more accurate a representation of what we sound like live.” Inspired by the music of their childhood - Manic Street Preachers, Placebo, Nirvana - the record thrashes with personality.

“There are melody and hooks, and there are pop elements to it, but if you come and see it live, it’s not going to be saccharine sweet, you know?” It never tries to mask its flaws. “It doesn’t matter if something isn’t exactly perfect, it was about the conveyance of the emotion.”

“This record is about a lot of reinvention and a lot of resilience,” continues Becky. “I’d say resilience is the key theme.

People that I have been able to speak to about what happened, most of them have said, ‘I literally

Upset 23

don’t know how you’re still doing this right now. If this was me, the band would have ended’. Yeah, I’ve had to be tough,” she admits with a sad smile. “I’ve had to put my armour on and go into battle over the past few years. I think you can hear that in the songs.” Rather than dwell on all the hurt, ‘Milk Teeth’ wrestles it into something more.

“I’m not going to let this band go.

Yes, these things have happened, and they suck but let’s use it to create something. It’s strength in adversity.”

From the opening blast of empowerment with ‘Given Up’, which sees Becky reach her limit and declare “I’m not doing this anymore” over raging fight music, straight into the goofy heart-eyed affection of ‘Flowers’, written on the back of a receipt in a McDonald’s after Becky’s first date with her

songs are though, ‘Milk Teeth’ excels at distilling them down to their core emotions.

“In essence, ‘Better’ is a breakup song. It’s a love song, and it’s a song about looking back at a relationship and finding the strength to say no. That’s partner Matt, the album is about relatable to a lot more than one thing. of people, whether it’s a romantic “There’s heartbreak and the fallout relationship, a toxic friendship, or from a relationship with someone a job with a shitty boss, everybody narcissistic that had a really has their limit. Everyone has that unhealthy balance of power, but point where they walk away after there are also songs about me and realising, I deserve better than my boyfriend,” says Becky. Three this.” years in the making, “it’s good to That moment of clarity “is really write about the good parts as well as poignant,” Becky considers. the bad.”

“It’s a moment of strength and ‘Dilute’ sees Becky refusing to play empowerment, and I think that’s down her struggles with depression the underlying thing in all these - “Don’t try to comprehend all the songs. Under all this darkness, all words sent to destroy my head, the sadness and all the pain, the expect me to dilute, so I’m easier to thing bubbling away underneath swallow” - while ‘Better’ is more to is that you’re going to be okay. It’s do with “a specific case of emotional going to be really hard, but you can abuse.” However personal these

“WE’RE STILL MILK TEETH, THIS IS JUST THE NEXT PART OF IT”

24 Upset

get through this.” Becky knows it because she’s lived it, and she’s still here.

‘Transparent’ isn’t angry, but it’s not without venom. Originally the lyrics dealt with this same situation as-is, but not wanting to go onstage every night and feel like a victim, the lyrics were twisted so Becky could feel tough and empowered.

“That’s the energy I wanted to put out into the world - rather than being about what other people have done to me, now it’s more about being strong in the face of this person. It’s a fuck you to that person.” It also champions feeling your feeling. “You don’t have to hide your sadness. Be open, be honest, feel it all and eventually there’ll be the day where you feel tough again. That was a really important message to share. “ Anger is important to ‘Milk Teeth’.

“It’s not hugely prevalent, but the little doses were too important to leave off.” And ‘Destroyer is the most furious point. “I was angry. I was sick of seeing somebody carry on with their life like nothing had happened and frustrated at the lack of repercussions they faced for their actions. It was out of control. Having to accept that and try and move on was really, really hard. Occasionally, I’ll still have a twinge of that fury. It sucks that we’ve had to deal with all this pain. And to be honest, it’s something I still have trouble with.”

When the song was released, it brought it all up for Becky again, and she really struggled. “When you give so much of yourself, everything feels really personal, and everything cuts deep.”

‘Smoke’ was written while Milk Teeth were on tour with Creeper.

Not having the best time, Becky would take herself away to her bunk and eat chocolate because she was sad, she missed Matt and was homesick, while ‘Medicine’ looks at the consequences on her relationship with Matt. “It wasn’t easy for him to see me go through things that are so complex and so triggering, whether that came

out through my eating” - Becky has a history of eating disorders that stem from childhood - “anxiety or suicidal ideation. There were times when I couldn’t leave the house, and obviously, that impacted him as well. There’s no manual for getting through what was happening. He’s one of the closest people to me, but our relationship was tested. That song was written when we nearly broke up.”

‘Milk Teeth’ covers a lot of ground, emotionally, sonically and lyrically, but perhaps its brightest moment is the wide-eyed celebration of ‘Circles’.

Gleaming, the track sees Becky saying thanks to her bandmate, Em. “It was the first time I’d met somebody that felt like they knew me better than I knew myself, and who also wanted to see me be okay.

That meant a lot at the time and did provide a lot of relief. Honestly, I don’t think I laughed for two years but having Em and Jack come in, they’re so silly, and it was nice to have a break from all this intense stuff that was happening.”

Sharing the load as a three-piece but also making decisions as a band and caring about each other’s feelings in everything they do, “it feels like we support each other and don’t want to see each other suffer,” Becky smiles, “which is obviously how it should be and is obviously a way better environment.”

That spark continues to blaze in the closing wish of ‘Wanna Be’. The hardest song to record, you can hear the emotion in Becky’s voice threatening to take control. It’s very personal to both her and Oli, and makes reference to a night where everything changed for them both.

Again, the details have to be kept unsaid, but the song feels like a goodbye and a fresh start.

