Voices Zine 03

I first started writing zines when I was 17. Making friends online and exchanging zines was a really fun way for me to be more involved in a scene and also to cross borders. Back then and even now, I was so shocked and touched that so many people were willing to help me out, giving their time/resources to help me make it happen! Some amazing photographers and artists were down to exhibit their work. I spoke with my favourite bands of the time, Basement, Nai Harvest, Hindsights and many more.

Eight years on and I still love this medium, buying zines whenever I can and supporting other creatives in doing something that is ultimately a compendium on a moment in time or a particular scene. I still think that’s really important. I am so grateful to every friend or stranger who has been willing to help us put this together and put their faith in the zine.

Back in 2015, I was picking up A Short Fanzine About Rocking and I was just in awe of Nick and the amount of hard work that went into putting ASFAR together. When he passed away, his wife was kind enough to speak with me and gifted me some copies I did not have. That kindness meant a lot to me.

Ultimately, this project is about crossing borders and speaking to people of all creeds and colours. James and I wanted to make something that was fun and welcoming. No ego, no dogma.

We intend on chatting with bands from all over the world, plus the people who make our scenes happen! Let’s see how it goes…

Peace!

Alex and James

SHOOTING DAGGERS

UKHC For The Animals is a non-profit UK hardcore & animal rights group. Putting on benefit shows for sanctuarys, collaborating with bands for fundraisers and supporting the scene and animals in the UK and beyond.

Merch, Tapes, Zines, Tickets + more www.hxcfta.bigcartel.com

HXCFTA

PLAYLIST

LISTEN WHILE YOU READ VOICES SPRING ‘23 PLAYLIST CAN BE FOUND ON SPOTIFY

DEMONSTRATION OF POWER

Sick People

RECOIL

Out for Blood

SCARAB

Scarab

IMPOSTER

The Cellbound

XWEAPONX & WORLD OF PLEASURE

Domination III

PEST CONTROL

Buggin’ Out

DIVINE SENTENCE

Fleshbound

GEL

Dicey

INITIATE

The Surface

WRECKAGE

Our Time

FATE

Fallen on your Sword

NIX

Hide in your Hole

MOURNING

Disenlightenment

NEGATIVE FRAME

Irrigance

MODERN COLOR

Pale

MILITARIE GUN

Very High

ALL UNDER HEAVEN

Alley Cat

COUNTERPARTS

A Eulogy for Those Still Here

ZULU

Where I’m From

MALIGNANT METHODS

Family Ties

BLOODFURY

Fear Feeds

EXISTENCE

Horror Spawns

YOUR SPIRIT DIES

Sacrosanct

ENVISION

Sacred Heart

GOING OFF

Self-Hatred

DEAD TO RIGHTS

Ink Won’t Run

FALSE REALITY

Bite the Bullet

NO RELIEF

Hey mate! So, first of all can you please introduce yourself and the band?

I’m Ethan, I sing in No Relief. Johnny and Oscar play Guitar. Joel plays bass and Miley plays drums. How the band got together is quite funny; originally, me and Joel were in college and both wanted to do a punk band. It was like Rival Mob kinda shit - really fun – called Order in the Court.

That fizzled out … but after that I moved to Hastings and ended up getting to know a few more people over here. Slowly got a few people together and started No Relief.

We chat with Ethan about nerding out, playing with Magnitude, 90s hip-hop and the scene renaissance in Brighton.

RELIEF

BRIGHTON, UK ETHAN BARRY

We recorded a demo but its off all streaming now. Our old members were on it and we were just like - ‘it’s not fair that we are playing shows with [this record]’. We don’t actually have anything to do with that music anymore.

Wicked. You released your debut EP last year. How have you been enjoying the reception to that so far?

It’s definitely one of my favourite things ever! The whole sound and the lyrics ... how we built it together is fucking sick. I really love it. Reception wise is craaazy.

It’s crazy how many people funk with it. Obviously there’s loads of mates who bump it and are like, ‘yeah I fuck with this band’, and I love that, but then there’s loads of random people. It’s really cool man, I’m really grateful for it!

We’re under the BN1 collective kinda thing and when we play Brighton it’s just fucking mental. When we play out of town… Southampton, Bristol, Midlands, London... the reception is unreal.

PHOTO: REPRIEVEVISION

We’re just creating loads of mates every time and people like it, I’m so grateful for that. [Laughs] It’s like having a little baby, it’s great!

It must be really cool coming away from shows and having connected with new people?

I still do that at shows now mate!

REPRIEVEVISION

Yeah man! After playing a show wherever, you’re instantly gonna have 5 new mates. 5 new people to follow. You’re always gonna get that link.

I read in the Burning Water zine that your dad put you onto a load of the old-school hardcore and really shaped your taste, can you tell me a bit about that?

It’s the easiest way in ever! Dad played in a few hardcore and punk bands throughout the years and I just got into it. He gave me things to listen to - like ABC, here’s your Misfits, your Rancid. I’m lucky man. Then I started going to more shows and I used to write down the name of the bands I’d see on people’s shirts. Just by how cool the shirts were I was like, ‘yeah that band have gotta be cool’.

Yeah haha! You scope out a cool shirt and you’re like, ‘fuck I gotta listen to that band!’ It’s mainly death metal bands - their shirts rock all the time! They could suck but their shirts rock [laughs]. In secondary school [..] I started listening to Black Flag, Minor Threat, Youth Crew, more metallic stuff like Merauder, Buried Alive, All Out War, H8000 bands. You find yourself going deeper and deeper. I’m such a fucking nerd - when I talk to Oscar about this shit… we’re bouncing off each other for hours and people are looking at us like, ‘what the fuck are these guys talking about?!’

Were there any stand-out shows for you when you were growing up? Or even just in the last few years, that have formed your outlook or your sound as a band?

