** Plus ** Salem Brutus Mayday Parade Seaway Black Foxxes The OBGMs Bitch Falcon + loads more
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PUP
While She Sleeps
Z! Z A T
"F o wa r m nt y w ed
erything I told ev een ut here we are" eb I'v ible, b e, s lif os le mp ho as i w
iD K H
OW
HA
VE
ARR
IVED!
RA Z Z MA
Laura Jane Grace
RESEARCH SUBJECT
I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
VISUAL
REFERENCE
THE DEBUT ALBUM ‘RAZZMATAZZ’ DELIVERANCE
23 OCTOBER, 2020
FEARLESSRECORDS.COM • iDKHOW.COM
A PRESENTATION OF MUSIC AND THE SPOKEN WORD
NOVEMBER 2020 Issue 60
RIOT 4. SALEM 8. PUP 11. SEAWAY 12. HAPPY. 14. WHILE SHE SLEEPS 16. BRUTUS 20. LAKE SAINT DANIEL 24. HANDS LIKE HOUSES 26. MAYDAY PARADE ABOUT TO BREAK 28. LAURAN HIBBERD FEATURES 30. IDKHOW 40. BLACK FOXXES 44. LAURA JANE GRACE 48. THE OBGMS 52. BITCH FALCON REVIEWS 56. IDKHOW 57. GHOSTEMANE TEENAGE KICKS 58. PILLOW QUEENS
Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Chloe Johnson, Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Edie McQueen, Finlay Holden, Jasleen Dhindsa, Jessica Goodman, Kelsey McClure, Linsey Teggert, Melissa Darragh, Rob Mair, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Snappers Amanda Fotes, Connor Laws, Danny Moshino, Eve Vink, Guadalupe Bustos, Jess Baumung, Katie Hovland, Lauren Perry, Micala Austin, Nicholas O'Donnell, @savebeee, Sarah Butler, Wyatt Clough P U B L I S H E D F RO M
W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M U N I T 10, 23 G RA N G E RO A D, H A S T I N G S, T N34 2R L
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. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which The Bunker Publishing Ltd holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.
HELLO.
Let's be honest, while rock music is brilliant, it can also - on occasion - be a bit predictable. Men, probably with beards, almost certainly with one of two styles of shirt, making music they're pretty confident will gain the approval of their identical peers. Said music might be great, but it's also solid, dependable, expected. But that's not everything. There are also weird, wonderful oddballs. Those willing to play with the templates or throw them out altogether. To take fantastical stories and turn them into full-on mythology. When they come along, they need to be cherished. It's with that in mind we welcome iDKHOW to the cover of Upset for the first time. They're stars already, but with their new album 'Razzmatazz', they're already going interstellar. Cherish them.
S tephen
Editor / @stephenackroyd
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THIS MONTH IN ROCK
EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK
"A LOT OF THE THEMES WITH SALEM ARE CUTE BUT DEADLY" Words: Jessica Goodman.
Despite having just released an album with Creeper, Will Gould is back with yet more music - this time under the guise of Salem, his new project with long-time pal Matt Reynolds. 4 Upset
Wherever you are from, PUP are pretty clear with their new EP, it sucks ass. p.8
While She Sleeps want you to get involved in their band! p.14
Live music may be largely on hiatus, but live albums still exist - and Brutus have a great one. p.16
"The funny thing is that aliens landing wouldn't be surprising at this point this year," Will Gould laughs. "You'd just be
like, 'oh, of course'." The topic of conversation is the enduring legacy of Heathers. This cult classic gave a pitch-black voice to adolescent attitude ("dear diary, my teen angst bullshit has a body count"), while not being afraid to ask the hard-hitting questions ("you inherit five million dollars the same day aliens land on the Earth and say they're going to blow it up in two days – what do you do?"). It was also a huge influence on Will Gould and Matt Reynolds, who used Winona Ryder's dreaddriven internal monologue from the movie as a way to introduce the world to their new project. "That era of teen films has been a reference point for me for years," Will enthuses. "That quote is synonymous with a lot of emo culture that I grew up in. A lot of Salem is referencing that music." Released just in time for Halloween (another muchcelebrated cultural reference point) Salem's debut EP is "a love letter to those punk, emo, and goth bands that we grew up with." Announcing themselves not with a bang, but with a ball – a virtual Apathy Ball where the duo's first single served as the first dance
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Riot_ for the prom king and queen – the band make music that's every bit as immersive as the cultural reference points that shaped them. They might only have a handful of songs to their name (for now), but the partnership between the two musicians stretches back years. "I used to go see [Matt's] bands when I was 15," Will fondly recalls. "To me and my friends, he was a rock star." From growing up in Southampton, to working together on songs for Creeper's latest album, 'Sex, Death & The Infinite Void', Salem is a collaboration that's been a long time coming. "We have a really good chemistry, him and I. We've been best friends for a long time," Will expresses. "It just came out really easy." Born out of a jam session intended to distract from the pressures of the new Creeper record and to blow off steam, the duo wrote all the songs on Salem's debut EP in the space of one afternoon last May. It took another afternoon for the songs to be demoed, and then just five days in the studio for them to be recoded. "I've been playing in punk and hardcore bands since I was about 15. A lot of the records I made when I was young were recorded really fast, so this is kind of a return to form for me," Will describes. "I've been doing this same shtick for years," he laughs. Salem, he's quick to enthuse, offer something different to the bands he's been in before. "I just 6 Upset
thought the whole thing was fun," he expresses. "That's the thing that Creeper isn't sometimes." With extensive narratives about paranormal investigators and fallen angels written to surround their records, working on new music for that band is an extensive undertaking. "Creeper is a serious entity, and I love that," he explains, "but this band is supposed to be a little bit more light-hearted. Even though it's dramatic, and at times it's sad, it's playful," he portrays, "a lot more than the other work I've done." With a name chosen in honour of everyone's favourite sarcastic feline as much as it was in homage to the infamous witch trials in the 1690s, it should come as no surprise that the songs Salem write are as cute as they are cut-throat. "A lot of the themes with Salem are cute but deadly," Will conveys. A collection of "sweet, satanic love songs," this debut EP is purpose crafted to keep you dancing – no matter how dark the world might feel. "A lot of the lyrics are cute, romantic, satanic jokes," the frontman describes. Introducing themselves to the world with a chorus refrain of "I want to hang helpless from your noose," Salem's songs are adventures in romance at its most violently beautiful. "Doesn't love feel like that sometimes?" Will asks. "It's so beautiful that it's scary. It hits you out of nowhere." Comparing true love to a knife fight on debut single 'Destroy Me' was the perfect introduction.
These songs are dark – hell, sometimes they're brutal – but boasting such an ardently felt sense of romance, these songs were purpose-written to sweep you off your feet. And it's not just the
listeners that get caught up in that romance: the band did too. Written and recorded in such a short space of time, there was no time for the duo to second guess anything they were writing.
"EVEN THOUGH IT'S DRAMATIC, AND AT TIMES IT'S SAD, IT'S PLAYFUL" WILL GOULD
"What I really like about this record is that I feel like it captures an energy and a time and it's locked in place," Will expresses. "The intents and the desires you had for it are captured in a
moment." A lot has changed in the year-anda-bit since these songs were first penned, but the energy they contain is just as immersive and just as all-consuming as when they were first written.
Despite this, these songs were never actually meant to see the light of day. Written on a whim and recorded with no goal in mind, the band started out as a passion project with no name. The EP, once made, was shelved. It was the conviction of those nearest and dearest to the duo that prompted them to make something good out of not being able to tour this year and share what they'd created with the world-at-large. "We wouldn't be putting this out if it wasn't for lockdown," Will asserts. "It's a new thing that we're getting to do because of this year." From the Apathy Ball to introduce their music to the world, to their "top secret" Halloween plans and beyond, for Salem, the possibilities are limitless. These songs weren't written with an audience in mind, but this self-titled EP is an open invitation to experience, in the words of Disney's Aladdin, a whole new world. "When releasing new music, what it comes down to is, how big is your imagination?" Will excitedly questions. "What can you create? What can inspire something in somebody?" Two albums into Creeper's career, he's
certainly no stranger to breathing fresh life into fantasy. "I like to think that's why people keep coming back to records that I've been involved in again and again: they want to escape into a world," he contemplates. "They want to find a piece of their own identity in there as well. That's how all my favourite records were when I was a kid." And that's what the duo want to offer with Salem. "I hope it's a distraction from a difficult time," Will expresses, "another thing they can put on, listen to, and enjoy through a very difficult year." For a band that never intended to be heard, they've already smashed all expectations. The enthusiasm they've been met with has been beyond anything the duo could've hoped for. "Watching people around us get so excited about something we made pretty flippantly, out of nowhere, a year ago, is so good," Will enthuses. Does all this positive energy mean more good things could be in Salem's future? "There will be more," he grins. "We've really got the bug for it now." P
Salem's self-titled EP is out now.
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" W H E R E V E R YO U ARE OR WHEREVER YO U ' R E F R O M , T H E P L AC E S U C KS AS S " "We're all fuck ups," Stefan Babcock proclaims. "There's no reason that we should walk out to a crowd of 4000 people at a hometown headline show. It doesn't compute to me. It doesn't make sense." As it turns out, that's exactly what PUP did last summer. From a packed out crowd in the sprawling outdoor setting of Toronto's Echo Beach, to an echoingly empty punk club by the name of Sneaky Dee's for a livestream, it's been a hell of a year. Words: Jessica Goodman. Photo: Jess Baumung. "It's been really hard," Stefan admits, "but we are also one of the luckiest." After everything they've been through to make it this far, this group of punk rock stalwarts seem like they might be capable of weathering any storm. In these turbulent times, the band – completed by guitarist Steve Sladkowski, bassist Nestor Chumak, and drummer Zack Mykula – are making the most of the opportunities they can find. "My heart just goes out to all of my friends in bands who are releasing their first record or still slogging through a lot of the industry bullshit," Stefan expresses. "They've been hit so much harder than we have." At a time when British politicians have been advising people employed in the arts
to retrain and find other jobs, any sense of security working in the music industry has been lost – and everyone's feeling the strain. "I think about what would have happened if this had happened three/ four years ago," Stefan contemplates of the global pandemic and consequent lockdowns, "and I'm not positive that we would be a band if this had happened then." When the pandemic hit and the events industry started to shut down, PUP were on tour across the US celebrating the release of their third record. "Those were some of the best shows we've ever played in our lives," Stefan reflects. "They were the most fun, the biggest crowds, the most enthusiastic response, and we were
just having a great time." If you caught the band live on their (previously) seemingly never-ending tour schedule, you know just how much of a whirlwind experience their shows can be. Even so, the growing sense of unease and ever-mounting safety concerns were unavoidable, and prompted the group to make the difficult decision to draw their tour to an early end. "It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that maybe the last time I will crowd surf for four years will be in Eugene, Oregon," Stefan laughs, quickly adding "nothing against that town." On paper, a band who wrote one of their gnarliest singles about how much they hate life on the road – the impeccably titled 'If This Tour Doesn't Kill
You, I Will' – should surely be taking the reprieve in stride, but PUP have never been ones to play anything by the book. "I've spent so much time in my life complaining about being on tour," Stefan laments. "There was obviously an asterisk next to all those complaints. We do it for a reason: we all love it – but we're still allowed to complain about it 'cause we're all negative people," he conveys with a shrug. "That's what we do." Pinning their cynicism with their heart on their sleeve, PUP wear their acerbic nature as a badge of honour. But more than that, it's a fundamental part of who they are. "We think it's hilarious how negative we are," Stefan declares. "It's kind of an ongoing joke on tour where we will challenge each Upset 9
Riot_ other to be as negative as possible because it makes us laugh." It's this gleefully pessimistic energy that inspired the outfit to create their new EP. "No matter where we were, we started saying, 'this place sucks ass'." What started out as an in-joke on the road is now the strikingly prevalent title for the band's latest release. London, Birmingham, Toronto, or Eugene, Oregon: it doesn't matter where you are; this is a title that speaks directly to you. "The EP title can be about anyone, wherever they are right now, because wherever you are or wherever you're from, the place sucks ass," Stefan proclaims. "No matter what. Blanket statement: it sucks ass right now." Both humorous and harrowing, the title embodies the energy of the EP to a T. "It feels to me like a joke that is almost too real to be funny," the frontman describes, "which is kind of how I like to think of our band." Written and recorded, for the most part, at the same time as latest record 'Morbid Stuff', the majority of the songs on 'This Place Sucks Ass' predate the clusterfuck of a time we're currently living through – something the group found to lessen the pressures they usually associate with making and releasing new music. "I'm not great at writing outwardly political songs. Every time I've tried they come out 10 Upset
"SELF-DESTRUCTION IS THE THING THAT KEEPS US GOING" STEFAN BABCOCK
feeling very contrived," Stefan portrays. "Unless you're extremely articulate, I don't think anyone needs four guys yelling about politics that the vast majority of their fans share with them." From the comically cathartic dread of 'Anaphylaxis' to the ferociously freeing refrains of 'Edmonton' (via a cover of Grandaddy's 'A.M. 180'), these songs are ready to rip, tear, and roar their way through your system with an energy that's as implosive as it is electrifying. EP opener, 'Rot', is the only track to be written and recorded (in a surreal socially distanced recording session) this year. "The way I've figured out how to write about politics is to write about it from a personal level, the way that the state of the world makes me feel," Stefan describes of the track. "All the depression and the anxiety and
the existential dread that comes with what's happening right now was very easy for me to channel." Existential dread is nothing new to PUP. "We've built a career out of being fuckups," Stefan conveys. Self-destruction has always played a part in PUP's songwriting. Much like their cynical attitude, this too is a part of who the group are. "Forget who we are as people, just being in this band is quite self-destructive," Stefan expresses. This too is a never-ending cycle. "There's almost this tendency for all of us to self-sabotage the band because we feel like we don't deserve to be in the position we are in and we don't belong," the frontman admits. "That self-destruction is the thing that keeps us going and keeps us happy and excited about our band." He pauses to think over his words, before laughing. "It's a
bit of a mindfuck, to be honest." From the instinctive need to self-destruct to a song written about bee stings, 'This Place Sucks Ass' has something for every fear. While everything else seems to be in an undetermined state of flux, releasing an EP of "'Morbid Stuff' b-sides" was always the plan. "Right now we have to be more vigilant than ever to be serious about what's happening and to treat everything with the respect it deserves," Stefan maintains. "Then sometimes we need to laugh and try to remember that we're all trying to make the world a better place." "Everything is awful right now. The world sucks ass," Stefan distils of the new release. "I hope that these songs can make people feel like they're not alone in thinking that, they're not alone in experiencing the mental toll that the past few months have taken on everyone." Much like their previous three records, PUP's hopes are simple ones. "I hope that people can find that light at the end of the tunnel," Stefan conveys. "What's the expression?" he asks. "Sometimes you have through hell to get to..." He pauses, before giving up on the thought completely. "I'm fucking it up." If that really is the case, it's no cause for concern here. In true PUP style, fucking up has never sounded this good. P PUP's EP 'This
Place Sucks Ass' is out now.