“It’s not fine,” Becky insists. “I’m vulnerable, I’m angry.” But all the weight the album has been carrying is lifted as she admits, “I’m not fine now, but I want to be.” It’s a powerful close to a resilient record.

“That statement is very simple, but it stuck with me. It’s hopeful.”

“I always like to try and find hope,” she grins. “I’m a big fan of Matt Haig [author of Reasons to Be Alive, Notes On A Nervous Planet], and he always tries to encourage that even in your darkest times, where you can’t think about the next hour let

people to know it’s never too late to change their path. [With this album,] I hope that people learn to realise their own worth and if anybody can see themselves in any of the situations I was in, maybe it’ll give them a tiny bit of strength or help them realise they don’t have to stay in a situation that’s not good for them. I know how hard that is.

I hope this album makes people value themselves more.”

“These songs are like therapy,” she continues. “It’s not just me singing about something random.

It’s not fiction.

It’s my life. If other people can interact with that, that’s amazing. I was not very well in school when I was growing up. I really struggled to connect with people.

I was really

“I’VE HAD TO PUT MY ARMOUR ON AND GO INTO BATTLE” alone tomorrow, please try and hold on.

It’s that hope that will get you through.

Believe that you won’t feel like this forever.

Even if it feels like you’re never going to feel happy ever again, you will get there. You just have to ride it out.”

And Becky didn’t want the album to end with that feeling of everything’s over, everything’s done. “I want

Upset 27

an adverse time in your life. You can channel that negativity in a more positive way.

I could have just stopped. I could’ve just given up. I mean God, we talked about it.

When everything went down, I didn’t want to carry on. Oli didn’t want to carry on. I was done, I didn’t want to be in the public eye, I just wanted to get a regular job and not

agoraphobic; I didn’t leave my house for two years.

“Now, I value connection so much more now as an adult. I wouldn’t have got through half the stuff I’ve gotten through if I didn’t have people around me. Connection is everything. Not everybody has family or people close by, which is why community is so important to us. It’s why Nervus talk about it. It’s why Petrol Girls talk about it. It’s why Milk Teeth talk about it. Because what are we, without the other people in our lives? Just knowing that someone is there, or knowing you’re not alone, those little things keep you going.”

‘Milk Teeth’ wrestles with an awful lot. There’s a lot of pain, but through that, there’s sparkling hope and the promise to get better. It captures an everyday struggle, good days, bad days and the chaos that comes with recovery. Ultimately though, it is a positive album.

“The fact that it even exists is positive. I’d like to think that that inspires people. You can still create something positive out of

28 Upset

by something a bit more self-aware.

Rather than the ragtag chaos of old, there’s a stability to this version of Milk Teeth. They understand that if you’re in this for the long haul, you need to look after yourself, and each other, as much as possible.

“I’ve slowed down slightly, I’ve said no to tours, and I’ve only written three new songs which is way less than my normal pace. But there’s still two months until the album comes out,” she adds with a grin.

Her phone currently has snippets for 198 different sets of lyrics, and there’s an unfinished song about gun control that they couldn’t get quite right in time for this album, so we’ll see. For now, the band are readying themselves for the release

“I COULD HAVE JUST STOPPED. I COULD’VE JUST GIVEN UP. I MEAN GOD, WE TALKED ABOUT IT” deal with any of it because it was too painful.”

But here Milk Teeth are. “As much as it’s emotional and sad, there is hope in there.”

“We’ve always been a band that’s just kept going and going and going,” continues Becky. “I definitely felt a pressure to keep the momentum going, even though I really wasn’t well. And that was from within myself. I don’t like letting people down, but now I’m consciously making decisions that are the best for us and our wellbeing.”

That nervous energy that drove Becky to be constantly pushing things forward has been replaced

of ‘Milk Teeth’ and the headline tour that follows.

“I hope people understand how much it means that we could put this out,” starts Becky. “We’re really grateful that anybody cares. It was so close to never being a real tangible thing. It took a hell of a lot of work to get it to the point where it is now, and I hope people have faith in what we’re doing. If it was a completely different line-up and there were no original members, I could understand why people might lose their patience. But no, we’re still here. I’m still here. And I like to think there’s a future.” P Milk

Teeth’s self-titled album is out 27th March.

BRAIN Words: Alex Bradley.

Somehow, it has been five whole years since Four Year Strong released their selftitled sixth album.

But it’s not like they’ve really been away either, having toured the 10th anniversary of ‘Rise or Die Trying’ and reworked their songs for acoustic album ‘Some of You Will Like This, Some of You Won’t’, all while raising babies and getting older and wiser along the way.

For Dan O’Connor, it “feels like forever” since they released ‘Rise...’ when he looks back at how much his life has changed in the last few years, but the consensus around Four Year Strong is that their new album has definitely been worth the wait.

They’re back with ‘Brain Pain’; their most extreme album to date. “Extreme” in the sense that this album pushes further the sound of Four Year Strong in both directions; it includes

30 Upset

their heaviest hardcore sound and their poppiest too into a cohesive 12 tracks.

Those two different sides to this album is the exact reason why they decided to announce this album with both ‘Talking Myself In Circles’ and ‘Brain Pain’.

“The argument for releasing ‘Brain Pain’ was that it was one of the heavier songs on the record and that will get the people stoked on the heavier side of Four Year Strong excited,” Dan reasons.

“But ‘Talking Myself In Circles’, a lot of people who have heard the record seem to have gravitated to that song; on the poppier side of the band. Which side do we showcase first? And then we were like, ‘let’s just put them both out there, and then people get the bookends in regards to the spectrum of what this album is dished out to them at once’.”