I went to a lot of industry shows – in secondary school it was mainly like Architects, Slipknot, Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive. I eventually got into the YouTube rabbit-hole, finding new shit all the time. In the last 5 years I’ve fallen in

love with going to the DIY shows and the actual hardcore community shows. The one that kicked it off was Year of the Knife in London. I think Chamber were on there, and Cauldron. That’s when I started finding out more about UK bands.

now and then. Then the massive one where everyone came together was the Vein show at Green Door [Store].

Yep, I was there. That was fucked!!

Mate I remember this guy diving off the speaker on the right-hand side and no one caught him!! He just went head-first into the cobble floor.

Yeah hahaha, that might have been my friend Tom. The guys from Higher Power and Nat Wood [photographer] carried him out the side door.

I actually remember that hahaha. Narrow Head were on that bill too I think? That show was fucked haha.

I’ve only been to two shows where the band have stopped playing for injury, and that was one of them. Tom went out partying after!!

Yeah haha, even the singer was like… ‘is that guy alright?! I think he’s… really hurt’. I thought that guy was going to hospital!!

I’m happy he was alright! I never knew that.

Going to BN1 shows is unbelievable right now. It definitely gives me a good drive. You’ve got Final Word and BN1 Collective with Connor, Baxter and that. Burning Water with Oscar. Those three are very important promotors and it just drives me more to think, ‘I need to go to every show. Whenever, wherever’.

It’s a bit of a renaissance in the Brighton scene at the moment.

There was like, the hiatus years. You know what, there was a long time where there were a lot of punk bands. Imposter had just started out, State Funeral and Plastics were active, Gutter Knife, Rough Hands. All of those kinda shows were happening every

That was kinda the last show before everything shut down. I remember Vein coming for Outbreak 2018 and then I flew out to This is Hardcore to see them. Then I think late 2019 they were in the UK. I went through a phase where I was like, ‘if it’s not hardcore I don’t give a fuck!’

Now Narrow Head are one of my favourite bands. I love shoegaze and emo and everything in between. I love pop music. I looove pop music.

What’s your go-to?

I love that new Paramore album at the moment. Unfortunately [I’m not seeing them play in April]. When a ticket gets over 40 quid I usually fizzle out. Last week I actually got tickets for Wu-Tang and Nas at Wembley. First time I’ve ever been to

In terms of influence, since lockdown everyone treats shows more seriously.

It’s giving everyone the kick up the arse, thinking, ‘I need to go to shows!!‘.

Wembley and spent that kinda money on a ticket. I could go to sooo many shows on this money! But Wu-Tang and Nas on the same bill? Stoked.

Does Hip-Hop influence your writing when it comes to No Relief tunes?

Massively. With No Relief songs, listening to hip-hop is so good, even putting verses with a rhythm and not a beat. Fuck the beat off and just go with the rhythm and it can just flow so differently.

that show was sold-out. Even to the point that Oscar was letting people in for like half the price just to fill that room up. It’s full of moshers every time, first band will kick off and everybody will be moshing. It’s so healthy right now.

It’s the biggest scene in the South right now and people travel for it. Southampton is doing really well at the moment too, Eternal Rain are doing really well - the same guy does ‘UKHC For the Animals’. They’re doing big things and putting on shows at this venue called The Hobbit. It’s literally like a medieval bar. Then you walk out the back and it’s like a big fucking dome. Loads of benches, a stage, pizza oven. It’s sick. Definitely a place for a fest next year! That brings me back to BN1. There will be a fest… this year. [smiles].

Someone can definitely hate me for that, haha. But yeah, hip-hop is balls deep in hardcore, man.

For someone looking to come to their first hardcore show in Brighton, can you give them a run-down?

There are shows 2/3 times a month now, across multiple venues. It could be Cowley [Club], Bees Mouth, Green Door [Store]. We’re slowly starting to look at venues a little bit bigger to play shows - I know Oscar and Baxter are too - just on the basis that I can’t remember the last time we played in Brighton and it wasn’t sold-out.

New people are coming to shows and they’re going home and saying to their friends, ‘you need to come to this shit’, and they’re bringing 5 people with them next time. The last show I went to in Brighton was Going Off on their first night of tour with Out of Love and Biting the Heel -

Sick! I’m sensing a wink and a nudge there haha. Anyway, let’s not get you in trouble. You guys have been putting in some real graft this year and have played with some big bands! How does that feel?

Yeah Theo (Real Life Presents) asked us to play with One Step Closer and Magnitude. I didn’t think that was going to happen at all. OSC are really cool, really nice people as well. Magnitude as well; for me personally, their last record came out at the right time for me. It’s very important. Playing that show was very cool, and it was a packed room as well!! We went on stage and that was the most people we’d ever played to.

The annoying thing is that a lot of people will only go to a show if it’s a band from America pulling through, and it sucks. It’s like, you’ve gotta realise that hardcore is on your doorstep and you can look for it!

I overheard someone at the xUntold Sufferingx final show the other day,

I’ve got a huge love for 90s/early 00s Hip Hop. Without Hip Hop, Hardcore would be dead.

when Bodybag opened, saying, ‘never have I ever seen the first band get a reaction like that’. That’s important!

Mate I couldn’t agree more. All the bands that night killed it! I have to ask though, moving on from OSC and Magnitude, what are your bucket-list bands to play with in the future?

This year… [pauses]. I just wanna play out of the country! Straight up. I’ve played with some cool bands and made some really cool friends. If I could play with any band… It’d be Merauder. If they come over, I wanna play with Merauder. Just gonna put it out there.

You’re actually starting a new band as well I hear?

Yeah, so we were rehearsing on Saturday. It’s me, Oscar and the drummer of Vacuous, Max. Vacuous are like a death metal band, they’re doing really fucking well; playing big shows, constantly playing shows. Rhema is for fans of nerdy Cleveland hardcore shit. Ringworm, Integrity, All Out War, Kickback style. Definitely a lot heavier.