Everything you need to know about...
SEAWAY’S
new album
‘BIG VIBE’
Ryan Locke tells us littleknown facts about his band's new record. 'Big Vibe' was actually the plan b name. We liked it, but we're
trying to think of something better. We eventually had a collective head shake and realised that 'Big Vibe' is the perfect album title probably even better than 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; actually.
Producer Anton Delost recorded our first record 'Hoser'. We've been great friends for years, he's filled in for multiple members at various times, and now recorded our hit new record. He's like a sixth band member that is too successful as a producer to ever jump on our sinking ship.
'Mrs. David' almost didn't make the record. We thought
we finished the record in midFebruary, but when COVID hit, Andrew just kept writing and came up with 'Mrs. David'.
Anton, Andrew and myself broke lockdown to demo it at Anton's home studio and knew it had to go on the record, so we went back and recorded it. Feels weird to say but our best song wouldn't have happened without a global pandemic.
We tried to get Blackbear to feature on a track, but he was too busy (who am I kidding???). Adam has tour managed him in the past and asked him if he was interested, but there were too many record label hoops to jump through. It's all love, though.
Bring Me The Horizon have announced a surprise new EP, 'POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR'. The nine-track release - due 30th October - features their recent Yungblud collab, with further guest appearances from BABYMETAL, Nova Twins and Evanescence's Amy Lee.
Black Honey's second album, 'Written & Directed', is due on 29th January. News of the record follows on from singles 'Run For Cover' - written with Mike Kerr from Royal Blood - and 'Beaches', too. “I made this record for young women to feel invincible," says frontwoman Izzy B. Phillips.
The verses in the closing track 'Sick Puppy' are actually true stories. While on Warped Tour
years ago we had an off day in Vegas and some friends of friends lost a tab of acid on the marble floor of a hotel lobby. In the second verse, we went to a party, and this dude had a driving course through his backwoods and put the car into a tree. Nobody was injured in the making of this song. P
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes are going to perform a livestream show from London's O2 Academy Brixton. The interactive event will take place on 13th November, with fans getting the opportunity to (virtually) invade the stage, pick the setlist and chat to the band. 11 UPSETMAGAZINE. COM Upset 11
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HAPPY PEOPLE Who doesn't experience imposter syndrome now and again, right? That awful feeling that you alone don't really know what you're doing, and shouldn't have your job, or your amazing friends, or any grownup responsibility, really. It's a feeling that grungy emo-pop trio Happy. focus in on
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with their new album, Hi Tate, how's it going? 'Imposter Syndrome'. What are you up to today? "From the lows of I'm doing as well as I depression, anxiety can be right now given and addiction to the the circumstances of the world! Haha. Today the highs of travelling, weather was beautiful, making friends and so I took my dogs to living the dream, the park. My fiancĂŠ and this record is our I cooked dinner and everlasting chase for started watching Ryan 'success'," they explain. Murphy's new show Ratched, based on One Tate Logan (vocals) Flew Over the Cuckoos reveals more about the Nest. Overall, it was a record's inception. good day!
Your new album's a fun one, is it difficult making upbeat, enthusiastic music while it feels like the world's ending?
It's funny because we recorded this album in January of this year right before we left on a full US tour supporting Superwhatevr and Chapel in February. That feels like a lifetime ago. So much has happened since then. With this album being a narrative of our experiences with imposter syndrome, this pandemic and its effects on the music world has amplified that message and headspace. We also have a habit of disguising pretty intense messages in upbeat sounding songs. A lot of the themes in this record deal with depression, anxiety, addiction and death. We just hide it in "Happy" vibes haha. We, of course, also have songs with much lighter and more fun meanings and stories too!
What was the timeline like on writing and recording? It sounds like you just missed the pandemic?
Thank goodness! Haha. We wrote most of this record in the fall of last year and recorded it in January of this year in Chicago right before things got crazy. Although we weren't writing or recording during the pandemic, we did have to figure out promotion for this record. Filming music videos and taking photographs was an interesting adventure. Finding locations and coming up with ideas that were safe and responsible certainly forced us to
think outside of the box.
How were you feeling going into your second record, what was your headspace like?
The writing process of this record was entirely different than our first album. With this record, we all sat down together and fleshed out each song, one by one, until we had a cohesive record. We practice in an old, empty church and have all of our song ideas written all over the walls. It was really raw and organic. All of the songs complement each other in a way we have never done before. We also experimented this time. We wouldn't even really consider ourselves a pop-punk band. We are excited to see what our fans think!
Did the reaction to your debut impact where you wanted to take your music next?
I think it stressed us out because our debut was a collection of songs written over a long period of time. I wrote some of those songs when I was 15. I had very different influences then. I think all of us have matured a lot in our music taste and where we draw inspiration from. All of the songs on this record are new and definitely have a different energy to them.
Did you hit upon any other challenges when putting the album together?
We recorded the album in Chicago in the dead of winter, and we are from South Carolina. That was totally insane for us.
"WE PRACTICE IN AN OLD, EMPTY CHURCH AND HAVE ALL OF OUR SONG IDEAS WRITTEN ALL OVER THE WALLS" TATE LOGAN
We've never dealt with cold weather like that! The snow and ice was a whole new thing for us, and we definitely got our car stuck multiple times. But overall, it was an incredible experience. We have no complaints!
'Imposter Syndrome' feels like quite a revealing title, are you an anxious bunch?
it just comes with the territory. We just want to talk about it. This album discusses both the extreme highs and lows of that.
Has the album helped you work through any feelings you were previously struggling with?
special place in our hearts. We definitely appreciate and draw inspiration from all different genres though!
Are you looking forward to 2021? Do you think it'll be easier than 2020? We sure hope so!!! Haha. We want to play these new songs live more than anything in the world. But we also want everyone to be safe and comfortable when they come to our shows. As much as it sucks, we will wait until we know it's safe. When that happens, it's pedal to the metal for us.
Yeah, for sure. I think hashing out all these feelings and recognising I think every artist has them helped understand dealt with some form of imposter syndrome at one them and deal with them point. Trying to get used better. We want to be the best band we can be to the fact that people for our fans and also the can love something you best friends, brothers, created enough to get it nephews, husbands etc. to tattooed on their body the people that love us. What's next for you or drive 15 hours to see it live can be intense. guys? What is it about popIt's super insane, in a Fingers crossed a TOUR!! punk in particular that good way, of course. It's Haha. In the meantime, incredibly humbling, and inspires you? we will continue to write It's always been so we are forever grateful. music and find nee ways rebellious. It's loud But we are just people, to connect with our and aggressive and in like everyone else. amazing fans. P your face. Punk music The pressure that can has always been the create can sometimes be Happy.'s album soundtrack to being overwhelming. However, 'Imposter Syndrome' is different, and that holds a out 30th October. we love what we do, and Upset 13
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"If you give a fuck
about this band,
there is a place for you" 14 Upset
While She Sleeps have long been one of the most innovative and let 's-just-doit-ourselves bands around, so of course now live shows have vanished, and everyone in the arts is struggling, they have some exciting new tricks up their sleeves. With an album just announced for April 2021, the half-a-year beforehand will see them throwing themselves into a new project: the Sleeps Society. A fan-club-ofsorts with unlimited bells and whistles, it sees the group connecting with fans on a much deeper level than the occasional tweet or livestream. Frontman Loz Taylor tells us more from the band's Sheffield warehouse, where "it's raining of course, but morale is high".
Your new fan project sounds fun, what inspired the idea?
I think this idea has come from a similar principle to how we released 'YOU ARE WE' - our third studio album. We had such a great response with the rollout of that album that we feel it's right to revisit the way we did things then and focus on what is most important to this band, which is making this sustainable for us and giving our fan base what they deserve.
Have any of you been a member of a fan club before?
I personally haven't been a member of a fan club
before, but I'm very very quickly learning why fan clubs are so important to bands. Like millions of people, I listen to music through Spotify, but I always make an effort to buy physical products to support the bands and music I like most, I make sure I'm contributing to supporting these artists. This aspect of support is often overlooked by the average consumer. A lot of bands I like actually don't have a "fan club" or platform to support them in this way or do very little to promote themselves, so I buy records and merch. However, I would definitely support them in a more consistent way if it were available. It makes so much sense for bands to deliver what fans want as part of a subscription, and it gives the fan base the chance to truly support the artist. So if you give a fuck about this band, there is a place for you where we can interact together and honour your support!
How did you approach getting it started, has it taken long to get the infrastructure in place?
It's been a crazy journey to get to where we're at with the Sleeps Society. It's taken a lot of careful planning. It's not an easy message to send out to music lovers by any means, but we truly think it's time for the system to change. It's very difficult to sustain a career when streaming platforms devalue music. And this is the hard truth that needs addressing and changing. We feel like this campaign
is going to do exactly that and raise awareness of why things need to change. If you want to support Sleeps, this is the way that you can do it properly. We have taken on the challenge, and we feel like if anyone can change things, it's our fans. They are so responsible, openminded and supportive that we feel like together we can start to make a difference and change the way people look at the current models of music. There's too much smoke and mirrors surrounding the music industry and While She Sleeps are making a stand to raise awareness about how things work. While still offering an awesome community with tons of benefits, within the Sleeps Society there are going to be tiers. The higher the tier, the more access you will have. We feel like this is a strong model that is going to help balance sustainability, as well as give a fan base what they want and what they deserve. We hope it serves as a powerful message that makes people think about the way that they purchased music; makes them realise that music is not as disposable as it may seem.
we realised with the 'YOU ARE WE' campaign that we took on so much. We worked so hard to fulfil all the orders coming in and worked so hard to make sure everybody received their merchandise on time, but at the same time we realised that we had taken on a mammoth task, so this time we've broken it up a little to allow us to achieve everything. It's a very exciting time for us. We are so stoked for people to hear the music but also really excited for our fans to get inside the society and check it out for themselves.