Regardless of the various approaches, what carries throughout the new album is a palpable and fresh energy injected into the music and hype around the band, as Dan describes. “Probably since even the ‘Enemy Of The World’ days, there feels like there is a whole new energy in there.

“It’s the first record we have ever done where I keep going back and listening to it. I’ve listened to it the most out of any of our records we’ve done and every time I go back to it, I’m just so happy with the songs

that are on it, the flow of the record, the way songs flow into each other. I’m really really proud of this record.”

What makes ‘Brain Pain’ different is that’s its the first time Four Year Strong haven’t felt pressured into making an album because they were obliged to ahead of a tour or because a long time had passed. The result of that was an album they wanted to make on their own terms and timeline.

“We [were] not going to cut any corners, or make any sacrifices or any compromises, and do

NIACS

exactly what we want and exactly how we want to do it and have it all go off without a hitch. That was our main motivation behind starting to write this record,” Dan explains.

Between himself and Alan, they took six months of “crafting” the album conceptually for how it would sound and the dynamic they want to build into this project.

Then, following some, in Dan’s words, “really inspiring writing sessions”, they had about 50 songs - some just starts of songs but also some demos - and they arrived at the studio with little more than a concept. In the past, they’d usually head to the studio knowing exactly what the songs are but this time, “the end product was even a mystery to us until we were actually in the studio,” he admits.

Uncovering that mystery was helped massively by the band reuniting with ‘Enemy Of The World’ engineer Will Putney who stepped up to produce this record.

“It was one of the easiest decisions in making this record was to go with him,” Dan states, before adding, “the fact we waited to go back to Will for so long is one of the reasons why this record is able to sound as different and as special”.

Will’s inclusion, the months spent conceptualising, taking their time, exploring their sound (or “fucking around with peddles” in Dan’s words), you get the sense that ‘Brain Pain’ was designed to be their masterpiece and they’ve pulled it off.

The album is packed with traces of how they set out to explore their sound from the fuzzy guitar tones ripping up ‘Crazy Pills’, spacey expanses in ‘Young At Heart’, the menacing stampede of the drums in ‘Worst Part Of Me’ and delicate string arrangement on ‘Be Good When I’m Gone’. All stand perfectly as individual tracks but have been crafted to create a colossus when you take a step back and take in ‘Brain Pain’ as a whole.

The bigger challenge, it seems, was the tone of ‘Brain Pain’ lyrically. You get from the title alone and then names like ‘Get

32 Upset

Out of My Head’, ‘Crazy Pills’, ‘The Worst Part Of Me’ and ‘Usefully Useless’ that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. But, in an album where they are pushing themselves musically, then its fitting that this is the album where they expose themselves more emotionally too.

Dan is quick to point out that, “We’re going through nothing more than what everyone else goes through. We are not standing on a ledge tomorrow! We are all good!”

He continues: “We always wanted to make sure the lyrics are real, and they have to do with us, but they’re also something that can be interpreted and latched onto by our audience.

“The one thing that Al and I have been going through, kind of at the same time, is... not really an identity crisis, but we are both 30-year-old men. I have kids, we both have wives and houses and other things going on at home that

are very adult, but we also have this pop-punk band where we go on stage, and we yell fucking swear words in people’s faces and get kids to go crazy and jump off things.

Just trying to work out where, as a human being, I actually lie in that spectrum of things?”

“We both have been going on a journey of ‘who am I? Am I this guy that yells on stage or this guy at home? Which one of these is the act and where am I falling in the spectrum of things?’ I feel like everyone goes through that. I don’t think you have to be a certain age to go on this journey of ‘who are you?’ and that was the big motivation behind it.”

The one song that bridges the gap the most between the “Dad Dan” and “band Dan” comes in the ballad ‘Be Good When I’m Gone’.

“I came up with the line ‘be good when I’m gone’ because it’s what I say to my kids every time

I leave the house, and every time I go on tour. That’s kind of the whole structure of that song. It’s just about me leaving for a long time on tour and saying goodbye to my kids and wondering what they think about that.”

The track was the only one the band came up with while in the studio after Will Putney encouraged them to include something more acoustic to help break up the album.

After originally struggling to come up with something for a lower energy number, a late-night moment

to ‘Wasting Time’ thanks to its caveman-style rhythm on the double kick and a chorus “you can sink your teeth into”, according to Dan, of “Go on and rip my beating heart out / Fill my body up with disease / It doesn’t matter if I’m rotting from the inside out /You’re still the worst part of me”.

It’s another tune from the album which is going to become a whole other beast when performed live.

Alongside ‘Get Out Of My Head’ and ‘Learn To Love The Lie’, its one of the tracks from ‘Brain Pain’ that Dan is keen to show off live and scream in people’s faces soon.

The plan so far is for “a shit load of touring” this year and to be back for more than just the currently scheduled dates at Slam Dunk this May. One plan that is unlikely to materialise this year is a celebration to mark 10 years of ‘Enemy Of The World’ thanks to the plans take ‘Brain Pain’ on the road extensively. But Dan is keen to assure that are “working something out” even if its not a conventional anniversary tour.

He says, “Whether it’s a 10 year, 11 year or 12 year... people are still gonna be excited to have of inspiration brought the song an anniversary tour. It’s on the together within about 15 minutes, docket of things we have to do, but and after Al and Dan worked we just want to make sure we get out the string arrangement, that everything done that we want to track became one do with this record before we shut of the most special that up. moments on the “It’s cool to have such a long album. term plan in terms of things to Nestled between support. I mean once this record the nostalgia-soaked cycle has been wrapped up then we bop of ‘Seventeen’ can go right into the anniversary and the snarling and supporting that record.”