Shit that me and Oscar headbutt eachother about haha. Keep your eye out. I don’t know if it’ll be two shows and done or if it’s gonna carry on as actively as No Relief, but it’s gonna happen.

Not a bad first show to kick it off as well, supporting Age of Apocalypse and Despize! Yeah hahaha, what a good first show! I love Despize, I love all of them dudes. No Relief played with them last year. Age of Apocalypse is cool! I like Life of Agony, and you can just hear that in AOA. It’s pretty rockstar stuff!

Wicked man.

Before we finish, fave 3 bands in the UK right now? And you can’t say No Relief haha.

Shit… on the spot. Negative Frame, Despize. I’m loving Freeze at the moment. Who knows man!

Freeze are the fucking guys!! I love them. Yeah man that’s fucking rad. Negative Frame are in Portugal at the moment and that’s insane! They’re hardcore for hardcore baby!!

Cheers bro!

Lovely to speak to you brother. Hopefully see you at a show soon! Respect.

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NORELIEFHXC

LATEST SINGLE, ‘PLAYING DEAD’ WAS RELEASED ON FEBRUARY 10TH VIA: RESTRICTEDAIRSPACERECORDS

SHOOTING DAGGERS

The socially-conscious hardcore punk trio talk to us about how they came together, the state of the scene, and what’s behind their message.

Can you please introduce yourselves, your pronouns and what you play in the band?

Raquel - Drummer She/Her

Bea - Bass They/Them

Sal - Vocals + Guitar She/They

You spoke previously about ‘shooting daggers at gender norms’ and your recent EP, ‘Athames’, refers to a ritual dagger used by witches - for those who are new to the band, can you elaborate on the iconography/ themes you refer to in your work?

PHOTO: XANDRU__

LONDON, UK SAL PELLEGRIN, BEA SIMION, RAQUEL J ALVES

In terms of iconography, daggers - for obvious reasons - are a big part of our aesthetic. They represent a strong weapon for self-defence and strength. When we were looking for a name for the album, we thought of Athames because they are daggers used by witches, so we automatically linked it to women that are outcasts and live outside of patriarchal rules and they’re a strong example of sisterhood. We also like to reference retro queer and strong women figures in our artworks - for example on the cover of Athames, the three faces are of Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford, who were all suspected to be bisexual Hollywood stars.

We also wrote a song in the EP, ‘We will live’, which is about Guanying, who is a Buddhist goddess whose gender iconography has changed in the centuries as she was born as a male prince and later became a Bodhisattva. They started showing themselves in any form depending on who was in need of their guidance and nowadays she is mainly represented as a woman.

At the end of the day all our themes are strictly linked to things that feel close to us at the moment, so who knows how it will be in the next album. However, one thing for sure is that women and queer themes will always be part of shooting daggers because it’s just who we are.

You guys are pretty spread out in terms of where you grew up. Can you briefly tell me where that was?

Raquel: I grew up in a town called Móstoles from Madrid, Spain

Bea: I grew up in a town near Venice, Italy

Sal: I grew up in a beautiful shithole in the high alps in France, a city near Briancon.

And what was your experience with coming into punk/alternative music from where you grew up to where you are living now?

Sal: Alt people weren’t a thing where I grew up. I started listening to punk because of friends from Paris that I met at summer camp. I came back to my little town, and I started wearing spiked bracelets and black shirts with guitars on it. I also dyed my hair red and I remember my mum being so worried and telling me, “You need to tell me if you’re becoming goth”. Turns out it was worse than that: I was becoming a punk. People in my town were calling me ugly and I lost a lot of non-genuine friends but it kind of was the purpose of this change so I was at peace with it.

In London, it’s not so special to be into punk or to be alt, no one cares here, and the scene is quite big. Punk is obviously way better in London. There are so many people that play in (great) bands, and there are a lot of (great) gigs and events happening all the time. It’s truly amazing.

SLAFTO

The only drawback is that I was expecting a stronger unity between punks, but there’s a lot of cliques and dramas in the punk scene and it’s quite disappointing to realise that the punk scene is not like in books or riot grrrl zines. There’s defo a hierarchy of the punks, with cool kids and dorks and there’s a thin line with being DIY and being sell outs. I feel that many punks aren’t even openly political here, surprisingly.

Bea: I came to terms with the fact that I was an alternative kid quite early, probably at 10/11 years old. In my town, alternative kids were all the same, it didn’t really matter if you were a punk or a metalhead. In bigger cities close to mine there was more of a proper punk scene, but I’ve never been part of it. I was just hanging out with my rocker friends in my town, luckily there were quite a lot of us, including my best friend from high school so I never felt too much like an outcast.

I started to go to hardcore shows in the Venice area only a few years before moving to London, probably around 2013, and I fell in love with the genre and lifestyle,

I felt like I belonged there more than in any other music scene. When I moved to London at the beginning of 2017 I didn’t know where the punk gigs were, so I was only going to see the big bands. As soon as I met Sal in 2018 everything changed, and we slowly introduced ourselves in the scene and I loved it so much.

Raquel: I started to listen to alternative music when I was around 13; my older sister was into metal, so we started discovering bands together. I met my closest group of friends that were also into alternative music when I was in high school, and we started going to gigs and festivals together. I was more into metal and nu-metal when I was a teenager and then I started to listen to more doom, sludge and post-metal later on. I had friends that were into hardcore when I was living in Madrid but never got into it as I found the scene quite macho.

When I moved to London I came across the punk scene attending gigs and animal rights meet ups in Pogo Cafe, a really cool vegan space now known as The Black Cat

in Hackney. I used to go to a lot of the ‘Keep it in the family’ gigs, they used to organise many punk/hardcore shows in Deptford, also gigs at the Grosvenor in Stockwell and the unicorn in Camden and great gigs at squats that sadly now don’t exist anymore, like the Dewdrop and Arsenal squat.