Are you hoping live gigs might be back in play come April? Yes. I mean everyone in our industry is praying... It's so uncertain so we only hope that communities can work together to really restrict the virus. If we don't do so, it's going to be years before we can return to live shows. I truly feel for people within this industry that are simply told that they should retrain. It's just ridiculous!!
Can you give us any teasers as to how the album might sound, or what it's about?
I'm not going to say at this
Is your new album all point, haha! The album's done and dusted, or is it first single and title-track 'Sleeps Society' is your a work in progress? No, we're still working very hard on our album. The way that we've recorded this time is that we've broken the recording schedule into two halves so this allows us time to work on the Sleeps Society and make sure everything is right,
introduction into a new era for Sleeps. All I will say right now about the album as a whole is that it's going to be worth the wait. P
While She Sleeps' album 'Sleeps Society' is out 16th April. Upset 15
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Though gigs have started to resurface in new, socially-distanced forms, live music's absence from 2020 has been hard-felt by bands and fans alike. Luckily, live albums are a 'thing' and Belgian trio Brutus are releasing their first-ever one, recorded in their hometown of Ghent last year in front of 750 fans. Catching up with the three of them - Stefanie Mannaerts (drums, vocals), Peter Mulders (bass), and Stijn Vanhoegaerden (guitar) - fresh out of rehearsals, they give us the lowdown on what's been going on in their world... Hey guys, how are things at the moment?
Peter: We're writing new songs, or trying to write new songs.
It's exciting that you've got a live album coming at a time when there's no real live experience happening. Stijn: I never thought we would make a live record this fast, so it's really nice. When there's no live music, it's nice that we can still do something like this.
Have you been listening back to re-conjure that feeling?
Stefanie: I think when we were judging the mixes, it brought us back right through that moment, but we are rehearsing so much that the focus is now on writing new songs. But two weeks ago, 'All Along' came out, and I checked it again. I'm very proud of what we did that night.
It must be nice to have this moment of your career immortalised?
Peter: It's an honour to have a live album. We're only a band with two studio albums, and now we can do this live album. It's cool. We had the idea, but you still have your labels who need to follow you in the idea, and when they listened to the mixes, they were so enthusiastic. It's weird, we had the idea in March at the beginning of the lockdown, and now it's six months later that 16 Upset
DIRECT
Words: Steven Loftin. Photos: Eva Vlonk.
LIVE +
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"I'M VERY PROUD O F W H AT W E D I D T H AT N I G H T " S T E FA N I E M A N N A E R T S
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when it's been released.
it was okay because we were writing so much, so I You've also played a didn't miss something, but then in an interview two couple of shows since months ago, they asked being in lockdown? Peter: We played one live us 'If you have to choose show. There was one cool to make songs forever or venue in Belgium, like an play music forever‌' Out amphitheatre, and they of nowhere, it hit me. I did some live shows. We actually really miss playing played one live show, and live very hard. I ignored then one live show for a it when the lockdown was video on the rooftop of an there; we didn't cry about old fort. it, and we had so many shows that we still had to How was it playing to play in the States, and then suddenly everything was an audience in that gone. I didn't take time situation? Stijn: There was this vibe to think about it. I really of 'how was this going miss playing a show, being to be?' People had to sit focused and like Stijn said down, had to wear masks, before, to have a release had to keep their distance, moment when the show so it wasn't full capacity. was good. Stefanie: No, but you felt Peter: I was just thinking that people were very about it but just playing a eager and excited to watch show is one thing, but it's a live show again. That everything that's going was in June or July, so that on around the show - the was only four months after people that we travel the lockdown, but that with the evenings when night was very good. the venue is closed, and Peter: People were very everybody is enjoying the eager, or very thankful for after-show moments. live music, and we were thankful because we can What shows stand out play, so it was a really nice, to you? really good energy. Peter: Hell Fest, that was so special. At first, we What aspect of the live were surprised that we were on the list for Hell show have you been Fest, because we were not missing? Stijn: For me, it's the the typical Hell Fest band. energy; the adrenaline; the It was super hot by the stress. It gets me to play last day, it was 12 o'clock, a good show, and then it was 40 degrees, and the area was completely the release after a show full. They had to close it and being able to talk to down, and we were like people, all those things 'what the fuck are these together make a show for people coming to see us me, so it's really boring now not playing. at the hottest day on the Peter: Your mood of the last day of the festival and night, you take that feeling everybody should be at into the show. Sometimes least [finding] some shade you have a bad night, and to see the headliners'. It the show fixes everything was so much energy, and I was like, 'Fuck, this is - I miss that. Stefanie: In the beginning, great'.
Stijn: I was gonna say a different show - we did one in LA in a really small club. That was a really special night, the club has so much history and just being there was so intense. It was packed. There were so many people there that I grew up listening to their music, I was so nervous and we didn't fuck up! Stefani: I remember, I think in 2018, we had tours with three big artists where we were the support. We did a tour with Russian Circles and Chelsea Wolfe, and Thrice. And when we came home from Russian Circles we played a show in Ghent, and I don't know why but that was the first time I felt like 'I'm coming home and my friends are here, and our families here, and our boy and girlfriends are here', and that was, based on the vibe for me a very memorable show. People cried. It was crazy!
me is that I have more time with Peter and Stan. When we were so busy, I had the feeling it was only rehearsing, playing, rehearsing, playing. Because you have so much to do, you have so little time. The best part for me is that there is time to be stupid, not like we only have three hours and blah blah. I feel that my friends-battery is charged [for] when we are ready to play again. Peter: Sometimes [when] we are on the road, it's all stress. Earlier the question about what do you miss hanging out in the venues, touring - for me, most of the time's also the job of tour manager. I don't miss that. I don't miss everything like getting to a venue on time, and driving eight hours and stuff like that. But the question, how I am now? I think I am pretty annoying for my girlfriend! Because of no release time; I don't How was that rooftop do sports, so I only have this time in the rehearsal gig for you? That's a space here with Stijn and unique place to play. Peter: It was an old place Stefanie. I still have a partwith a lot of history. You time job, they hate me by can look it up on YouTube, now, because I am focused we played the song on the job, and I'm not 'Distance'. It was a weird away touring. That's why day. In the first show in the I need live shows again amphitheatre, it didn't feel soon, or I will have no a special vibe, but on the more girlfriend or job. rooftop it was weird. Stijn: For me, for the last Stijn: The first one was several months I have too really nice, and then that much time on my hands second one it was like the so for some reason I use middle of the day, a lot of that time properly, and sun, something we're not I've been really into music used to. theory for the first time in Stefanie: It felt like a blind my life - how to record, date. Am I liking this, or stuff like that. I just keep am I disliking? busy on my own, that's just the one thing I'm super And how have you all focused on right now. P
been dealing with the lockdown? Stefanie: The thing for
Brutus's album 'Live In Ghent' is out now. Upset 19
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Good
Daniel Radin (of Boston band Future Teens) charts the journey to his debut album under the Lake Saint Daniel moniker, 'Good Things'. 20 Upset
"We were the band practice house, but we didn't practice in the garage or basement, it was in the living room. Anytime there was any music happening, it permeated the whole house," laughs Daniel Radin, the Daniel behind Lake Saint Daniel, as he describes the "horrible, horrible" noises created with his drummer brother.
Music
Words: Rob Mair. Photos: Danny Hoshino.
"Just recently, I said to my parents that I must formally thank them for letting us do that. We could experiment and record in that house, and they left us to it. One time, when I was in my Explosions in the Sky phase, I remember recording this snare roll for eight or nine minutes, and my Dad came down and was like 'You have to stop! There's only so many times you can do this, and I can't deal with it." While such a story makes for a great anecdote, it also draws together the three main themes of 'Good Things', Lake Saint Daniel's debut album: nostalgia, growing up, and family. These subjects flow through the record, interweaving the narrative and placing the listener firmly in the stomping grounds of Radin's childhood neighbourhood in Boston, Ma. It's also a world away from Radin's main creative output in Future Teens, where sad songs about relationships are the order of the day. Instead, 'Good Things' has a much softer, gentler approach, recalling James Taylor and other greats of the American Songbook in a sepia-tinged journey through Radin's teenage growing pains. This odd melancholy nostalgia manifests itself beautifully throughout the album. It's particularly striking on closing number 'Goodbye', where Radin succinctly sums up some complicated feelings with the line "I've been feeling nostalgic, not just for the good times but the not so good ones too". Such a moment of inspiration came after a walk around his childhood neighbourhood with his girlfriend, he says. "I started to feel so nostalgic, even though a lot of my middle Upset 21
Riot_ school and high school experience was awkward or painfully anxious. And I ended up putting that whole line in the song," says Radin. "I've always associated nostalgia with like, 'Oh, remember those good old days?', and it's like 'Well, you can also remember those bad old days too because those emotions can be just as powerful'." Yet it was only after talking through the album with collaborator Colby Blauvelt (also of Future Teens) that the full impact of just how powerful these songs were hit Radin. "When I got the master back, I sent them to Colby, and he came back and said something like 'Damn, this is a really painful album about growing up.' I was like "Yeah, I guess that is exactly what it turned out to be." However, as the title suggests, 'Good Things' is not a collection of sad childhood stories, but instead an album that ruminates on ideas of family and personal growth. The love for these things often shines brighter than all the moments of introspection or melancholy. It also provided a useful counterbalance to the more obvious sadness of Future Teens' angsty anthems. Radin acknowledges that while his favourite songs are all sad ones, writing songs with a different focus was a worthwhile – and much needed – experience. "When I was younger, I was always like 'What's the point of writing a happy love song?'" he laughs. "But I think I 22 Upset
was writing so many sad songs that I actually got into a headspace where I wasn't appreciating like – not to use my frickin' album title – but I wasn't appreciating the good things in my life as much as I should, because I was so focused on needing to write a sad song. "So partly this album is an attempt to focus on the good stuff that's going on, and within that, there can still be introspection and nostalgia and sadness. I wouldn't say it's a happy album necessarily, but I wouldn't say that it's dour either." Such a marriage between straightforward storytelling and classic song structures also ensures 'Good Things' possesses a timeless quality. For all the advances in modern fidelity, it has an elegance which makes it sound like it could have come from any point over the last 40 years. The Americanatinged folk of 'Move On' adds to this nostalgia-fest, harking back to the FM AOR classics of the 80s, rather than anything found too far left of the dial. This is perhaps no surprise. Radin played in a folk band before starting Future Teens, and after years of playing indierock songs 'Good Things' is a suitable about-turn to familiar territory. Radin says that his mom – whose influence and guiding hand looms large throughout the album – always said he had two voices, a rock voice and folk voice. When paired with simple, classic structures, this folk voice helps makes
graceful music, not too dissimilar to the James Taylor records found in his father's collection. Yet it hasn't been the most straightforward journey for Radin to recognise the beauty of a timeless song structure,
after discovering Radiohead and The Decemberists during his adolescent years. "Radiohead definitely created an experimental streak for me; like, what can a guitar do, what can a voice do? The
"I WASN'T APPRECIATING THE GOOD THINGS IN MY LIFE AS MUCH AS I SHOULD" DANIEL RADIN
idea of a song structure has always been really important to me – and the idea of the 'perfect pop song' – I think you have to understand that before you go off and do the other thing. "Unfortunately, I was
the opposite when I started writing music – no choruses, no repeating lyrics. I wrote some truly awful songs that I do not stand by anymore. I listen to them now, and I cringe. "There are some bands, in a way, I regret ever listening to. When I discovered The Decemberists, all my songs had to be about ghosts and chimneysweeps. I look back, and I'm like 'Why did I ever do that?' All the songs had to be eight minutes long and have an accordion. "I guess I can say it helped me find my voice – but it was a pretty painful way to get there. Don't get me wrong, they're [The Decemberists] are an excellent band, I just wish I'd discovered them later in my songwriting career." Again, such comments tally with Radin's ideas for the record. Even though it's hard to spot much reverence to these bands in 'Well Lived' and 'Faking Asleep', they're symbolic
of Radin's growth as a songwriter, emphasising his understanding of the beauty found in a straightforward 3-minute pop song. Although it's perhaps less noticeable than the themes of nostalgia and family, this sense of personal growth is integral to the success of 'Good Things'. Likewise, the idea that we never stop learning as we grow. "I wanted to try and capture that, because I realised that, when you're 18 years old, and you're graduating high school or whatever, you're like 'I know everything!' You think 'I'm a full person, I'm very experienced, I'm the shit'. "Then you go to college, or you get a job, and you get your ass kicked, and suddenly it's like 'Oh my God, I don't know anything'. Then it might happen again when you're 22. Like, 'I have a better job, I got my shit together', but every three-to-five years
you have this realisation, which is like, 'Oh, I didn't know anything five years ago. I was an idiot.' This idea of learning as you get older, ideally it gets more as you realise you don't know everything and you should learn and listen. "Are you a fan of The Simpsons? It's that perfect quote by Principal Skinner, which has been turned into a meme, where he's like, 'Out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong.' I never want to be that." 'Good Things' encapsulates this idea beautifully, capturing a moment in time which leans on the past but repackages the thoughts and feelings for today's youth. Thematically dense but immediately relatable, it finds a comfortable spot between wistful nostalgia and cautious optimism. And there's not an eightminute-long song about a carnivorous whale in sight... P Lake Saint
Daniel's album 'Good Things' is out now.