‘Worst Part Of Me’, In truth, one of the biggest it’s part of how this tributes Four Year Strong could album was designed give to ‘Enemy Of The World’ is to to breathe. It opens create an album that can stand in with all guns blazing the test of time in just the same but by the time those way. With Will working on the more measured production side, their re-energised songs roll around outlook and songs that capable of it is much needed building you up and knocking you respite. Thankfully, back down again, ‘Brain Pain’ is an just in case you album which can go toe-to-toe with worried they were softening in their very best work. P Four Year their old age, ‘Worst Part Of Me’ is Strong’s album ‘Brain Pain’ is out all the rage and a bit of a throwback 28th February.

“IT’S THE FIRST RECORD WE HAVE EVER DONE WHERE I KEEP GOING BACK AND LISTENING TO IT”

Upset 33

If you were putting together a list of the UK’s most hyped bands, there’s a good chance Loathe would be somewhere near the top. For good reason, too their second album 34 Upset

‘I Let It In And It Took Everything’ sees them take experimental metal to new heights. Bassist Feisal El-Khazragi tells us more.

Hi Feisal, how are you today? Are you having a good 2020 so far?

Yes, this year has been so great already. It’s been amazing seeing the fruition of a lot of hard work that has been going on behind-thescenes for the past year and a half come to life and be received so well and with this amount of positivity and love.

Tell us about your second album, when did you start putting it together and what was your mindset like going into it?

We began piecing together the

vision for this record about a year and a half ago. It took 451 days from inception to the completion and submission of the album, back in late October.

It was interesting, this mindset. Going into it as a fan of the band (as this was my first album with Loathe) we knew we didn’t want to create the same record again - an outlook that we have on everything we create. The

Upset 35

idea was not necessarily to ‘surpass’ previous works so to speak, but to ‘expand’ the collection of art that is out under the name of Loathe.

also making whatever we release visually or sonically very ‘of its era’ and most importantly very true to us as people and as a band.

over the next few years? Are there any bands you feel are doing particularly exciting things with their music at the moment?

I believe the genre is definitely becoming more varied.

The growing inclusion of metal and At the start of the process when heavier genres in the mainstream piecing together the vision for this is almost allowing or encouraging record, we were toying with the idea On the album itself, there are a few people to be themselves a lot more Easter eggs, yes. We enjoy being of approaching it as an anthology, and express themselves visually as with each song telling its own story, quite meta and self-referential well as sonically in more and more yet still remaining very ambiguous, whether we’re referencing past arts eccentric and amazing ways. This or laying the groundwork for things provides the environment for heavy lyrically. This is all reflected in to be referenced in future works. how eclectic the album ended up music to produce a new breed of Yes, we first teased the album name artists that will continue to break sounding. at the Heavy Music Awards back the boundaries of music and art as The record’s scale is massive, in August. People were definitely we know it. what took the most time to get confused as it seemed to completely Honestly, (not that that I’m biased right? Were there any challenges halt any clapping that happened because they’re my favourite band you were especially pleased to at the end of the overcome? set and left many Thank you, we’re all glad to hear people standing there that. The sonic eclecticism that thinking ‘...what just this record houses came very happened?’. I don’t naturally to us. If anything, we know if people worked were struggling to stick to one vibe it out or anything, but or feeling. The writing process the reaction was what was spread out over a long period we wanted. and written at many locations, I would like to finish definitely lending to how diverse it off this answer by became. saying that any Easter eggs won’t be Did you draw from any influences purely a sonic thing. that might surprise fans?

Everything we do has Many. The musical influences a meaning, a purpose people would expect from bands and a bigger part in such as Meshuggah and Deftones the full picture that right the way through to Radiohead, we are painting.

Flying Lotus, My Bloody Valentine, You guys have put The Verve and 00s/90s rock which a lot of thought into how to push may come as more of a surprise. of all time) I feel as though The 1975 your sound further, are there any are one of, if not the most exciting Our influences aren’t only ever areas of metal you’d like to see a sonic though - we enjoy drawing band of our time now. Architects, inspiration on fashion through our more widespread exploration of?

Bring Me The Horizon, Slowthai, Thank you. Although we’ve covered and Skepta I respect massively for favourite artists, and like music, a lot of new ground on this record, we express ourselves with these bringing the mainstream to their I feel as though there is much more respective genres. influences in mind too. to explore in those new-found areas On a more underground level, How are your ideas manifesting of our sound. We’re all as excited (though probably for not much via mediums like artwork and live as anyone to see and hear what longer), bands such as Sleep Token, shows with this album? happens next.

Phoxjaw and Holding Absence I All we knew is that we wanted Focusing in on metal, however, think are next bands to take that to make something that looked I’d personally like the see more big step up and straddle the line timeless. There was an effort to exploration of old school shoegaze between mainstream and the carry a lot of the imagery into the through the lens of metal. I think alternative world in the future, live show through as many avenues that will be the next big influence however small that line may be. P as we could. Much of every aspect on metal music. of the band bleeds into the other, Loathe’s album ‘I Let It In And It Where do you see the genre going Took Everything’ is out now. giving a lot of continuity while

Did you start out with an overarching concept for this one?

Are there many teasers or Easter eggs for fans to work out? You’ve been secretly flashing up the album name onstage, right?

“EVERYTHING WE DO HAS A MEANING, A PURPOSE AND A BIGGER PART IN THE FULL PICTURE THAT WE ARE PAINTING”

36 Upset

Upset 37

DOUB TROUB

BLE BLE

Two punks and a goth walk into the National Gallery Café… no, dear reader, this isn’t the start of a very obscure joke – it’s the scene-setting start to a meeting with the indomitable duo Nova Twins. Words: Tyler Damara Kelly.