A few years after I moved to London I started playing in post-metal and sludge bands for a while so really got into that scene too, playing in those bands I came across the people that used to organised Scum Fest (a great crust punk festival) they are now known as South London Scum Collective - a non-profit organisation that organises punk/heavy gigs on a monthly basis and now I’m a part of it too.

A few years ago I was lucky to cross paths with Sal and Bea when they asked me to join shooting daggers and now I’m discovering and starting to like the hardcore scene a bit more.

What are you guys listening to in the lead up to recording? Whether it’s an influence or not.

Our favourite bands recently have been Turnstile, Axe Rash (with whom we toured last year), Ceremony, Placebo, Title Fight, Scowl, Turnover, Touché Amoré.

Sal, you were talking with Tim Birkbeck on the Just An Insight podcast about more singing rather than just straight up screaming the whole time on the upcoming album and wanting to focus more on that. Do you think there will be a day when you take on another guitarist and go full-time with the singing yourself?

Sal: When I started SD, I played guitar by default ‘cus I didn’t know any guitarists and I could play a couple of power chords. I always wanted to go full on with the

singing and now I’m kind of used to playing and singing at the same time - even though I feel restrained to move on stage a lot of the time. It’s hard to find the balance and deliver the best performance when both are done at the same time, it’s a lot of practice. If I’m being honest, I would love to find another guitarist that would fit the band so I could go full on with the singing on some songs; also writing songs would be easier with another guitarist’s take (although, I still want to be the main riff maker). It would lift a lot of weight off my shoulders (figuratively and literally lol). So if you’re a Queer or a Woman Guitarist and you think you’ll shred in SD, then hit us up!

What else can you tell me about the album so far? What can we expect from it?

And are you recording at The Cros Nest again?

This time we are recording with Wayne Adams at BearBitesHorse Studios. We’re going back to the studio in August to finish it and the album will probably be out early next year. We are very excited, and we can’t wait to get our new songs out to the world.

This new album is about love & rage, sorority & empowerment. Still full of angst, with a sprinkling of self-love and unity.

Can you tell me what it’s like hanging out at those bigger shows (Scowl, Amyl and the Sniffers etc.). A lot of waiting around during the day and nervous energy I expect? What is it like getting up there and finally playing your set?

You could find some of us being hyper while others will be super chill eating Mac ’n’ Cheese 20 mins before playing our set. We also had great times hanging out with the bands. These are our favourite shows to play because they feel surreal, and we love that.

Bristol and Burn it Down festival in Devon. We are also looking forward to sharing a stage with our label mates Death Pills from Ukraine in London, plus we got some other great gigs that we can’t announce just yet! Finally – aside from band stuff, what are you most looking forward to this summer?

Sal: I’m a big fan of going back to my parents during the summer and seeing my friends, my sisters and my dogs.

I’m most likely not gonna go this summer ‘cus I’ll probably be working a lot. It’ll be fun still; we’ll go to Fluff Fest for the whole weekend and enjoy their last edition of the fest. London in the summer is pretty dead, I’m not sure what gigs will be going on this summer.

Raquel: I will squeeze some time to see my family in Spain and celebrate my little niece’s birthday. Can’t wait to finish our album too, also looking forward to spending the whole weekend at Fluff Fest as it will be a special one this year.

It feels like a dream come true; and playing with bands that we love love love is so kewl! It’s also out of our routine so it’s always so incredible, although we still love the smaller venues where you can really feel the vibe and energy from the room up close.

Can you tell me about some of your plans this summer and what you’re most looking forward to being involved with?

This summer is gonna be fun! We are looking forward to playing a few dates in France for the first time on our way to SuperBowl of Hardcore Fest. We are really excited about playing Fluff Fest in the Czech Republic too. We will also be playing some cool gigs in the UK like Unrest Fest in

Bea: I’m also gonna try to go back home for a few days to see my family and friends and enjoy sunny Venice. I am also super hyped to see Saetia in Camden in August, can’t believe it’s happening! Besides music, I’m going to see my favourite drag queen Katya in June and I’m hoping I’ll be able to afford tickets to the AEW Wrestling event in Wembley. I’m so gassed!

DEBUT EP, ‘ATHAMES’, WAS RELEASED MAY 20TH 2022 VIA: NEWHEAVYSOUNDS

SHOOTINGDAGGERS_HC

Playing in front of a massive audience, you feel invincible, and it feels like all these efforts finally paid off.

DETRIMENT

Berkshire based deathcore outfit

Detriment chat with us about their soon-to-be-released debut album, as well as touring with Realm of Torment.

Hey mate! First of all, do you want to go ahead and introduce yourselves and what you all do in the band?

We’re Detriment, from Reading. We started in 2021 – Myself, Reuben Sharp – vocalist; 1st guitar - Luke Reber; 2nd guitar Nathan

Jasiewicz; Bassist – Gareth Barnard; Drummer – James Castle. Me and Nathan were in a band before called Vakora and Gareth & Luke were in a band called Petulance prior to Detriment. That’s how it came about.

READING, UK REUBEN SHARP

PHOTO: KING_LOUIS.17

What was the vibes of Petulance and Vakora? Similar?

Vakora was more of a deathcore sound. Tiny bit of hardcore. Petulance was just a hardcore band.

Cool man. So, getting on to the Album, this is the first thing you guys have put out, right? Or did you have recordings before?

Nah, it’s completely the first release!

I take it it’s your first time in a studio together then. Who did you record with and how did you enjoy that process?

I think we’ve all got experience with recording, except from James really. Normally we record somewhat locally, like with Vakora we recorded with a dude called Adam Cox and that was in Andover.

This time we recorded with Jake Murray who plays in Ill Vision. He is one of the most incredible producers I’ve worked with. No problems whatsoever, everything is set up ready to go. He works so efficiently and really knows his way round the equipment; the whole experience with him… you felt like you were in safe hands. The final product speaks for itself - he’s done an amazing job on the album!