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HANDS LIKE HOUSES ARTIST GUIDE
Photo: Micala Austin.
HANDS LIKE HOUSES EP Following on from 2018 album '-Anon.', Aussie faves Hands Like Houses have just dropped their self-titled EP, a release that came together during an intense ten day blast. Trenton Todd Woodley talks us through the record's five tracks. THE WATER
When we were in the studio, I found myself spending a lot of time on the balcony overlooking the beach - watching people wander out into the water and back in again. Dark as it may sound, there's something deeply powerful about marching out into the ocean, this seemingly infinite and powerful force that can overwhelm you completely in an instant, but also going out into it willingly. It got me thinking about what it'd be like the other way around, coming out of the water into our world, our reality and just how overwhelming that must be. 24 Upset
The voice of this song came out of that - it's a song about resignation, but without regret. It's about recognising your place in the world and where that isn't. When it comes down to it, this song is about closing doors and opening new ones.
SPACE 'Space' came out of a kind of mental collage
of situations where I was grappling with exhaustion, going through the motions, pushing ahead with the best of intentions and still coming up short of others' expectations. Writing this EP, I think we were figuring out some of the creative challenges of living in separate states, and some of our own interpersonal differences came to the fore. Because
this was the first release we'd write and record entirely in Australia, we were somewhat caught up in our 'home life' normality leading up to hitting the studio, so it became a real challenge to actually come together creatively. The ideas we were each bringing to the table were in a much more raw state than we've been used to in the past, so having to refine them
and work through our differences in taste and personality in just over a week put us under a lot of pressure, and I think 'Space' really captures that moment in time.
DANGEROUS
There's a real sense of volatility to 'Dangerous' - I went in trying to make it this fun, light-hearted, and borderline arrogant song... but lyrically at least, it came out with this real sense of uneasiness. It's a song that's meant to be what it is at face value, like you're all built up and need to let it out to feel like you're in control. But in a way, it's the total opposite. You get hit with a wave of different emotions, everything gets blurry and then
you explode, catching everyone around you in the blast radius. For me, the bombastic, in-your-face push of the music itself drove home that feeling of being in control and out of control at the same time.
STRANGER
The more these songs came together, the more I realised I was trying to disappear into my own reality for a while. We tend to come home after tours and go off the radar for a while to recoup and recover - it takes me a while to get back into a rhythm and routine, including seeing friends and picking up where I left off. Half the time my friends think I'm on tour still, when I'm actually home, just haven't seen them yet,
haha. It's easy to take on the feeling of responsibility for that yourself, but at the same time, everyone's still busy with their own lives, no matter where you are, who you're with or how long you've been anywhere. 'Stranger' is about just embracing that relative anonymity, living at your own pace and walking your own walk.
WIRED
This one actually went from being a song I was deathly afraid of, to one of my favourites in the course of almost a single day. It came about because we were trying to write 'one more song' - to bring a certain pace and colour that the EP was lacking at that point. I was struggling immensely working out where to start on it vocally - the song had this dry, relentless drive to it that I couldn't get my fingernails around, so to speak. It just stayed in this one place and owned it, but I felt like I was stuck on the outside. I felt like everyone else had this grand vision of what it was and needed to be, and I just didn't understand it at all. But channelling that misunderstanding, the conflict and the feeling of being on totally different wavelengths finally gave me the foothold to finish the song, and that vulnerability feels incredibly present for me in this song, but in a way that I'm truly proud of. P
2000trees have confirmed the majority of 2021's line-up. The bill for the 8th-10th July Upcote Farm, Gloucestershire event features the likes of Creeper, Laura Jane Grace, Jimmy Eat World, Thrice, Black Peaks, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Lande Hekt, Dream State, Boston Manor, The Regrettes and loads more.
Fever 333 have released a new EP, 'Wrong Generation'. Jason Aalon Butler says: "This project is art as activism first. I’m talking about what’s happening and what needs to happen." The band are also performing a virtual tour during the last week of October.
Black Futures have changed their name to Never Not Nothing. The band made the switch due to the phrase's use as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. "We stand as allies, as empathy machines, in solidarity with BLM," they explain. 25 UPSETMAGAZINE. COM Upset 25
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"My brain is just all over the place, it's hard to know even what to write about" Words: Alexander Bradley. Photo: Guadalupe Bustos.
Two years on from the release of 'Sunnyland', Mayday Parade have returned with a new, three-track, EP. Titled 'Out of Here', the EP includes the first tracks completed for the Florida band's seventh studio album which was scheduled for release this year, but subsequently pushed back following the complications created by the coronavirus pandemic.
Not to be deterred by the derailment to their plans and with the same optimism that shone through 'Sunnyland', Derek Sanders and Co elected to make the best of the situation and put out these three new tracks now. He explains, "There are so many things we can't do right now, but we can put out some new music, and maybe that makes some people happy." The three tracks are a fantastic teaser for what is to come from the next Mayday Parade record
with each one appealing to a different faction of the band's style from the scream at the top of your lungs euphoric, the punchy and direct to the more tender and heartfelt. "We've never done a three-song EP before, but there's something about the energy of all three of them that I feel like is kind of well-rounded. "You've got 'I Can Only Hope' which is kind of a slower ballad / sad song at the end, and 'First Train' and 'Lighten Up Kid' both have this fun anthemic energy to
them. They kinda feel nice together, and it just seemed like the best thing that we could do, considering the way everything has gone." The trio of tracks comes from a shortlist of about six songs that are ready for the band's next album, which Derek says the band are "anxious" to get back into the studio and complete. At the moment, the idea is for Mayday Parade to return to the studio before the end of 2020 and have an album ready to release come next summer, "but it really depends on so much," the singer reasons. For a person who battles so hard to remain positive for the sake of their own wellbeing, the uncertainty around Mayday Parade's release has been particularly tough on Derek, it seems. "It's a pretty big bummer of a year, for sure," he admits. "I am very anxious a lot of the time, with so many things. Obviously, the pandemic is at the top of the radar, but there's just so much all happening at once this year, it feels like we're headed in a crazy direction." With so much going on, the singer is first to concede the toll it has taken on his creativity too, adding, "I feel like my brain is just all over the place and it's hard to know even what to write about, and lyrically it's a little bit slower to pull it all together." In the meantime, Derek and the band found ways to keep themselves busy, releasing a cover of The Beatles' 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' with members
of The Maine, Grayscale, We The Kings, Knuckle Puck and Dan Lambton formerly of Real Friends. The band also hosted 'The May Day Show' which featured 8 hours answering fan questions and talking with more friends including members of State Champs and Four Year Strong as well as playing music. It's the resilient, selfless and caring approach that they're known for in their music being carried out in real life, to ensure that Mayday Parade have been there as a support to other bands and their fans while the world struggles on this year. The positive, feelgood, message that Derek has been trying to share even showed up in Knuckle Puck's new album '20/20', where the singer appears on the single 'Breathe'. The experience of cameoing on a track has left the singer more than open to having some guests on future Mayday Parade releases. He reveals, "We don't do a lot of the featuringour-friends thing, and I'd love to, [on] the next fulllength, even do a handful of them; maybe have 4 or 5 people because why not? "It's such a nice thing, and it could add a lot to a song, but also it's cool to see that camaraderie, and to bring two fan-bases that might have a lot of crossover, but also might not in some cases and bring those people all in. It's just a neat thing, so we might try and do some more of that.". P Mayday
Parade's 'Out Of Here' EP is out now.
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JAMES IVY 21-year-old Korean-American producer/songwriter James Ivy has just unleashed his slackery pop-punk number 'Sick', out via FADER Label. It's a good 'un.
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Photo: Sarah Butler.
LAURAN HIBBERD
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YOUNG CULTURE Albany pop-rockers Young Culture work through the trials and tribulations of growing up on their just-released self-titled debut album.
Slacker pop has a new frontrunner. Every single one of Lauran Hibberd's tracks is 10/10 great charming, observant and witty, with hooks for days. Inspired by bands like Green Day and Weezer, she has a real knack for creating songs to obsess over. With a new EP on the way and plans for her debut album taking shape, it's a very exciting time. You grew up on the Isle of Wight, right? Are there many opportunities over there for up-andcoming musicians?
Yes, I did! Um, you'd think not, but you'd be surprised with Bestival and Isle of Wight Festival on your doorstep. There's always been a platform for local musicians there. I won a comp about five years ago to open main stage at Bestival, and that was sick! Apart from that, the ferry companies do well out of me, haha!
What inspired you to start making your own music?
Honestly, a lack of other interests made me start picking up an instrument. I was sort of thinking, I gotta find my thing, or I'll end up turning 18 and
CHAMBER Nashville band Chamber battle against their demons with no-holds-barred hardcore. Their debut album 'Cost of Sacrifice' is out now.
"I BASICALLY JUST WANT TO BE GREEN DAY, BUT I ALSO WANNA WEAR FLUFFY CLOTHES" not knowing what I'm up to. SO, after trying and failing at multiple other hobbies, I landed on singing, playing guitar and eventually writing songs.
Can you remember the first song you wrote?
Yes, and oh my god is it cringey!? It was called 'Better Days', and it was about the world going crazy, subconsciously influenced by 2020 perhaps. It only had like two chords, but it was probably 7 minutes long. (I made my mum listen to it like 100 times.)
definitely better than school, so I was stoked. I would recommend it, yeah. I met some great people. But it's not for everyone. I learned a lot there for sure, but I learned a hell of a lot more by trying and failing and trying again afterwards. You can't teach the music industry, unfortunately.
Did you launch straight into your music career from there?
Ironic. I am super dry humoured, and I basically just want to be Green Day, but I also wanna wear fluffy clothes and look cute. It's a cool amalgamation, I have decided.
Yes! As soon as I turned 18 and finished my course, I threw everything at it, as well as working part-time at a hair salon. I wrote loads, I gigged loads, I found a manager, sacked a manager and got a different manager. I've been on a learning curve for as long as I can remember, but I've had and am still having a good time with it.
What was your time like at music college? Would you recommend it?
Have you travelled much? Where's the most exciting place you've played a gig?
How would you describe your vibe?
Yeah, it was fun,
Definitely! Done a lot of
touring now, European as well, which is amazing fun. I've always wanted to travel but never without a purpose, so it's a great way to see places and see places fast. I'll stop remembering cities for the famous monuments and start recalling the dressing room colour, the venue name and what the catering was like. I always love playing in Paris, but Copenhagen is my personal favourite.
Do you have a favourite out of the songs you've released so far? I think 'Old Nudes' is my favourite. It really drops hints at the sign of things to come musically for me, and leans in to a bolder direction. I'm basically a Weezer tribute band.
We hear you have new music on the way, what's coming up?
OH YES! I am so excited, ahhhh. I have never felt like this about up and coming releases before. I feel like I'm sitting on a hot pan. I have new singles, a new EP and I'm writing my album, so things are pretty exciting.
What do you think 2021's going to look like?
Hopefully corona free, and gigs galore! I want to get out to LA to record my album as well. So, anything more other than lockdown would be amazing. P Upset 29
RA
Words: Ali Shutler Photos: Lauren Perry.