Cut a short story even shorter, we eventually wind up in the more appropriate setting of a crypt, and over a suspiciously healthy and thoroughly nourishing meal of pea soup and peppermint tea, we discuss all things in the manner of rock and roll.

Nova Twins have been steadily gaining momentum on the underground circuit for a number of years. With an amorphous signature that fleets between gritty punk, riotous grime, and a sound that often is so raucous that it denies all definition, there’s a sense of exploring the unknown which the flows through their naturally unhinged noise. Riotous bass lines that simultaneously soothe and assault the senses, blurred with ravaging vocals that oscillate between saccharine and murderous; Nova Twins are carving their own path in the music industry and since they’re pretty much the first of their kind; they get to make the rules.

“When we first did music, we were doing it for ourselves simply because we wanted to make music together. Then when you realise how it can affect [people] and how it can be a political thing, you’re suddenly more woke and aware of what you’re doing.

You feel more precious about things,” vocalist and guitarist Amy Love explains of their inception.

After being introduced to their music by a member of Nothing

Upset 39

But Thieves, producer Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Kasabian) got in touch with Nova Twins about whether they’d be up for working with him.

The timing couldn’t have been more spot-on, as they had just finished up writing songs with an album in mind.

There’s always the fear of the unknown, and wanting to please everyone, that goes hand in hand with making a debut album, but as a band who have built their craft around the live set, it was imperative to them that there were no backing tracks or synths used in the production. Amy says that the main points that they gave to Jim were that they just wanted it to be a three-piece, and if there were any extra layering, then it had to come from their instruments and pedalboards only. Bassist Georgia Love adds that she’s glad that they were absolute in what they wanted to get out of it because “now when we play it live, it’s like the record. Obviously, it sounds better on record but close enough because we’ve done it as exact as we could.”

Let it be said that ‘Who Are The Girls?’ is one hell of a debut. From the Tim Burton-esque ‘Ivory Tower’ to the industrial rave à la The Prodigy in ‘Taxi’. Amy and Georgia are masters at what they do, and their high expectations bring along a kind of perfectionism to it all. So much so that ten minutes before having to submit the album, they were trying to make changes. Thematically, ‘Who Are The Girls?’ is an introduction to the world of Nova. It is about the pair delving into their craft and seeing how far they can go with conjuring up new sounds. “We’re in our own bubble a lot of the time,” says Amy of how serious they can be with their gear and the way that they do things. “It would definitely be interesting to show people the inner workings.”

With a sound so unique, it would be nothing short of crazy not to be secretive about it. Both Amy and Georgia are very specific about the kind of gear they use since it

40 Upset

makes up their signature colossal wall of noise. So, then. What is the secret ingredient to Nova?

God loves a trier, but they’re not giving it up that easily! Speaking of why she’s so protective over her pedalboard Georgia says, “People at the beginning used to just take pictures of it. I’d get so annoyed, I felt like it was theft! You don’t even know how many years I took to build it. It’s like you can’t just take it, buy it, and do it! So, somebody did that a few times and I just ducttaped the shit out of it.”

It’s this idea of reclaiming what is yours and not allowing somebody to step into your lane

the time. A little bit of vulnerability is sometimes a good thing. I think a problem we have in this society is, everyone is posting what they want everyone to think, and nothing is tangible or real anymore, and sometimes it’s a case of aggression.

Sometimes you act out, and it might not be appropriate, or it’s appropriate for that moment, but then you get over it.”

Georgia tells us that recently she had someone on the street approach her to try and buy her for the evening. As anybody would react, she was livid and made sure the person was aware of that. Tying in with the notion of ‘Not My Day’,

WE’RE THE ONLY WOMEN OF COLOUR without permission that bleeds throughout the songs on the album. ‘Bullet’ is an unwavering, unapologetic response on behalf of all of the women who have been subject to catcalling, but there is also more depth to it as Amy explains: “’Bullet’ was touching more onto sexuality. We know that women are under so much more scrutiny and everything; we’re expected to get criticised 24/7, to be strong and just take it. It was just a hit back at saying we’re taking our power back, and you know what?

Fuck everyone else who has tried to come between that.”

Nova Twins are flying the flag for anyone sick of having to change themselves to please the patriarchy. ‘Not My Day’ is in Amy’s words, “about how sometimes you can have a really shitty day and you don’t have to put on a brave face all

Amy adds: “People let a lot of little things pass – well, what some people perceive to be little – for a long time. It was never appropriate, but now because there’s so much awareness, people are starting to stick up for it because no, you can’t say something about my body and think I’m just gonna give a little smile back and giggle. No, it’s not funny.”

If you are a person of colour who feels like they have no faces to relate to in the music industry, then Nova Twins are part of a wave of musicians that are trying to create a sense of community for you to exist in. “The underground is starting to catch-up and being more open and more inclusive to the LGBT community, people of colour and everyone on that scene.

The mainstream is not having it at all, so that’s where we still have to

keep fighting to push through. We haven’t got there yet.”

Looking back to four or five years ago when the underground scene was opening up and being more inclusive; while the progress was good, it was still biased. “If you sounded like The Slits, Bikini Kill or L7, and if you were blonde it was great because you could fit into that kind of market. We didn’t fit into that, so we didn’t start getting picked up until a couple of years in. It’s amazing because you see people like Big Joanie and Fuck You, Pay Us coming through and Skinny Girl Diet who are like the main ones in the UK representing at that particular time, and it was kind of scarce for women of colour in live music in the rock world.

[In] the rock world you’ve just got white skin, and there’s no place for people like us, so we had to create our own lane.”