JustNoiseAudio – check him out!

You released Stone Cold [first single] a couple of weeks ago - it’s a fucking slammer, mate! How have you been enjoying the reception to that?

Thank you! Yeah, it’s been brilliant! Getting messages from people saying they love it and everything is so cool – especially for a first release! It’s so nice to see good comments – haven’t really seen any bad ones so far! There are a couple of funny ones on the YouTube video calling us ‘Steve Austin-Core’ because of the name haha.

I’m happy to take that. Getting a good reception on it ahead of the album hopefully entices people to keep on listening!

And then you have another single dropping this week, can you tell me about that?

Yeah so, it’s dropping on the 20th of April! 4/20 – The Lord’s Day. The song is called ‘Bleeding for You’.

I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to the album, man! How many tracks is it? And who are you putting it out with?

It’s a 10-track album. The Coming Strife will be releasing it, and we’ll be doing tapes with them as well. Everything’s running through TCS for the release.

Releasing with TCS kind of makes sense, right? You guys toured with Realm of Torment, Negative Frame, xUntold Sufferingx in 2022, who are all affiliated too?

Yeah man, so Gary and Luke had quite a good relationship with Realm when they were playing in Petulance and that’s how we started speaking to them when we started Detriment. They put us on our first ever tour that any of us had been on, without having any music out. So, we’ve all been tight from that point onwards!

What a great bunch of people to tour with as well. New blood + experience heads. For Realm to put their faith in you, feeling the vibes and knowing you’re gonna bring the party anyway, must feel pretty special?

Yeah haha, you’d think they’d have taken a band with music. Big respect! We didn’t have any pull, but they still bought us along.

So, do you have plans to get back out there playing shows after the album drops?

Yes, 100%. We have plans for a weekender in June. Starting the 8th and finishing the 12th. We have a Brighton date, Nottingham - we’re thinking Newport as well but its not all fully confirmed yet, so just watch this space.

That’ll be the album release tour, a month or so after it comes out. We’re hoping to play with Embitter [Poland] and Dandelion [new blood, Brighton]. The tour is gonna have Negative Frame as the headliner and us as sub-headliner, plus some local supports.

Wicked, I can’t wait man! I saw you guys play in Reading for ‘Josh Fest’ last year and it was unreal. I know there’s a lot of pain attached to that event, but I imagine you’d like to talk about it – can you explain the background to it?

Well, it actually roots into the history of Detriment. JRC stands for Joshua Ryan Clapham, who is the vocalist of Petulance.

Unfortunately, he took his own life and Petulance stopped. When they decided on getting back together, we started Detriment.

In the ‘Stone Cold’ music video, you’ll see we have a memorial for him. That’s there forever, for people to see all over the world, keeping his memory alive! The gig is a fundraiser for a charity called Mind, which is a mental health charity.

That was such a sick night, so massive props to everyone involved in putting it on, playing a set or coming down to support.

Josh Fest is an annual thing, to keep his memory alive and never let him go.

FAYEL_PHOTOGRAPHY

Aside from this annual event, what do you think the state of the scene in/around Reading is like now?

The thing is, with the hardcore scene in Reading especially, ever since I’ve been around it, there hasn’t been a massive fuss about it. There are people dotted around Reading, but the problem is we only really have one venue that puts on alternative shows, which is The Facebar.

We need more venues to grow. With RGHC, we’re hoping to get a new wave of people involved in the music and bring a scene back to Reading. It’s not amazing as it is, but it could be so good. It’s a major town/ city and it deserves better.

What are you listening to at the moment (aside from bands already mentioned). Even if it’s bait – could be Ice Spice?

Mate… I’ve been listening to Drain’s new track, ‘Evil Finds Light’, a lot. Pretty much on repeat! I’ve actually been spinning Cosmo Pyke quite a lot. It’s real chilled out jazzy indie kinda stuff. I’ve been listening to Colourmeinkindess by Basement a lot recently too! I don’t tend to keep to one genre, I’m always knocking about listening to different stuff to keep my mind fresh!

Gotta keep it fresh! Growing up, what do you think the bands were that put you on to heavy music and wanting to do vocals?

I got into heavy music from my dad’s side of the family. I used to be absolutely obsessed with Slash and Guns ‘n’ Roses. What made me want to get into playing guitar was actually the end of Guitar Hero 2, ‘The Beast and the Harlot’ hahaha. I used to just play that over and over again. The first time I picked up a guitar was when I was 15. I always knew I wanted to do it, but I finally pulled my finger out at 15.

Finishing up – any shout-outs you want to give?

Yeah! Shout-out to Joey from JWACreations. He did our music video, did a fucking wicked job and was really reasonable with the pricing. He sorted us out with some visuals and shit for the album too, the stream on YouTube and stuff. Huge, huge shoutout to Mark as wellhis Instagram is MH_CreativeMind.

He did everything art-wise - the album cover, logo. He went above and beyond doing loads of little shit for us, variations to the logo and stuff. He’s worked his ass to the bone and deserves a big shoutouthe’s a legend. From Reading, as well! Cheers for taking time to chat, mate! Good luck with the album.

Thank you very much pal! Bye.

JOSH FEST V2

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Burning Water is a Brighton based promo outfit led by Oscar Rainy. He’s been putting on sell-out shows along the South coast for a little while now. We caught up about breaking bones in the pit, 5-second mosh parts and bribing goths.

Hey mate! How’s your arm?

I’ve got a bit more flexibility! This cast isn’t on my elbow as much, so I can mosh with this one! I was at the hospital today, I think I’ve gotta have this on for 6 weeks. I broke it at the Age of Apocalypse show, moshing to Bodybag hahaha. I broke it then had to finish moshing to the rest of the bands and then get all the gear home. It was 2am and I was like, ‘right I’m gonna call 111. I’m fucked’. Mosh life baby. I’d do it again too.