Inspired by the sort of otherworldly musicians that stole his teenage heart, Dallon Weekes' biggest hope for iDKHOW was to introduce the likes of Marc Bolan, David Bowie and The Cure to a new generation. "If we can't be your favourite thing, then maybe they can be," he says, Zooming from his home studio. A man unafraid to wear his influences on his sleeve, he believes music is best when it's a communal activity. "I enjoy my favourite things a lot more when I'm able to share them with people. That's what this band is for me." But their debut album 'Razzmatazz' is much more impactful than opening a door to the greats of old. Forget nostalgia, this is a record about adversity, childhood dreams and refusing to take no for an answer. Full of metaphors for being isolated, "this record is about the frustration and anger that can come with not being able to connect with other people," he explains. Add in a healthy dollop of escapism, some joyful bombast, and 'Razzmatazz' is the perfect album for a
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pandemic. "I wish I could say that I had written this thing with quarantine in mind, but who could have known what was coming?" Dallon certainly didn't - and it's not the first time, either. iDKHOW's debut album was originally set to be recorded years ago, but after a substantial amount of hype from early singles' Modern Day Cain', 'Do It All The Time' and 'Choke', the band hit the road to try to keep up with demand. The record was only finished, via email, this year. "It's not the best time to be releasing music, but waiting any longer than we have done would have actually driven me insane. It's good that we're here, regardless of the state of the world right now," says Dallon. iDKHOW fans have been waiting a long time, but he's been waiting even longer. When he was five years old, Dallon wanted to play the guitar. He didn't know what a guitar was, but he'd seen one in the window of a pawn shop and fallen in love. A decade later, he took some of the money he had saved up, went to the same pawn shop, and bought one. "My family was so disappointed in me that I chose to spend this money on a complete waste of time." Like many workingclass kids, Dallon spent his whole life being told "to quit daydreaming and to get your head out of the clouds." Time and time again, he was advised to go to college, get a job, earn his living. "But there was never a plan b. For me, it was always music." He "grew up very poor, very blue-collar," he explains, in Utah and was only able to live out his musician dreams at evenings and weekends via his nowUpset 31
defunct indie-rock outfit The Brobecks. However when Ryan Ross and Jon Walker left Panic! At The Disco in 2009, after the release of their divisive second album' Pretty. Odd.', Dallon was asked to join the band on tour. A few months later, he became a full-time member, helping out with the cover art for 2011's 'Vices & Virtues' and co-writing a majority of 2013's 'Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!'. "I was just dropped into this world of celebrity, money and fame because Panic! were one of the biggest bands in the world. I wasn't part of their world, but I was orbiting it," says Dallon, who retells those years as a satellite on 'Razzmatazz. "For years, any creative output I had was directed towards Panic! but it had to be filtered through a lens that included radio people, producers and half a dozen other people. By the end of that, the original idea might be watered down, or the message changed. That was really tough to deal with, but not so tough that I cried myself to sleep at night. It was still a good job, any way you slice it," he adds, ever grateful to be living out a version of his dreams. In 2015, Dallon once again became a touringonly member of Panic!, writing on Twitter that he'd still be playing bass but not contributing creatively to the band. The next year he founded iDKHOW with his ex-The Brobecks bandmate Ryan Seaman and in 2017, he quit Panic! to focus on this new project. 32 Upset
"I did have something to prove with this record. For my whole life, I've been told everything I wanted was impossible, but here we are. It's because of hard work and a little bit of luck but if you want something badly enough, then impossible is just a matter of making a decision." For the first time in almost a decade, Dallon was betting on himself. "There were no goals when we started iDKHOW. There was no purpose other than to have fun." To ensure they had space to play, for the first year of iDKHOW, the band played secret shows, and Dallon and Ryan denied their involvement. "We knew eventually we'd have to admit to what we were doing, and as soon as we did there'd be this influx of people coming in [because of the bands we'd been in previously]. But we never wanted to exploit that. We didn't want to ride on anyone's coattails. It's inevitable that people are going to say, 'you're only here because you used to play in that band', and that reality isn't lost on us. What we do want to do, however, is do this band as separately and as honestly as we can, with as much credibility as we can manage." Still to this day, iDKHOW do everything in their power to stand apart from what else is out there. Onstage, Dallon wears Marc Bolan-inspired glitter dots simply because he never used to. "That was just a little thing to separate being on stage with Panic!
"FOR MY WHOLE LIFE, I'VE BEEN TOLD EVERYTHING I WANTED WAS IMPOSSIBLE, BUT HERE WE ARE" DALLON WEEKES
versus being on stage for myself." And in the studio, if a song starts feeling too familiar, they hit the brakes and take it in a different direction. "We try to do as much as we can to keep these worlds separate," says Dallon, before admitting that it's hard to do "when you've done so much creatively for another band because your thumbprints are still on it." It's not just the shadow of their former bands Dallon and Ryan (who once drummed with emo cock-rockers Falling In Reverse) are trying to outrun, though. As a two-piece, everyone is just waiting to compare iDKHOW to Twenty One Pilots, Royal Blood or Death From Above. Because of that, "we do actively try to avoid any similarities, whether sonically, visually or aesthetically in whatever we do. We try to keep it as unique as we can." When the band used to play live, Dallon would
bring out a ukulele for any acoustic songs, but that just ramped up the comparisons to Twenty One Pilots. Now, he's got a four-stringed Tenor Guitar for those moments. "It's just one small thing to take us a step further away from what another band is doing." As well as giving them space from their day jobs, those secret shows also let iDKHOW figure out what the hell they were doing. "It had been such a long time since I've been in that role centre stage, in the spotlight, I'd forgotten that part of myself," says Dallon. It took a year of playing in secret and the entirety of their '1981 Extended Play' for him to "find my own voice as a writer." Looking back on it now, debut single 'Modern Day Cain' doesn't feel quite right. Sure, the same glam-rock theatrics can be found across 'Razzmatazz', but he "was still in the headspace of writing for other artists."
Blowing those cobwebs away and putting on his frontman shoes, iDKHOW's debut album doesn't shy away from saying exactly what's on Dallon's mind. "Because it's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to write about this stuff, I think it all came out at once. It's been cathartic." On the surface, 'Razzmatazz' sounds joyful and upbeat, but just below the surface, it gets real emo. The macabre 'From The Gallows' sees the band eager to please with Dallon singing, "for you I'd die, or kill myself, whichever makes you smile," while the fiery 'Leave Me Alone' demands space. "Go fly a kite until you're tangled in the hanging tree," Dallon snarls. "That seems to be my default setting. Maybe I just got some kind of darkness in me and writing songs is how it comes out. If that's the case, then so be it. It feels like a healthy way for that Upset 33
34 Upset
"IT'S OK TO BE SAD, ANGRY AND TO SHOW EMOTION" DALLON WEEKES
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"IF YOU WANT SOMETHING BADLY ENOUGH, THEN IMPOSSIBLE IS JUST A MATTER OF MAKING A DECISION" DALLON WEEKES
to manifest itself." Not only frustrated with his own experience in Hollywood, 'Razzmatazz' takes issue with the huge advantage that people from money have in art. "I didn't grow up with money, and up until about 2014, I was still working regular jobs while touring in a band. I'm coming from a place that most people come from." 'Razzmatazz' taps into the fury and frustration that comes from how unfair the whole system is. "People connect with ideas like that because a lot of working-class people do have big dreams, but they don't have the opportunity to pursue them. A lot of the time that's because of money, or it's because you don't know the right people or that little bit of luck never strikes for them. "It's bizarre to think that out there in the middle of nowhere, some kid with a guitar is writing the best music that nobody is ever going to hear, just because they don't know the right 36 Upset
people or mom and dad don't have enough money to send them here. It's such a shame that sometimes lightning strikes for people who take it for granted." Dallon's seen it first hand. "That's really infuriating to me. There are people who treat the opportunities they have like a toy. They don't respect the position that they're in or the fans that they have. They think that they are where they are because of their talent. It's certainly wonderful to be talented - I'm not speaking for myself, I'm a bass player - but your talent has very little to do with being in the position that you're in." A lot of it is down to privilege. But iDKHOW still want to have fun. You kinda have to with a name like I Don't Know How But They Found Me, a title that captures that initial M.O. of secrecy, but now is one that Dallon does regret a bit. "A good band name is Led Zeppelin, but for the most part, all band names are terrible. The Beatles, greatest band of all time, have a pun for a name. You just have to embrace the fact that band names are ridiculous and not care. " The world might know their real names but the band have traded that mystery in for another. On '1981', there was a loose concept that iDKHOW were a band from 40 years ago that never had that moment of cultural significance that they hoped for. "We never want to have to do the exact same thing twice, though. So rather than just continue
on with that story, we decided to twist the narrative a little bit on 'Razzmatazz' and start introducing this pseudo governmental corporation [the Telex Corporation] which is a metaphor for the music industry." In the future, they might do away with the concepts altogether. Dallon is already ready to release fan-favourite and' Razzmatazz' offcut, 'Mx Sinister' (changed from Mr Sinister so not to promote any sort of violence against women) and he's toying with the idea of another Christmas song, though he knows time is against him. He's also got an album and a half worth of new ideas for iDKHOW. "I'm finding moments here and there to work on songs because what else am I going to do?" Right now, though, 'Razzmatazz' tackles the way that art is manufactured and sold as a product. "We're just kind of pulling the curtain back a little bit more this time around. It's not necessarily what you thought it was." Inspired by the storytelling narratives of David Bowie's 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars' and The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', 'Razzmatazz''s fictional storyline is "important," he says, "but it comes secondary to making the actual record. I want the music to always be able to stand on its own. That story is just another layer of entertainment for anyone who cares to dive into it. And if you don't,
then that's totally fine." It also acts as armour for Dallon. "I'm singing about things that are very real to me, but presenting them in a fictional narrative helps protect me. It also helps me to say what I want to say without being explicit." In the cartoonish world of 'Razzmatazz', "you can say whatever you want to say." If you're expecting iDKHOW's debut album to be serving beef with the tea though, you're going to be disappointed. "I'm not interested in airing out dirty laundry, and I'm not interested in talking trash about anybody. There are very real things that I want to say and get out of my system, but if that comes at the expense of publicly taking someone down, I'm not interested." It is, after all, a positive record driven by excitement. In the studio, Dallon threw everything at every song in a bid to answer all those 'What if‌?' questions ("luckily we had a patient producer, Tim Pagnotta"), and after a lifetime of being told he was never going to make it, or having to stand left-of-centre stage, there's a real confidence to 'Razzmatazz'. Millions of streams and sharing festival stages with the likes of Twenty One Pilots and Billie Eilish will do that for a band, especially if they only have five songs to their name at the time. "We started out this thing playing for 30 people, then 100, 200, and all of a sudden we're on the Main Stage of Reading & Leeds. It was very Upset 37
overwhelming, but in the best way possible." Because of those validating experiences, 'Razzmatazz' wears those bombastic, Queen influences proudly. From the soaring vocals on the opening thrust of 'Leave Me Alone' to the killer sax that plays out as the title-track swells and decays, it's an album that isn't afraid of going big. Elsewhere, Dallon gets soppy, stripping back the anger and talking openly about his family. The twinkling slow dance of 'Kiss Goodnight' is about the first night he met his wife, while the dreamy urgency of 'Need You Here' is an oldie, started years ago on the road when he was missing his family. He got his then six-year-old daughter to record a spoken word bit for it, but he could never finish the track because he couldn't listen to it without crying. Now she's in Junior High and sings around the house. "I heard her one day, and it blew me away. I wanted to encourage that talent because it's not something I ever had growing up." They had a talk about revisiting the track and, long story short, she now gets 15% of the publishing. Despite the nostalgia that iDKHOW hide behind, sampling television shows from the 1950s and with a love of all things 80s goth-pop, they are a very modern band. They talk on Twitter about identity, pull from the likes of Muse or St. Vincent and refuse to play up to the idea of being rock stars, despite their dress sense. 38 Upset
"There are very few things I hate as much as the old clichĂŠ of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. That philosophy of 'do whatever you want' is a shit way to live, because it fails to take into account other people." While the lyrics don't talk about it explicitly, 'Razzmatazz' champions being as emotionally available as possible. "I grew up in a time where if you had feelings, you kept them locked up, you didn't talk about it and you never, ever cry. Instead, you strapped on a pair and mannedup. That's so incredibly unhealthy. I only learnt about the term toxic masculinity a few years ago, but it helped me grow as a person and as an artist. It's ok to be sad, angry and to show emotion. I would call this a positive record just 'cos I've been able to write without restrictions and without anything governing my ideas." He might not want to be a rock star and is only the frontman of iDKHOW out of necessity, rather than a thirst for fame, but Dallon does feel a responsibility to use his platform to say something to his fans. He does sorta owe them after all. "When it comes to music, young people are going to be the majority of the audience. I don't consider myself a role model because I've
"I DON'T CONSIDER MYSELF A ROLE MODEL; I'VE CERTAINLY MADE MISTAKES" DALLON WEEKES certainly made mistakes, have screwed up and done things I'm not proud of, but it's because of those young people, those fans on Twitter, that have allowed me to learn and to try and improve myself. "In the past five years, I've learnt about things like problematic speech, thinking and language. I'm incredibly grateful for them because throughout my life, I've been made to feel like I was less than, and I never want to make anybody feel that way. I've been guilty of that stuff in the past and becoming aware is the first step to changing it. "If there's ignorance that exists in my life, I want to point it out so that I can change it. I feel like if there's any experience that my old age can provide for them, I want to try to
return the favour. The feeling of responsibility comes from this exchange that I've had with fans. They've helped me a lot, and if there's any way that I can help them, whether it's through music, or through some kind of interaction, I want to do that. I feel like it's part of the job." Otherworldly and poised to steal your heart with the carnival chaos of 'Razzmatazz', iDKHOW are a band that have had to work for what they've got. They've never taken the easy path, even when it's been offered, because it would mean sacrificing a small corner of their world and that's a price that's never worth paying. Instead, the band are free to do whatever they want, but never at the expense of anyone else. "It's important to remember that every one of us who has a voice whether it's big and for stadiums, or whether you're talking to a club full of two-dozen people - is incredibly lucky to be in that position," Dallon considers. "And I hope that I never ever forget that." P
iDKHOW's debut album 'Razzmatazz' is out now.