Georgia has noticed that there’s a trend in the people who have supported their career thus far. “What I find interesting is that most of the bands that have brought us on, like the bigger bands, are people of colour – Prophets of Rage, Tom Morello, FEVER 333, Ho99o9, D12, Skunk Anansie. They’re trying to bring up people of colour to carry on the flag.”

This is especially true for Jason Aalon Butler of FEVER 333 who has signed Nova Twins to his artist collective, 333 WRECKORDS. It’s this sense of community and

belonging that the duo are hoping their music will provide. “You feel a responsibility to do things and be the best we can, and really represent. Usually, on festival bills, we’re the only women of colour, and sometimes women, so we’ve got to wave the flag hard and keep pushing through.”

So, what lesson can be learnt from walking into a room that doesn’t feel like it’s a suitable or safe space for you? Walk straight back out and find the place in which you belong, because sometimes it will be waiting just a little bit further ahead. Trust your gut, and know that not fitting in, is occasionally for the best. P Nova

Twins’ debut album ‘Who Are The Girls?’ is out 28th February.

Upset 41

Rated_ THE OFFICIAL VERDICT ON EVERYTHING

ASH

TEENAGE WILDLIFE: 25 YEARS OF ASH

eeeee

than they have been in a decade.

Freeing themselves from scale and expectation, this will never top ‘American Idiot’ and nor is it pretending to. The artwork for ‘Father of All…’ itself is a FATHER OF ALL MOTHERFUCKERS goofy graffiti over that totemic album’s cover which seems to eeeee reinforce that message of a band done trying to best themselves and simply enjoying their time lumsy title aside, Green together. Closing track ‘Graffitia’ Day’s thirteenth (count is proof that even when they’re ‘em) full-length ‘Father goofing around Green Day can of all Motherfuckers’ is a produce timeless anthems. refreshingly light breeze of retro Channelling guitar stabs from The Clash and chiming rock songs that whizzes by in organs from Elvis Costello, it’s barely half an hour. an essential addition to the Eschewing the grandiosity trio’s canon and lingers in the of their punk-operas and flabby excess of their recent trilogy, the mind long after its cute coda.

All of which is perfectly fine. album finds Billie, Mike and Tre The decision to sample a cover in the rehearsal room having pure fun. The title-track features version of a Gary Glitter song falsetto vocals and 60s handclaps on ‘Oh Yeah’ really isn’t though - there’s nothing punk about in a rollicking garage jam, the supporting abusers. That aside, romance of ‘Meet Me on the Roof’ rides on a new-wave shuffle is it a weighty album? No. Going to revolutionise the scene? and ‘I Was a Teenage Teenager’ Absolutely not. Three friends is chugging booze-fuelled cutting loose, loving their band punk. The guitars find a nice and adding some belters to their niche between the crunching stadium setlist? There’s (almost) distortion of ‘American Idiot’ nothing wrong with that. P and squeaky-clean polish of the doomed trilogy, and Mike Dirnt’s Dillon Eastoe basslines are more adventurous

GREEN DAY

C

42 Upset

Teenage life may be long gone for Ash, but as this round-up of the last quarter of a century shows, few ever captured it as well as the County Down band.

Seeming to arrive fully-formed at the tender age of 17 with their minialbum debut ‘Trailer’ in 1994, the trio of Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray quickly perfected their brand of indie poppunk with a string of ridiculously catchy bangers. Perhaps wisely set up like a playlist on shuffle, there is an easy ebb and flow to ‘Teenage Wildlife’. Sure, at 54 tracks long there is the odd misfire and repetition creeps in at points - but the structure of the record means that a glistening gem is always around the corner. P

Jamie MacMillan

BAMBARA STRAY

eeeee

An impenetrable darkness lies all over ‘Stray’, Bambara’s swift follow-up to 2018’s criticallyacclaimed ‘Shadow On Everything’. Black of heart and dark of mind, it is a record stalked by Death and seems to only even exist in the depths of night. Once again taking a literary approach to songwriting, here a rotten onion of interconnected stories and layers are revealed on each listen, with characters that seem minor at one point returning to the fore in another, before retreating back into the gloom. Far from easy listening then, but never less than captivating.

By the end, after warnings that “Death is what you make it, but you’ll find out soon” and tales of murderers staring through your windows late at night, you’re gonna want to doublecheck those locks and turn on all the lights afterwards. P Jamie

MacMillan

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH F8

eeeee

It’s a full-on embellished abolition for Five Finger and their past on eighth outing ‘F8’, with dirty hands digging deep into the brutality that propelled them to their current top-dog status. It’s still chock-full of the same frenetic atmosphere, but there are elements of safety in the onslaught. While dying for crowd singalongs (‘A Little Bit Off’), it’s the poignancy which strikes like lightning; Ivan’s struggles with alcoholism, and everything else which has contributed to the Five Finger story thus far. ‘F8’ will undoubtedly stand as an important milestone for the band on a personal level given the demons it’s exorcising, and it reinforces that the Five Finger behemoth is indeed far from finished.

P Steven Loftin

FOUR YEAR STRONG BRAIN PAIN

eeeee

Nearly two decades in, and Four Year Strong don’t sound remotely like a band of their vintage.

Indeed, sixth fulllength ‘Brain Pain’ still has that raw punch and enthusiasm of a band significantly greener round the gills, coupled with the experience of one

fully secure in their own skins. ‘Get Out Of My Head’ is a riot firmly on its own terms, while ‘Crazy Pills’ matches a satisfying crunch with infectious melody. Open, honest and direct to a fault, another twenty years might be pushing it, but Four Year Strong still have plenty of gas left in the tank. P Dan Harrison

HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD NEW EMPIRE VOL.1

eeeee

Six albums is an impressive achievement by any band, and Hollywood Undead have managed that feat on ‘New Empire’ still sounding as invigorated and energised as ever.