First of all then, when and why did you start Burning Water? And can you please tell me about your first show?

So, my first actual show was a band called Hellripper – Max from Vacuous and my new band, Rhema, had just started playing drums in that band – and they needed a show on the way out to Europe. A friend of mine was like, ‘you know loads of bands, you should start putting on shows’, because no one was really doing shows like that in

WATERBRIGHTON, UK OSCAR RAINY

PHOTO: BHANDARI_SHWIN

Brighton. I started putting on Metal shows and crossing over but then I started doing Hardcore stuff. I did it under this old name for a bit, and when the pandemic hit I wanted to re-focus. I’d learnt so much in that time. I don’t wanna say ‘re-brand’, but I wanted to change the art-style; over the pandemic I became really interested in analogue art styles, rather than digital. I got this really shitty, cheap scanner/ printer and was getting old typography books. I pulled the name ‘Burning Water’ out of my ass, changed the names on the old socials that I’d built a following on. The first show I got to announce was Fiddlehead, which booted off. I’ve just been going from there really! I think I got lucky – I already had links and a bit of a reputation as a promotor from before, so I kinda had a platform to start BW.

So that was really like a trial run I guess?

That’s exactly how I view it! Everything from before the pandemic, in terms of my band output, artistic output, was just a test run. Then over the pandemic I got to refine my style and approach to hardcore, art, promoting, whatever. Now I feel like I’m having a proper go at it. I’m still trying to get better at everything I do. I’m so self-critical, even when it comes down to, like, flyer design. I needed the reset. I needed some time to figure out how I really wanted to do things.

Yeah so, I first started making zines when I was 17 and now, 8 years down the line and having another go at it, I view that first time as a trial run too and now I’m having a proper go at it. I have the benefit now of knowing some heads as well – every time I go to a show I wanna talk to someone new, see what they’re about and get more involved. That all makes a big difference, right?

You develop as a person the more time you spend around a sub-culture – you learn what you like, what you agree and disagree with, and that reflects in your artistic output. I was like you – I did a zine over lockdown, and I just didn’t like it –it’s never getting out there. I’m working on the first proper edition now and I have a way better understanding of what I wanna achieve with it.

BURNINGWATERUK

Sick, looking forward to it bro! Can you tell me which of the shows you have coming up you’re most looking forward to and why?

At the time of this interview, the Scowl show on Saturday. I’m honestly shitting the bed about it because it’s logistically the biggest headache. But i’m excited because, if the show goes well, I just know it will be a big moment for DIY shit in Brighton.

Its just funny to me that I’m doing this show! In Brighton we’re very lucky with how people support the DIY stuff, but even so, it’s just funny to me how some kid with a gmail address is putting on this show, whereas some cities well have a company doing it.

The Bulldoze show in London too. I’m doing that with my friend, Theo [Real Life Presents]. To be fair, he’s done a lot of the legwork on it, but I kinda took the show to him. I’m so excited for that.

Legendary band.

Being a scrawny, smaller dude, putting that band on. I think it’s kinda funny. The support line-up as well is ideal. We got Bun Dem Out, Mourning. Connor is a huge fan of Bulldoze and wrote a zine about them, so it felt cool to say to him, ‘do you wanna play with this band you love?’. And Imposter, my guy Rory. There’s some shit I haven’t announced yet that’s exciting! Potentially the biggest show I’ve ever done, in June. You’ll see. A lot of cool shit coming up. If you’d asked me a few weeks ago it would have been Age of Apocalypse. That’s my favourite show I’ve done.

shows in different places, I don’t have, like, a consistent backline. I’m always driving gear to shows. Probably that, or just the basic shit of selling tickets. With the Scowl show it’s different because I’ve had to sort a stage for that, and an engineer. I like the challenge; every show is different especially because it’s DIY! There’s always a new problem to solve. Some shows run themselves though. Figuring out the gear between 5 bandsthey never have enough gear.

I guess touring bands as well, they’re massively relying on you when they get here?

Yeah like, the Punitive Damage show, they were flying in with barely any gear. I’m lucky I play in bands so I have a cab. I mean, in this flat we have an entire backline. With international touring bands, trying to keep it under the radarit’s part of the fun!

So how do you get on in terms of shifting tickets? I feel like the scene is so strong at the moment that a lot of it is organic marketing, word of mouth kinda thing?

The thing is, I’d be beyond bankrupt if people didn’t turn up. A lot of the younger kids who have started coming to shows don’t even realise how important they are. You’ve seen me giving out the physical flyers, right? I’ll say to the younger kids, ‘listen – if you’re already coming to the show, go and find some random goth in the street and give it to them!’ Hahaha.

Looking back on the shows you’ve done, or with what you’re working on at the moment, what are the biggest challenges involved?

Equipment is always a faff! It’s always different, every show. Because I’m doing

A show is a community effort. Obviously, I do all of the online stuff, but on the day people are sharing gear, sharing the flyer. The community side of it is what makes it so big. If I was doing these shows in Skegness, I’d be fucked haha.

And what is the most rewarding aspect of all of this for you?

Honestly, it’s just watching people have a good time! Literally ‘til I die, I will always love watching a crazy hardcore show. A lot of the shows I do, it pays for itself and it might pay for my dinner, but it really doesn’t matter about the money. That’s why I run the tickets a bit cheaper where I can. I just like making shows happen. I always have to be doing things and shows keep me really busy, that’s rewarding in itself.

It was kinda like metal. That just converged and over time I came over to HC. I realised my personal values and my way of appreciating music, the DIY shit aligned so much more with HC than Metal. I followed Negative Measures and would go to all their shows. I play in that band now which is hilarious! They’ve been going for so long. My first HC show was probably 2016. I was going to a lot of Metal shows so I just kinda transitioned.