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40 Upset
Words: Dillon Eastoe. Photos: Connor Laws.
B A D L A N D S
Since 2018, Black Foxxes have been through the wringer. Their second album 'Reidi' reigned in some of the cacophonies of their debut in favour of slick arpeggios and atmospherics on a trip into the Big Wild of the Icelandic landscape. A stellar record, tensions bubbled under the surface however around the poppier choice of singles and the trajectory of the band. Touring fizzled out, and main-man Mark Holley ended the year playing
new material written without the band in mind at solo shows. Radio silence in 2019 has been resoundingly broken with Mark releasing two solo EPs and, now, a new self-titled Black Foxxes album too. A band whose music is forged in rage and frustration, the process wasn't without its challenges; founding members Ant and Tris departed, and a new rhythm section was recruited while Mark continued to contend with the effects of chronic illness. Those solo releases, an acoustic collection with partner Ciara Flint providing harmonies (as well as creating visuals for new Foxxes videos), and a Upset 41
collaboration with Bristol artist Poisonous Birds that experimented with drum programmes and artificial instruments, were released by Mark on Bandcamp earlier this year as he cleansed his palette ahead of the Foxxes' return. "The Poisonous Birds EP was really in the transitionary period of understanding where Foxxes would be," he explains over the phone from his new digs in Edinburgh. "It's quite interesting that sound came out 'cause when I was writing with Tom [Ridley], I didn't know if that was gonna be the new Foxxes. I was talking to a lot of people, [BBC Radio 1 DJ] Dan Carter actually being one of them - he was giving me loads of advice. He 42 Upset
was saying, 'Look, if this is the natural progression of the band, you should go for it'. But we took it to a practice room to make it big, and it was fun, it was really fucking cool. There were so many moving parts to it, but it felt like a step too far for Foxxes 'cause it really did feel totally different. I'm all for bending genres as a band, but it felt like a new band." The line-up reshuffle was a long time in the offing, with a post-tour break proving to be an endpoint for Mark's bandmates. "Tris came back after a few months and said his head was not in it. I'm never going to fall out with anyone for being honest. It's totally the right thing [to walk away]; if you've even got an inkling of that, you've
got to say it and move on. "Me and Ant tussled with the idea of continuing for a while. But after a few months, Ant decided it wasn't Foxxes for him, and he didn't want to continue with it, which I totally respect. It's one of those hard things, it's been amicable we haven't fallen out, and I respect those guys so much. But everyone's going to have a difference of opinion on this. I know for a fact that carrying on the band wasn't what everyone close to the band wanted to do," Mark admits. "But I had to, I started the band myself seven years ago, and I did say to myself at the time that this was going to be my last real go at forming a career out of this. I wasn't ready to stop it. Getting Jack and Finn involved was a real breath of fresh air for me as a songwriter. Jack's my longest and oldest friend in the world, I lived next door to him growing up. When 'Badlands' got released, Jack came down to Chudleigh which is where we grew up, and there's this spot which is a huge quarry. We used to go up there as kids and talk about touring the world and writing music. We went up there when 'Badlands' released and considering we hadn't written music together since we were 18 or 20, it was a really cathartic feeling because it kind of came full circle, like there was a real purpose for what happened and why it happened. It's been a genuine pleasure writing music with those guys,
they are phenomenal musicians. Sometimes a band needs a breath of fresh air and a kick up the arse." Roaring back in July with that single 'Badlands', Black Foxxes have never sounded so expansive, experimental and unburdened. A hulking slab of stonerrock guitar and visceral vocals, it's a nineminute rock out that shifts halfway into a spiralling out that whirls upwards in dizzying fashion. It also marked the point Mark was inspired to refocus on the band having tried his hand writing for other projects. "[New bassist] Jack sent me just this 15-minute stoner rock riff, and I said to him, I can turn this into something so sick, and from that moment on that's when we started writing for Black Foxxes because it just felt like the right thing to do." While in no way a piece written about the bizarre events of 2020, this album is a fitting companion in its themes and feel. These nine songs are dark, claustrophobic, and at times emotionally oppressive as they chart depression, isolation and the writer losing their sense of self. 'Panic', seemingly born from that Poisonous Birds collaboration, employs craftful autotune over Death Cab-guitar phrases, before ending abruptly amid a squall of distorted bass synth. 'Jungle Skies' tacks closest to the last album, a driving drum bassline carrying
"SOMETIMES A BAND NEEDS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR AND A KICK UP THE ARSE" MARK HOLLEY
acoustic guitar and Holley's most restrained vocals. 'Drug Holiday' is one of the smartest pieces, a woozy guitar riff always bubbling under hushed vocals as the track simmers menacingly without ever boiling over. "I played a lot vocally with this one, taking influence from really random places like Billie Eilish. She does such interesting things with her voice where it's so delicate, but it's so loud in your ear. PJ Harvey does that a lot as well. Like, she whispers. And it's super menacing and uncomfortable to hear. But it's actually a very delicate song. The actual essence of the song is basically Nirvana 'In Utero'. It's just three dudes in the room playing, and it's a very spaced out sound. But then the choruses and
the fact that there's no lead vocal? It's just those breaths; we wanted them to be really in your ear to be really uncomfortable." Mark pauses before reflecting on making this self-titled, defining comeback album. "The whole point of this record is if we were going to do anything, it had to have purpose. So even tracks like 'Pacific' which meander, and they're smooth, and they're soft, it comes after a 30-second intro which is basically Dillinger Escape Plan or something. As a listener, you need that balance. We wanted something that is pushing the listener to their limits. "Nowadays, there are so many great sounding records, but once you've heard three tracks, you've heard the whole album. We wanted to keep people secondguessing. We closed the album with a 10-minute track and a section which is a minute long, as loud as whichever track it was by Metallica, which I think it's on paper the loudest ever produced track in music. So after it, you need that calm. It's about keeping the listener engaged 'cause otherwise if you're not doing those things as a rock band now, it's just so
stale and so predictable." While dealing with label tension, line-up changes, and the heave to get this album recorded and out into the world, Mark has continued to grapple with the effects of living with Crohn's disease. "I've battled with on and off alopecia for the past 11 years of my life. During 2019 and the writing of this third record, my hair fell out entirely. Eyebrows. Beard. Hair. Arms. Legs. You fucking name it. I had put off shaving my hair for weeks/months, and it got to the point that no hat could cover the fact I had no hair left. I wrote 'Jungle Skies' about depression and the weight of letting go." That turmoil at watching part of your identity fall away in front of you feeds that tense atmosphere that gives the record its spark. "There's certainly something very surreal about viewing yourself in a mirror without any eyebrows. That was the most surreal and the most difficult to get over. I couldn't accept who I was for months and the music that came out was fierce and on the brink of madness, that reflects in
my vocal performances and delivery across the record. What were those first weeks like? "I just hid, to be honest. I was ashamed to even show my mum what I looked like. I put off more shit and bailed on more people in the three months after shaving my head than I have in my entire life. But out of that came a peace and love for myself that I've never felt before. I ended up getting microblading [tattoo-like pigmentation] done, and that changed my life. Having eyebrows is a wonderful thing, and if mine ever grow back, I will cherish those little nuggets of joy until the end of time. But for now, I'm drawing my own eyebrows on, and it's badass, and I love it." Having cast off outside influence and locking in to record an album on their own terms, Black Foxxes have created a curious, varied and timely release that plants a flag for challenging, alternative rock music that's delivered with both sonic savvy and earnest emotion. "I reached lows I never realised I'd get to in 2019, but the most exciting part of all of it for me is that I never stopped, and I never gave up at any point. I'll always remember that year fondly for that reason alone. Whatever happens to this band, wherever it goes, whatever career we have. I know I'll always be creating, and that's the most important thing." P Black Foxxes'
self-titled album is out 30th October.
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Words: Linsey Teggert. Photos: Katie Hovland.
STAYIN' ALIVE 44 Upset
Like most, Laura Jane Grace thought she had her plans for 2020 figured out. At the beginning of March she was on tour with her band Against Me!, and had spent months prior to that working on songs for their new album. The band had even spent a week in the studio starting to get to grips with those new songs. But then we all know what happened next.
Laura spent that first month sat on her couch wondering what the hell was going on with the world, but after a while, she realised she needed to do something to make herself feel alive. Not wanting to let those songs she'd worked on for the new Against Me! record die, Laura decided to do what she does best. She booked time in the studio and sang her fucking heart out. "It got to the point where I was like, 'What am I doing?!," laughs Laura. "I realised that if I just adjusted my scope, I could figure out a way to make a record here in Chicago where I live. I already had the songs in the bag - I'd overwritten for the Against Me! record, so when it became clear that that had come to a complete standstill as none of us live in the same city, it was a case of working out which songs made sense as a record in this new context." So Laura picked up the phone and called Electrical Audio, the recording studio owned by the legendary Steve Albini and conveniently located in Chicago, and booked a (socially distanced) session with Steve to record her solo record 'Stay Alive.' "From mid-April I decided I was going to wake up every day and
"IF SOMEONE IS GOING TO SAY THAT THIS IS MY COVID-19 ALBUM, AT LEAST THAT MEANS I HAVE A COVID-19 ALBUM" practice these songs, go running every day and just live a really low-key, simple daily existence. The focus was completely on practising the songs as I wanted it to be fully analogue, just live recordings with nothing overdubbed, so I knew I had to be as prepared as possible for
going into the studio." Famed for his no-bullshit approach, Steve Albini was the ideal person to bring Laura's vision to life. "Working with Steve was meaningful in so many ways. I'm a huge fan of so many records he's made, whether that's PJ Harvey or 'In Utero', but I also really appreciate him as a personality and his whole philosophy behind recording - I knew that was really in line specifically with what I was looking for. "I was getting lost in the weeds with people giving me advice that I didn't necessarily want or need, and it seemed like such arbitrary advice that didn't actually matter. I 100% wanted to work with Steve because he is strictly a recording engineer: I wanted someone to set up microphones and press record and to make it sound really good and to give me no fucking opinions on what they thought of the songs. Any of that I felt was going to cloud my judgement and try and steer me away from what I wanted. And that's completely what Steve was about, and it could not have been more perfect in that way." The stripped-back, no messing about approach to 'Stay Alive' amplifies the sincerity and urgency
Upset 45
of Laura's song-writing, placing her powerful voice front and centre. Swapping the driving folk-punk riffs for nothing but an acoustic guitar creates an intimacy and poignancy that only hits harder given the current circumstances we find ourselves in. Even the record title, 'Stay Alive', takes on deeper meaning, but ironically, the phrase was already in Laura's mind before the pandemic hit. "The last song on the record has the chorus refrain of 'Please stay alive', and that was the first song written before any of the others. That phrase worked its way into my subconscious in a number of ways, one of them relating to my old friend Chris Farren who played in a band called Fake Problems who Against Me! toured with. He put out a solo record called 'Can't Die', and on one of the tours we did the usual last day of tour merch trade-off, and I took a hat that said 'Can't Die'. "It probably seemed odd because I'm not a baseball hat person, and I was worried he might think I was just taking it for the sake of it and wasting his merch, but that became my running hat. Every day, I'm waking up and putting on this hat that says 'Can't Die'. I'm hitting the streets, I'm getting out there, I'm fucking doing it! My internal response to it became this phrase 'Can't Die, Stay Alive', and once all this happened, it made even more sense." On the one hand, this record is certainly a personal means for Laura to channel her creativity and produce a piece of work during a difficult time. "At least I'll be able to look back and ask myself, 'What did I do during the pandemic?' Did I just sit around and think about how much it sucks that I can't tour, did I do a bunch of livestreaming that didn't last and was gone the second it was over? If someone is going to say that this is my COVID-19 album, at least that means I have a COVID-19 album as opposed to not having one." However, despite satisfying her own need to work, there was also a much more selfless reason to put out a record during a pandemic. 46 Upset
"I WANT TO KEEP THE CULTURE AND COMMUNITY GOING" In working, Laura is fighting back against the creative industry collapsing, helping to put life back into a scene that is being decimated by closures and cancellations. "We can sit here, and I can explain the songs specifically to you, and I can talk about the lyrics behind them, but really when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter what the songs are about. I don't want this to be like, 'Hey my feelings need attention right now, I need everyone to understand how I feel'. I'm just like you, and I'm sitting here reading about venues and record stores closing and worrying about whether these places will be there when this is over. "I can't work with my band right
now, but I can adapt and figure out a way to work considering the circumstances, and hopefully by putting a record out I can help keep a record label operating and everyone else involved in putting out a record in work. I want to keep the culture and community going and keep it relevant, let's create new pieces of art that are lasting and figure out a way to do so within the means we have. I don't think it's realistic that everything will return to normal once this is over, but there will be something to return to, and it will be something more meaningful, stronger and resilient." P Laura
Jane Grace's album 'Stay Alive' is out now.