A short sharp shock of anthems and riffs it’s the full Hollywood Undead experience.

The album is relentlessly in your face with skyscraping chorus’ designed to raise roofs. ‘Heart of a Champion’ and ‘Frantic’ are worthy new anthems to add to their cannon.

There’s precious little nuance here.

Hollywood Undead didn’t get where they are by being shrinking violets, and they don’t have any time for subtleties. Best consumed as a startling shot of adrenaline it’s not an album in which you’ll find much new, but it’s high octane and does everything you’d want from a

Hollywood Undead record. P

Martyn Young

INTECHNICOLOUR BIG SLEEPER

eeeee

Distinctive in their sludgy rock sound and relentless in its driving intensity, Brighton’s stoner rockers INTECHNICOLOUR ramp things up to the extreme on ‘Big Sleeper’.

Big, heavy riffs and a thundering rock attack is the defining sound here and coupled with the fevered vocals of Tobie Anderson it makes for a frequently thrilling experience. Opening track’ Miami Funk’ bursts out of the blocks and similar rib shaking riffs illuminate tracks like ‘Shaker’ and the doomy death march of ‘Gallon Man’.

INTECHNICOLOUR are a band who know their strengths and know their sound, and they play to them expertly on an album that accentuates their best qualities.

The record is a concise nine tracks long, but each of the songs sprawls out into a cavernous expanse culminating in the atmospheric and portentous drone of closing track ‘Tortoise’ which is a fine example of the band’s sense of ambition on an impressive debut album. P Martyn Young

Upset 43

Rated_ Gillespie are one thing, but vital new voices like Princess Nokia are something else entirely.

Understanding that genre boundaries are more a suggestion than a necessity, more bands of their vintage could learn a lesson here. P Dan Harrison

SOCCER MOMMY COLOR THEORY

eeeee

LOATHE

I LET IT IN AND IT TOOK EVERYTHING

eeeee

Occasionally, a heavy band will make an impact outside of their usual haunts. It’s not always the easiest journey to make - standard routes to wider audiences don’t easily open themselves up to acts of the louder variety - but Loathe are certainly well on their way. As ‘I Let It In And It Took Everything’ proves, the band’s second full-length isn’t the kind of record to stick within established lines. Pulling from new, interesting places, it’s more than capable of delivering a mighty punch, too. They may come from the underground, but that sound you hear is the floor shaking. P Dan

Harrison

NOVA TWINS WHO ARE THE GIRLS?

eeeee

The future is here.

Nova Twins are a punch to the jaw of stale-male rock everywhere, and they’re ready to sweep everyone into their vortex.

Finding a place on Jason Aalon Butler’s (Fever 333) label 333 Wreckords, they offer up an

44 Upset

untamed energy that wants to change the world. Across ‘Who Are The Girls?’, wildly screeching guitars, thick, growling bass lines, break-neck drums and sample sounds are all done to hair-raising levels. Unrelenting - and fun - in the best way possible, there’s no air of pretension here; Nova Twins know the world is serious enough already. From the creeper-warning “Don’t you ever touch my hair unless you’re paid to cut it” (‘Bullet’) to the mission statement of “I feel so ignored I want to be adored” (‘Not My Day’), ‘Who Are The Girls?’ is packed with lifeforce. P Steven Loftin

SILVERSTEIN

A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DROWN

eeeee

20-year anniversaries are usually a point for a band to reflect, sort through the attic and then cash in with some sort of special edition of a record long forgotten. Not so Silverstein, though. Instead, the post-hardcore legends return with a ninth studio album, ‘A Beautiful Place To Drown’ - a determination to keep pushing onwards overriding any opportunistic urge.

It’s a record unafraid to try new things, too. Guests like Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo or Underoath’s Aaron

Soccer Mommy, aka 22-year-old Sophie Allison from Nashville, never ceases to amaze with her sonic and emotional range.

Feeling like a natural progression from 2018’s instant-classic ‘Clean’, ‘color theory’ steps up production while staying true to her lo-fi bedroom roots. Where ‘Clean’ was told in short vignettes, ‘color theory’ is a full novel of emotional insights.

Soccer Mommy stays introspective, shifting her focus from her relationships with others to her relationship with herself. The album strives to understand how to not only live, but live with yourself, with Sophie flirting with her own personal devil. The album’s emotional climax is the ethereal and beautifully haunting ‘yellow is the color of her eyes’, an intimate, detailed story of love and grief, inspired by her mother.

Soccer Mommy has grown tremendously as an artist in the two years since her last album, and she’s clearly yet to reach the pinnacle of her musical prowess.

P Kelly Twardziak

THE AMITY AFFLICTION

EVERYONE LOVES YOU... ONCE YOU LEAVE THEM

eeeee

Born from a re-found love for heavy music, The Amity Affliction aren’t

mucking about with their latest full-length, ‘Everyone Loves You... Once You Leave Them’.

Arriving in a rasping, atmospheric scream and a thumping charge, ‘Coffin’ sets the stall out from the word go.

Ear-splitting, direct and frequently devastating, moments of relative contemplation or melody only highlight those crunching riffs even further. P Dan Harrison

THE WONDER YEARS

BURST AND DECAY (VOLUME II) EP

eeeee

The heart of The Wonder Years’ music has always resided deep in the soul of frontman Dan ’Soupy’ Campbell’s words; offering up a look at his life and mind. With ‘Burst & Decay’, the covering elements - distorted guitars, fast-paced drums - are stripped away to reveal the beating heart of a songwriter. The handful of songs that get the re-working treatment on the second edition of this project, each chosen to re-highlight forgotten deep cuts, have the care and attention they deserve. It’s not just ‘strap on an acoustic and have a go’, they’re re-imagined to create a whole new world to get lost in.