Yeah that sounds similar to my experience! I remember seeing Turnstile sets online in 2014 and Desolated shows over here. It blew my mind.

Yeah, haha. I remember being like ‘no karate in the pit’ as a metal kid. I didn’t get it, I guess, but I started seeing it at hardcore sets and I was like, ‘yeah ok this is kinda cool’.

Haha too right. I remember watching sets online from Broomhall in Sheffield too. Seeing bands that are killing it now who were like, kids at the time, in the crowd. Silly dancing.

Yeah all them Leeds boys. That 2010s goofy style! Hahaha.

And watching xRepentancex sets around that time too. Mind blowing.

Perfect. And what got you into Hardcore in the first place?

I was always a Metal kid. Max (Vacuous, Hellrider), his friend’s band was opening for this Negative Measures release show. He was like, come along. The rest of the line-up was hardcore bands and the energy was crazy. Around this time, ‘I Am King’ by Code Orange had just come out, Trash Talk were pretty big. It was like 2010s, Deatwish hardcore. I saw this live thing; I was learning on the internet about this thing called hardcore. I didn’t really understand it, but I liked it.

Yeah, did you ever see that Joiners one, where Ollies’s like, ‘I’d like to issue a Fatwa on crowdkilling. Don’t crowdkill to our band!’? That set is a classic. Joiners UYC. I need to go back and re-visit some of those sets man! Okay let’s finish it up. What advice would you give to anyone who is thinking about putting on shows, stating a band or any other project?

This is gonna sound corny but, do what you wanna do and book what you wanna book. I still do that. I book shows that I would wanna see.

BURNINGWATERUK

Don’t put time and money into something you wouldn’t wanna see as a punter. I always think, ‘I would mosh to all those bands!’ and you have a better personal connection to it that way. Don’t book bullshit. Don’t be afraid to try something crazy, but don’t rush to book something crazy. Book 100 standard hardcore shows before you book the 2-day fest. You’re gonna make so many mistakes and learn from them. The consistency is more important than having the big, crazy moment. You learn from fucking it up. The community that you are booking for is gonna get more out of it by having something consistent there. Book shit for yourself – fuck the haters.

Absolutely. Right, as a fan, top 3 moments in music for you over the past 12 months?

Fuck…… [longest pause]. I’m just gonna say moshing to Seed of Pain at FYA. I love that band. I got so obsessed with them and hadn’t seen them for about 3 years. Then the other week, Demonstration of Power at Northern Unfest.

Mate, that set was unreal. I’ve had ‘Sick People’ on repeat ever since!

[Holds out DOP shirt]. The Breakdown cover! Yeah man.

I wish that last bar went on for another 30 seconds. It neeeeds to be longer than 3 seconds man.

Where it slows down? I’m actually gonna disagree with you there! I love that its really short, you have like 5 seconds to mosh as hard as you fucking can. You gotta get all your big moves in before the song is over hahaha. There were so many crazy sets that weekend, but first band of the day, crazy dancefloor, BN1 got a shoutout from Shaun. Crazy. Really smart moved putting the mosh bands then the punk bands.

Sometimes with the punk bands on early, people are a bit awkward. But because everyone got fired up for the mosh bands, when the punk bands play and there’s loads of movement. Shout out that. Okay Seed of Pain at FYA, DOP at Northern Unfest….. [pause] The Flex at Damage is Done last year, because the stage-dives were crazy. This ain’t definitive at all. I don’t know if you were there but that was a craaazy set.

DiD was crazy back-to-back, but people the next day were like, joking, about surviving about it. There was one of those facebook memes going around that was like, ‘Marked Safe from The Flex at Damage is Done 2022’. I don’t know how I didn’t die; it was ridiculous.

Wicked hahaha. Mate so nice speaking to you. Big up yourself. Peace.

Mate thank you for giving enough of a fuck to ask me questions! Peace.

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GIG GUIDE

9TH

Lysistrata, Cowboyy, Other Half + more – New Cross Inn, London (Real Life Presents) £11 adv

11TH

Piss Bath, Feral State, Coke Rodent, T.R.E.S.T –Percy Picklebackers, Nottingham (Gnarwhal Presents) £6 adv

13TH

Punks for Palestine III – New Cross Inn, London (Real Life Presents) £12 adv

19TH

Negative Frame, No Relief, xApothecaryx – Moor Beer Vault, London (Feral Promotions + Tombstone Promotions) FREE

20TH

Bitter Pill, No Relief, Master Killer, Ordeal, Recoil –The Clarendon Pub, Wolverhampton (WVHC Shows) £10 adv

Scottish Association for Mental Health Fundraiser –

Audio Lounge, Glasgow £15 otd + BYOB

27TH

Rage HC UYC all-dayer / Realm of Torment, Grove Street, Hatebreed + many more – The Joiners, Southampton (Rage HC + Acid Drop Activities) £12 adv

27TH/28TH

Aggression from the South all-dayer – The Brass, Hastings (AFTS) £12 Day/£20 Weekend Adv

MAY JUNE

9TH

Detriment, Skin of the Snake, Bitewound + 1 – Quarry, Liverpool (Close Quarter Promotions) £10 adv

10TH

Cauldron, Bloodfury, Embitter, Dandelion, Detriment, Negative Frame, .threefiftyseven, Intent to Kill – Percy Picklebackers, Nottingham (Rage HC) £12 adv

10TH

Ratcage, Subdued, The Strongest Tool, How Long You Been Driving –The Cowley Club, Brighton (Stray 4 Life Zine + Final Word) £6 suggested donation

12TH

E.town Concrete, Ironed Out, Upraised, Dropset – New Cross Inn, London (Real Life Presents) £18 adv

17TH

Last Orders, Ballkick, At Their Mercy + more – The Engine Rooms, London (Ready Eye Collective) £7 otd