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IMPOSTER SYNDROME
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"The OBGMs are the best band in the world, and we deserve our comeuppance!" is Densil "Denz" MacFarlane's flag in the ground atop a hill he is willing to die on. There is no pretence. No bullshit. He firmly believes it. "That's honestly what this whole album is about," he continues. "It's like, 'yo, we're great, and nobody's paying attention to us because the system is rigged against us, but that's fine, we're gonna succeed anyway'. That's what we're gonna do, period." "We're not afraid of anybody out here; we're one of the only bands out here doing different types of shit. I don't think a band sounds like us on a record, especially our whole album; there's not an album that sounds like that. I think that's cool and I wanna be aggressive, I wanna be in people's faces to let them know that, 'yo this is who we are. This is our stand. This is our time. So, go ahead and move out the way'." And it's true, this band is one of a kind and their time is now. The OGBMs are punk. They come from Toronto, Canada. They are black-fronted. It's that final fact that means they've had to work harder to be seen and be taken seriously than most, due to years of little-to-no black representation in punk. But, The OBGMs are back with their second album 'The Ends', and it demands attention. It's ten tracks in 24 minutes of genre-defying, expectation-exceeding, pumpedup, in-your-face, bruising punk
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T T
H H
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T T T T
H H H H
E E E E
D D
S S
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N N N N
D D D D
S S S S
Words: Alexander Bradley. Photos: @savebeee, Amanda Fotes.
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rock that apologises to no one for how confrontational it is. It's a daily grind for Densil, continually talking up The OBGMs' music, wedging the band's name alongside innovators like Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Steve Jobs in the hope that people will listen and try to challenge him so the band can continue driving forward. The singer points to The Clash, Cro-Mags and Bad Brains as three pillars of punk all with differing sounds and approaches, and so, ultimately, when The OBGMs' validity in punk is questioned, it's a question more deeply rooted in racism than music. It's because people are "seeing a black person making music with a little bit of a groove, but it's still loud and rough," he observes, before pointing out that the level of shit The Clash faced for releasing 'Rock the Casbah' was nowhere near what he battles against every day. "We literally have to be the Obama of rock'n'roll in order to be accepted, and it's crazy, man," he sighs. "We've been in the band a long time, and you'll find a lot of different ways for people to try to delegitimise us in this space. People will say we're not punk, people will say we're not rock, and those don't feel like major statements but what it does to our actual business is, if you feel that way and these lists exist in how you consume music which are rock and punk catered, they may 50 Upset
"THIS IS WHO WE ARE. THIS IS OUR STAND. THIS IS OUR TIME" not consider us at all." Densil just wants to be heard, and he is confident he will win over more people than lose. And on 'The Ends', it's hard not to get sucked in. They've perfected the twominute punk song with the sneering attitude on 'Cash', the cries of "This is how we die" on 'Fight Song', breaking up the band on 'Move On' or the dizzying, joyride, that is 'All My Friends' all decorating this album. There is such effervescence and confidence that comes from the singer, it's almost hard to believe how close The OGBMs came to ending. Following the release of their debut album back in 2017, Densil took a break from music after becoming disillusioned by touring and making an album built on compromise. "I was 95% there, 99% there. I wrote this album with the intention of this being my first solo album," he admits, explaining how close he got to calling it a day with The OBGMs. He is the first to concede that quitting the band at that point wouldn't have been cool ("some sucker shit" in his words) but instead, by confronting his insecurities, The OBGMs were able to come out swinging instead.
It took weeks and months of Densil spending time alone in the studio, creating "shit, just garbage" by himself, but once he figured out that was the test of his faith in his music he started the next challenge of presenting music back to the band. They went from a fourpiece to a trio - with Colanthony Humphrey on drums and Joseph Brosnan on bass - and slowly but surely, 'The Ends' began to come into view once they recruited producer Dave Schiffman. The producer, who previously worked with fellow Toronto punk outfit PUP, connected Densil with PUP's frontman Stefan Babcock to help polish up a few ideas on the album. "I sent him some of the demos, and he literally would just find ways. He's like, 'Hey have you ever tried this inflection of your voice? Have you ever tried mixing up these chords a little bit or this arrangement?' And he is on his tour, he would get off the stage and then listen to some OBGMs demos, play our songs better than we played them and send them to me and I took it as a direct challenge to get better, and I completely love him for it." Densil credits Stefan for giving more life to
one or two songs, but the level of obsession the PUP singer brought to them carried over into the whole album, and that level of scrutiny and imagination is something he aspires to continue in the future. Between Densil and Stefan, you find two sides of the same coin; both with an uncanny ability to wrap their insecurities in loud, abrasive, music. For The OBGMs singer, away from confidence, 'The Ends' details his biggest struggles. "'The Ends', to me, was literally about shedding the skin of the bad days and bringing those to an end," he confides. "I'm going to fight my way forward by fighting through these motherfuckers. That's how I feel about it, man." Despite its rollicking drum beat and the chip on its shoulder, 'Triggered' is a low point on the album for the chasm between how Densil views his music and how the world views him. "My dream is to be Nirvana. I wanna be Nirvana, so every time we release a song, every time we release a record, and it's not received like you would receive a Nirvana record, a piece of me dies," he says, halfjoking but not really. "So, in a serious way though, I've spent a long time of my life, I've spent a lot of money, I've taken a lot of time away from my family. I've not taken a lot of directions that I could have taken that would have been maybe the smart, atypical ones to choose, and I went
to music, because that's what I love to do. "So, not being accepted or not having the progress that I would have liked to have at this point honestly makes me feel like I wanna kill myself sometimes, man. I hate it, I hate the feeling because it feels like I'm a failure. "In my mind I'm thinking, 'yo I'm John Lennon' and I'm not being received like John though. It hurts, and that song is literally about that. It's just about like, 'yo, I'm feeling like I'm triggered, who do I wanna be today? Try to figure this out or am I going to pull the trigger on you or am I gonna pull it on myself? I don't know, but it's probably gonna be you, because I think it's not me!'" he laughs. But Densil came through that and helped The OBGMs create an album that deserves attention. Not because it's punk. Or part of that Toronto scene. Or because they're blackfronted. But because it's a great album. It's immediate, intense and not backing down either. It's leading its own rebellion for more representation of black people within in the punk rock scene whilst propelling that music forwards at the same time, but it isn't an album defined by that particular fight either. Put some respect on The OBGMs' name, because this is far from "the ends" for them. P The OBGMs' album
'The Ends' is out 30th October.
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On the Clock Photos: Nicholas O'Donnell
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Dublin dreamgrunge trio Bitch Falcon have been riding on a wave of hype with their mustsee live show for years .
out and excited to show it to the world. We have taken a good while to record our debut, and it really feels like the music we're supposed to write.
Now, it's time for their debut album. Thankfully recorded long before the tumultuous events of 2020 took hold, this is the band fully realised, charting themes of mental health, existentialism and personal relationships. Frontwoman Lizzie Fitzpatrick and drummer Nigel Kenny tell us more.
Nigel: It's hard not to look back on it and want to change, add or take away something. There comes a time, though, when you have to just let it go and let it off into the world. Everyone has a 'Chinese Democracy' [Guns'n'Roses infamous very-delayed album] in them I reckon. Lizzie: Nothing is ever finished! I guess you just have to put things to bed and be happy with the way they turned out.Â
Congrats on finishing your debut album, how does it feel to have it done?Â
Nigel: Exciting! It's nearly time so definitely very eager to have the whole thing out there for everyone to hear. Lizzie: It feels so great to have it done. We're really happy how everything has turned
Are you guys good at drawing a line under things, or do you like to go back and tinker?
Does it feel as though the record's been a long time coming?
Nigel: Yeah, for sure. We've been around for a while now playing a lot of gigs and drip-feeding music, so it's nice to have ten songs out there, on a record which
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record while socialdistancing was in effect?
no one has heard (apart from the singles we've released in the lead up). Lizzie: Absolutely! We were always behind I thought in the releasing of material. It feels good to have a solid piece of work that we're really proud of ready to go. I know in our audience that people have been waiting and asking for so long.
How fully-formed was your vision for the album going into it? Are you very preplanned in the way you work, or is it all more spontaneous?
Nigel: Structurally everything was prepared by the time we went into the studio. Once we did, we allowed the studio and the two lads from The Meadow [Rian Trench 54 Upset
and Robert Watson] to inspire and foster a creative situation where some unplanned stuff was added. We had a map for how it would go before we went in and that got torn up a little after about three or four days. Lizzie: I think when writing the songs, we wanted to have a very full sound, that would adopt the listener into the mix. I love albums that take you deep down sonically, and so the production in studio was approached in that fashion. I took a lot of inspiration from Kevin Sheilds [My Bloody Valentine] with the layering of feedback and reverb to create an immersive sound.
How was your time in the studio? Did you
Nigel: This was recorded over ten days beginning at the start of May 2019, so we weren't where we are now. We went in on day one with an idea to record a song mostly live and finish tracking and starting a mix of a song in each day. Once we started to track on the first and second day, we started to just lash out songs and scrap the song a day approach as it was moving pretty quickly by itself. I think most of the main elements of the album were recorded in less than five days for all of the songs and then we engorged ourselves on the toys available to Barry and us, and Lizzie started to go a bit crazy with the pedals and synths. Lizzie: Yeah, it was recorded a year ago or so, so no distancing was in effect! We got the main parts of the songs
done quite quick, and the layering of extra sounds was lots of fun. I found it quite difficult to get my vocals polished enough for studio, so I did a bit of home recording. I'd say the neighbours are sick of me screaming next door.
'Staring At Clocks' feels like a really apt title for 2020, what does it mean to you? Lizzie: Yeah, I guess it is! Well, the title is one of the songs on the album that is really that numbness that comes along with depression. I was going through a bit of a low stage when writing, and I was just waiting for time to pass, the low to pass.
Is your music impacted much by 'the state of the world'? Lizzie: I think that political situations can always influence a person. This record is mainly a personal reflection on my state of
being, existentialism and personal relationships.
Do you have a favourite song on the album?