The fact that the heart of the songs is kept true to form is what makes ‘Burst & Decay’ so special; the storytelling ‘I Wanted So Badly To Brave’ finds new depths in its tale of abusive parents, while the hometown homaging ‘Hoodie Weather’ knows that lost-athome feeling all too well and echoes it through piano and sweeping strings. Is there anything The Wonder Years can’t do? P Steven Loftin

LE BUTCHERETTES DON’T BLEED EP

eeeee

From the scratchy opening of ‘Wounds Belong To Me’, ‘Don’t Bleed’ is an EP running to its own rulebook. Shifting from scratchy demo to high res, high gloss brilliance, ‘Out For You’ is as infectious as ‘Don’t Bleed, You’re In The Middle Of The Forest’ is cool.

While peers stick to established routes, Le Butcherettes are doing something all on their own.

It works. Dan Harrison

LE BUTCHERETTES’ TERESA SUÁREZ COSÍO EXPLAINS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND NEW EP, ‘DON’T BLEED’ WOUNDS BELONG TO ME

It was about the things from childhood we keep and hold on to so much that we end up attracting and/or manifesting different versions of the same trauma. It was supposed to serve as a reminder that always “this too shall pass” and so we just need to take one day at a time. It was a track that I recorded on a little taperecorder alone in the dark in our tour van one night.

OUT FOR YOU

How the situations we get ourselves into for better or for worse are exactly where we need to be in order to learn and overcome. How sometimes this can lead to self-sabotage because secretly we don’t want to disrupt our stasis. And how other times this crisis can inspire a deep reflection that gives us the motivation we lacked initially to conquer it.

DON’T BLEED, YOU’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST

Was a slow awakening to some uncomfortable truths about our biological nature. About how to rationalise and broker a deal between the emotional and the intellectual. And how as women we are always, in the eyes of others, a prey to hunt as we are always bleeding.

NOW I KNOW

This was an acknowledgement of the role that we ourselves play in continuing negative, detrimental relationships. A road map to an inner process of attaining and holding true self-respect. A farewell to the parts that were never good and never us in the first place.

TUNISIA

An intense fever dream of images that happened so quickly I could not put it into words. Tried anyway and failed. Yes, it was while masturbating.

LOVE SOMEONE

How giving yourself completely to something is the only way to actually do that thing. How true openness, communication and unconditional acceptance comes also comes with a price. How it feels when you finally realise it’s all more than worth it.

BOOM

It’s trying to make sense of where we’re at socially but coming up short.

It’s amazement, confusion and empathy at the terror of it all. It’s comfort in the ultimate inevitability of this, and a bittersweet embrace in the sentiment that happiness is indeed a warm gun. P

Upset 45

EVERYONE HAS THOSE FORMATIVE BANDS AND TRACKS THAT FIRST GOT THEM INTO MUSIC AND HELPED SHAPE THEIR VERY BEING. THIS MONTH, KENTA KOIE OF CROSSFAITH TAKES US THROUGH SOME THE SONGS THAT MEANT THE MOST TO HIM DURING HIS TEENAGE YEARS. WITH... KENTA KOIE, CROSSFAITH AEROSMITH I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing

I discovered this song through [1998 film] Armageddon then I fell in love with their music; my first record was their ‘best of’ album. All I had was the cheapest portable CD player, I was always with that and listened over and over again.

LIMP BIZKIT My Generation

I was digging pop-punk after Aerosmith, then I accidentally watched music video for ‘My Generation’. At that time, I’d never heard any nu-metal stuff, and that song doesn’t have specific melody but has a strong hook. It definitely gave me a new inspiration.

THE USED Taste of Ink

After my nu-metal era, screamo was getting popular, and it also changed my mind big time. It’s rougher than metal music, in a good way for me. Their singer Bert was a huge inspiration.

Years and years ago, we played together out here and we brought an acoustic guitar and they signed it. I’ll never forget that moment.

UNDEROATH It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door

I was spending time in record stores to find new music pretty much every single day. One of these days, I bought the compilation album of Vans Warped Tour 2005.

This song is on that album, and their music style was completely

46 Upset

fresh to me, there are emotional screams and beautiful melodies on it. Spencer’s scream was one of the reasons for me to start screaming in my band. If I didn’t find their music, then I might not be playing in the band.

SKRILLEX Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites

My friends played this song to me, and I couldn’t get it as musically, but there was the real feeling.

Sonny Moore uses electronic sounds to make a riot. That was the moment of new era of electronic music. I was so shocked by his music and started digging electronic music even more.

SLIPKNOT People=Shit

I wasn’t a cool kid at school, and I was not satisfied with school life at all, but music always helps me to find my own identity. Slipknot helped me to find the anger inside of me. And they’re still one of my favourite bands.

THE PRODIGY Invaders Must Die

I watched their show at Japanese music festival Summer Sonic, and it blew my mind. Their show was my first experience of dance music, and I felt the possibility of dance music as live music. I just couldn’t stop dancing during their entire set.

PENDULUM Propane Nightmare

Now I’m big fan of bass music, and they are the reason why. And we started to mix with metal music with drum’n’bass. And I love their attitude, Rob getting famous with Knife Party on the EDM scene, then he brought Pendulum in the main stage of Ultra Music. It’s beautiful, and I was so glad that they didn’t forget the love for live music. P

Crossfaith tour the UK from 2nd March.