26TH

Jesus Piece, Grove Street, No Relief – The Joiners, Southampton £14 adv

27TH

Urban Sprawl, No Relief, Imposter – The Pipeline, Brighton (Stray 4 Life Zine) £8 adv

29TH

Buggin, Spaced + More – The Prince Albert, Brighton (Burning Water) £11 adv

3RD

Prince Daddy and the Hyena, Origami Angel – New Cross Inn, London (Real Life Presents) £16 adv

6TH

Bulldoze, Bun Dem Out, Additional Time, Mourning, Imposter, Graven Image – New Cross Inn, London (Burning Water + Real Life Presents) £20 adv

7TH

Koyo, Fleshwater + more – New Cross Inn, London (Real Life Presents) £15.40 adv

Bulldoze, Cruelty, Nothin’ But Enemies, Wise Up, Bloodfury –Anarchy Brew Co., Newcastle (Conviction Records) £20 adv

9TH

End It, Spy, Combust, Initiate, Move, Mindwar – New Cross Inn, London (Real Life Presents) £29.70 adv

10TH

Fuse, Stingray, xDregsx, Imposter, Antagonizm, NIX, Hellish Torment – New River Studios, London (Quality Control) £10 otd

11TH

Initiate, Move, Fuse, xDregsx – The Green Door Store, Brighton (Burning Water) £12 adv

17TH

Last Orders, Ballkick, At Their Mercy + more – The Engine Rooms, London (Ready Eye Collective) £7 otd

20TH

Iron Deficiency, Sentience, xApothecaryx, + more – New Cross Inn (Real Life Presents) £8 adv

22ND

Tempers Fray, Upraised, No Relief, Eternal Discipline + more –F51 Skatepark, Folkestone (Pitcam Presents)

£5 show only/£10 skate and show

Sentience, How Long You Been Driving, Convulsion, Terrifyer –Sussex Arms, Tunbridge Wells (A Bunch of Flyers) £5 adv

26TH

Jesus Piece, Grove Street, No Relief – The Joiners, Southampton £14 adv

27TH

Urban Sprawl, No Relief, Imposter – The Pipeline, Brighton (Stray 4 Life Zine) £8 adv

29TH

Buggin, Spaced + More – The Prince Albert, Brighton (Burning Water) £11 adv

SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY

Life

on-the-road isn’t for everyone. Luckily for SYSC, they have been able to continuously soak up demand. We had a quick catch up with vocalist, Connie as they wrapped up their March tour.

Hey Connie! How’s tour going at the moment? Is this the first time hitting some of these cities in Europe for you?

We are at the very end of the tour and shows have been going great, we are really just trying to finish strong as fatigue has started to set in now haha. Yeah, a majority of the places we have played have been our first time playing these cities, so it’s been a real treat.

You’re wrapping up this weekend –what’s been your favourite moment so far?

There have been some really cool shows playing some bigger rooms, but my favourite set has still probably been playing that last minute set at New Cross Inn, ‘cause I am a sucker for face to face crowd interaction!

PHOTO: SHUTTERHAPPYJOSE

SAN DIEGO, USA CONNIE SGARBOSSA

SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY

It’s pretty cold in Europe at the moment, certainly in England - how are you getting on with being away from creature comforts and having to tour through winter?

I am fairly used to it actually, we tour though snow storms and such in the US as well in winter and stuff; it definitely took a little adjusting to in the beginning since we are from SoCal though!

I want to thank you for stopping by to play a smaller show last minute in London (Reality Unfolds). The reception was great and it’s really heartening to see yourselves come down and support the scene. How did this come about?

It was our pleasure for sure! We’ve played New Cross every time we have come through London, so it’s always a good time. But we were pretty much just asked if we wanted to play it 48-hours or so before it happened, and we quickly just figured out how to make it work haha.

Seeing you and your friends moshing to UK bands was sick. You just couldn’t resist getting down to Street Soldier I guess?

Absolutely!! In a tour full of barricades and tall stages I couldn’t resist having a good time at a show more in my element haha.

Speaking of smaller shows, you must love those sweaty shows in low-cap rooms. Do you have any fun stories of playing these sorts of shows or going to them growing up?

I have a lot, but I guess a recent one was playing a basement bar area in a Polish club a little while outside of Philly and I ended up flipping on top of the crowd and kicking out the ceiling panels and

fluorescent lights since it was such a low ceiling while they were holding me up!

You were at Outbreak Fest last summer for the pre-show, how did you enjoy that opportunity and how did the Outbreak experience match up to hardcore/heavy fests back in the states?

Outbreak was really, really cool! The crowd was sick, it really didn’t feel much different from hc fests in the states aside from maybe like the sheer size of the room and height of the stage, but it was cool to still see people hoisting themselves on stage to risk it all front flipping off haha.

You played alongside Static Dress that night, a UK band that are really making a name for themselves at the moment. What can you say about them, plus are there any other UK bands that you’re excited about right now?

Static Dress are the homies and we absolutely loved touring with Cauldron and Graphic Nature! I’ll also never forget getting to tour with Revolve when we first came across the pond back in the day!

LATEST ALBUM ‘THE ROMANCE OF AFFLICTION’ RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 5TH 2021 VIA: PURENOISERECS

ACROSS

1. Little green house

2. Picking up change

3. If you go in the pit, there is a chance you will get ______

4. Goes in your hair

5. The Golden Age

6. Beneath your house

7. Bug and rodent enemies

8. Sober

DOWN

9. Manchester HC and Alt music festival

10. Coachella hardcore from Kentucky

11. The slow and heavy part

12. Comeback and wake the dead

13. Frown

14. It’s not a phase Mom!

Thank you

Huge thanks to everyone that helped make this zine happen! We are especially grateful to:

Dane Barker Lulu

Nicole Morgan

Oscar Rainy

Mikee Sangre

Chris Biggs

Colin Feeney

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