Nigel: Probably 'Gaslight' for me, even at this stage. It was one of the first songs that came together for this album. I can still feel the energy from the first time it locked in our rehearsal space in the recording that's on the album. After all that time, it still had a vibe by the time we recorded it, and I still get it every time we play it. Lizzie: 'Staring At Clocks'. It was one of the most difficult songs to write lyrically and melodically. I had such a hard time coming up with something to match it. The music is so intense that I get such a buzz out of it. I think all the production and mixing on this track is excellent and it really fleshed it out to a fully-formed beast.
It must have been really
tough not being able to perform live this year, do you have plans to get back out and play?
Nigel: I think you have to try really, right? By now we should have played our last major festival for the year and been teeing up the tour for the album, but it wasn't to be. There is some solace in the fact that we're all in the same boat, which has allowed for some space to take a breath from a pretty fullon few years. That being said, I'm really itching to get back to gigs. That's what it's all about for me, and as soon as we can do it safely, we'll be back out there. Plans are in progress to put us in the best position as possible to do this once it is safe to do so. Lizzie: Yeah, I'll be so excited to get back to playing, because I think that's a big part of what we do. Our live shows are so much fun, and I really miss expressing myself that way.
What do you think the hurdles are going to be for live music, and bands, over the next year or so?
Nigel: Keeping giggoers safe and making it viable for everyone in the industry to put on gigs. It's going to be a challenge for a promoter, venue and a band put on a show and keep the lights on. Luckily it's a very creative industry, and I'm sure we'll find a way out of this soon. Lizzie: Exactly as Nigel said, I have faith in the industry to find an escape route. Hopefully, it'll be a hiatus and not an end for most people; it'd be great
if we could all get back to where we are when this is over. I guess it's just about finding different ways to do it.
sounds.
What are your hopes for 2021?
Nigel: Just the simple things like getting back Have you guys started to gigs in sweaty rooms with loads of energy. to think about your The last six months have next move yet? A lot really put everything into of musicians seem to perspective, and I don't be cracking on in the think I'll take playing and absence of shows. Nigel: Assuming everyone watching gigs for granted likes what we did on this, again. It'd be sweet if a lot then we should put out of people liked the album some more songs I reckon. too. Lizzie: Live bodies Lizzie: Luckily, I have an thrashing amongst each introverted side in me other. Sweaty pits of that loves to stay indoors collective energy. I want and write music. I think to be back where we this pandemic has maybe were. P shown that albums are still works of art, not just promotional materials. I Bitch Falcon's debut like to think the challenge album 'Staring At of making a mark Clocks' is out 6th sonically might lead to November. more creative and weird
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Rated_ THE OFFICIAL VERDICT ON EVERYTHING
BAD NERVES BAD NERVES
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Bad Nerves’ frantic debut album plays host to all your adolescent anxiety, thrashed out as punchy, fast-paced garage punk. A desperation to do something, and be something, runs throughout, the racing guitar demanding you keep up. From opening track ‘Can’t Be More’, the band’s roaring energy explodes out, sure-fire proof that their warped, crazed exuberance is a force to be reckoned with. The whole album is packed full of defiant longing, a sadness that absolutely refuses to be sad. It is instead a rage of teenage angst, furious pop that crawls under your skin. P Edie McQueen
BITCH FALCON STARING AT CLOCKS
IDKHOW
RAZZMATAZZ
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D
allon Weekes isn't your usual drab, cookie-cutter musician. He's not one for
mooching around, staring at his shoes, dreaming of mid-ranking respectability. Not a chance. Spearheading a glam-poprock bullet train, iDKHOW's debut album 'Razzmatazz' is as far away from the sound of mundanity as a band can get. Near a decade spent under the umbrella of Panic! At The Disco will leave a mark when it comes to the old sequin shimmer, but
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even that doesn't fully explain this level of sparkling brilliance. Wrapped in a story of found recordings of a mysterious band from decades ago, there's little about iDKHOW that isn't planned to the point of perfection. Opener 'Leave Me Alone' flickers into high fidelity, 'Mad IQs' spits with the same sassy hip-shake The Killers' hooked so well with 'The Man', but with way, way more style, while 'New Intervention' slinks from the shadows with Hollywood glamour. It's not too much of a leap to say 'Razzmatazz' already sounds like a modern classic. 'Clusterhug', for example, could have the better half of two decades of lighters-in-the-air on its ledger, and you'd believe it completely. When so much of so-calledrock-music is concerned with 'authenticity', iDKHOW never once feel forced or fake - but without ever resulting to the same-old same-old. The world may be burning, but with 'Razzmatazz', we'll at least go down with a touch of the old razzle-dazzle. P Stephen
Ackroyd
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Dublin's Bitch Falcon have arrived with a grunge-fueled escapade full to the brim with gritty angst and thundering basslines. With high energy from start to finish, 'Staring At Clocks' merges intricate guitar melodies with fuzz-infused basslines and unyielding, textured drum beats. A tight rhythm section and unwavering vocals give the album a sense of controlled chaos. Each track builds with excitement, with the unrelenting intensity bringing moments of unmistakable euphoria. A band demanding to be heard, their striking debut is cold, hard proof that grunge isn't dead. P Melissa
Darragh
BLACK FOXXES BLACK FOXXES
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Black Foxxes’ third album is a different beast, but it’s still a beast nonetheless. Physically, the trio are different for this album and the one constant, frontman Mark Holley, is more wild
and raw; almost unrecognisable from the more careful and delicate lyricist introduced in the band’s debut ‘I’m Not Well’ back in 2016. Instead, there's an attitude which flares up through the menacing whispers in ‘Drug Holiday’, the doomy riffing on ‘Badlands’ and anarchy which opens up on ‘Pacific’. Despite the changes, at their core, it’s the same brilliant and bold Black Foxxes and this, their self-titled album, is a confident step forward into a bright future. P
Alexander Bradley
BRUTUS
LIVE IN GHENT
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Belgian trio Brutus, purveyors of fastpaced and unforgiving tunes, are taking to the stage in their latest release. On record they’re something special, but live, they threaten to tear the whole city - in this case, their hometown of Ghent - down. In front of 750 die-hard fans, they do what they do best: taking no prisoners for a thrilling and captivating hour-long set that refuses to wane in propulsion. In the absence of real, beer-on-sweat-on-beer gigs this year, it's the perfect antidote to those long-lost feelings. P Steven
Loftin
GHOSTEMANE ANTI-ICON
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A sonic experience dripping with abrasion, Ghostemane’s eighth album in five years is another peek into the darkness that apparently lurks within. Stringing together the assault of his rap/metal hybrid with atmosphere and interludes to build a horror-show, 'Anti-Icon' is the perfect nihilistic soundtrack to a world eating itself alive. An album that feels like the love child between Marilyn Manson and Code Orange, hidden amongst the white noise comes truth, and just how much of it you can take is put to the test. P
Steven Loftin
HAPPY.
THE OBGMS
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IMPOSTER SYNDROME Despite their name, grungy American trio Happy. use their second record to discuss themes of mental health and struggling with strained personal relationships under the all-singing, all-dancing guise of fast-paced and aggressively melodic emo pop rock. The album is well-represented by the singles already released, particularly with ‘LiarLiar’, supposedly serving as an abstraction of a therapy session that explores how mental health diagnosis impacts your self-worth, and all to a banging chorus that seamlessly fuses punk and pop rock. It might not do much new for the band or the genre, but it's undeniably fun. P Finlay Holden
MAGICK MOUNTAIN WEIRD FEELINGS
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With zany track names, aggressive proto-punk guitar riffs and psychedelic imagery, Magick Mountain's debut album 'Weird Feelings' manages to feel familiar without seeming re-done. It's a real feat, considering the trio has been involved with or headed many a stalwart figure of the Leeds scene, such as Sky Larkin, Pulled Apart By Horses and Mother Vulpine - to name a few. There is something about the hypnotically simple lyrics contrasting with the often old school garage-rock lack of production that feels enticingly organic. This is best seen in 'Brown Bread' and 'Zodiac', both of which are electric. The latter comes in brash with an addictive, cacophonous sound, showing just how much lead guitarist Lins Wilson has missed being front-andcentre jamming with her guitar. When Magick Mountain combine their characteristic-free spirit, bombastic sonic style, they truly do make magic(k). P Chloe Johnson
THE ENDS
The OBGMs grab life by the throat on their new record ‘The Ends’, demanding attention with their genre-fusing music that’s a sonic middle finger to society. ‘Outsah’ sets the tone - djembe drums build an infectious tension (a feature throughout), while vocalist Densil McFarlane makes his opening statement with zero fucks. "I’ll fuck you up" he sings coolly - and that’s exactly what The OGBMs are here to do. Spitting fire, this is punk at its most authentic self, where culture and versatility flow thickly through its veins. P Jasleen Dhindsa
PUP
THIS PLACE SUCKS ASS EP
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In a year where everything around us seems to have gone to shit, it's reaffirming that some things remain perfectly the same. PUP's brilliance has never been in doubt, but 'This Place Sucks Ass' serves as a perfectly timed reminder that, while a bit of home-town negging may be far from original, it still hits the mark perfectly. A glorious, razor sharp gem. P Dan Harrison
SEAWAY BIG VIBE
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After the departure of vocalist Patrick Carleton, fans were left wondering what this would mean for Seaway's sound, but they've come back stronger than ever. Drawing inspiration from 80s power pop, it's an influence that's distinct throughout 'Big Vibe'. Oozing with bright, feel-good tracks, they've produced an upbeat, cohesive record that happily introduces a new era. P Kelsey
McClure
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EVERYONE HAS THOSE FORMATIVE BANDS AND TRACKS THAT FIRST GOT THEM INTO MUSIC AND HELPED SHAPE THEIR VERY BEING. THIS MONTH, PAMELA CONNOLLY FROM PILLOW QUEENS TAKES US THROUGH SOME THE SONGS THAT MEANT THE MOST TO HER DURING HER TEENAGE YEARS.
WITH... PILLOW QUEENS METRIC The Police and The Private
Metric's 'Live It Out' album was a constant companion for me in my teens and this song is an amazing example of Emily Haine's ability to transport you right into a film noir. I would listen to it over and over trying to decipher its meaning, but without you learn to just let great songs wash over you, and this is one of them.
ELLIOTT SMITH Between the Bars
This was probably the first Elliott Smith song I ever heard. It was certainly one I liked to wallow in when my hormones got a little too much. The song is a short but gorgeous taster that leads you into the rabbit hole that is Elliott Smith's discography.
CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE New Years Kiss
This song was constantly being played on guitar when I was with my group of friends, and their versions were so lovely I thought I should really listen to the original. I adore this song so much. The calamity of the premise is so heartwrenchingly beautiful, and it's a testament to Owen Ashworth's songwriting that he can tell these stories so convincingly.
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT 14th Street
The 'Want One' and 'Two' albums were given to me by a dear friend after we had come out to each other. I guess we began sharing the little things that helped us before we said anything aloud. This song, in particular, gets me with each listen. Rufus sang so nonchalantly about queer love, and that was huge for me at the time, especially when
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I was going through other artists songs with a fine-tooth comb to find any references to it.
TEGAN AND SARA Living Room
Tegan and Sara were a staple for me in my teens and onwards, and this was the song that reeled me in. It meant so much too because the meaning my teenage self projected onto it at the time, but I still think this is one of the best T&S tunes.
CSS Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex
I adored this debut from CSS. They played this song when myself and a few friends went to see them live in the Ambassador Theatre in Dublin, supported but none other than Tilly and the Wall. What a time to be alive. We were far too young to be there, but that made it all the better that we'd even got in AND got to meet Adriano from the band.
BE YOUR OWN PET October, First Account
This song was perhaps the only point in which to breathe on a
very high octane debut from this ferocious band. They were the epitome of a bored Americana which always resulted in such good music, especially this song. I very much wanted to be Jemina Pearl as a teen, and I still do actually.
HEATHERS Fire Ants
I don't think I've ever seen a band perform in such a variety of different places, from a theatre to an abandoned tea room on the seafront. This band was one of the highlights of a particular time in the Irish music scene, and I think their existence may have changed it for the better. The lyrics and pace of this song are in perfect simpatico, just like Ellie and Louise's beautiful harmonies. This song reminds me so much of that time where this wee community of music lovers bolstered each other and thrived while the recession was burning everything around us. P
Pillow Queens' debut 'In Waiting' is out now.