WASTED! Magazine issue #1

started all it how us tell

best new comers Gravesends

A BA N DO N AB AN THE FAITH

we talk to SHAWN

and he

TALKS

back

A LOT

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Aaron Ingle (18) Gravesend Geisha - I have always loved japanese culture so i thought taking one of the main elements from it would be awesome.

It’s on my lower right arm, Its a japanese Geisha, which is a female entertainer often mistaken for high class prostitutes xD, i cant wait till the tatt is finished.

Show us your mods, write to us at: writeinto@wastedmagazine.co.uk

Swallows - I had one when I went away during a rough patch & one when I returned, they’re the same to show nothing changed by me doing this.

Bernie Doyle (18) Gillingham Where: Bobby Swallows, Katts Tatts & a local mobile tattooist - Matt

n o d n a b A The h t i Fa

“Pete pissed on me before we went on stage”

How did you all come together?

Dan: I found Matt drunk in the pub, [laughs] we found Adam on Facebook... posing like a bitch.

Pete: I wasn’t even after him, I wanted someone else. I just said “do you know anyone That can do vocals?” and he said that he could.

Dan: I don’t even know how Darren ended up in the band.

Darren: I live down the road from Pete and also play guitar.

Who came up with the name and how?

Dan: I came up with the name ages ago.

Adam, with you religious views in mind, what do you think of the name ‘Abandon The Faith’?

Adam: I don’t really care. I just take it as ‘abandon the faith’ of anything.

Dan: we’ve got him covering Fear Factory’s ‘Christploitation’ where he has to scream out the line ‘your god is just a lie’. We’re just trying to find the most anti-religious songs to cover.

What’s your best or worst experience on stage so far?

Phoenix: The stage giving way underneath me.

Dan: my other band played Camden Underworld and I got the worlds’ worst shaky leg just because I was so nervous. The worst thing is, since then it has happened everywhere i‘ve played.

Matt: I sliced my fingers open on my strings.

Darren: Pete pissed on me before we went onstage if that counts! [laughs] What’s the best experience on stage so far?

Adam: Croud response at the first gig was amazing, I don’t know if that really counts.

Darren: Yeah that and just getting some awesome reputation, and some sweet arse reviews. Were you surprised by the crowds’ reaction at your first gig?

Darren: Very very surprised. We wasn’t expecting anyone to react like that Explain how you felt before your first gig?

All: Drunk. [laughs] Dan: Pissed off because I finished work at 9.45 in Bromley, and had to be on stage at Leo’s in Gravesend at 10.30. I had to get there, set up my stuff and be ready to play..

Who has been your favourite band to play with and why?

Darren: Killing With Style! They had a fit bassist!

Adam: That’s probably the best band we’ve played with just because of that.

Emarosa are one of the few bands to break out the USA, have a massive fan base from all over the world and still not with major record label. Although saying that, the latest songs coming from the studio show why they don’t need a major label back them.

Emarosa are a six-member band all the way from Lexington, Kentucky and got together in 2006. The band released an EP the following year in 2007 titled This Is Your Way Out. After the album was released it soon became clear that this was one band that had what it takes to get onto the main stage in no time.

The new album from Emarosa which was released on the 29th July 2010 had a lot of hype surrounding it. From the time Relativity was released the band got more coverage worldwide and played shows nonstop throughout the USA and also toured over in neighboring countries. The album starts with the brilliantly title ‘A Toast To The Future Kids!’ and the sound has only got better, the lyrics sung

by Jonny Craig are perfection and the voice just makes the song more enjoyable each time you give it a listen, the catchy chorus is sure to make people want to sing along.

Each song on the new album shows how just passionate the Kentucky six piece have been and still are. Not one song drops in rhythm or loses pace. Jonny’s voice still has the power, more so actually than the last album, every word sung is note perfect and not once strains too hard or cuts out. There is also a small part on the excellent ‘I Still Feel Her Part 4’ where one of the band members screams, whether it’s Jonny Craig or not, it manages to fit perfectly into the sound of the latest offering. It might also be a small hint to a heavier album for the future? I will keep all you Emarosa fans posted on the future plans.

The album is amazing and I will recommend it to anyone, even if it’s your first time listening, I promise you at least a few songs will get your

attention, with songs such as ‘Share The Sunshine Young Blood’, ‘The Game Played Right’, ‘Broken vs The Way We Were Born’, ‘The Weight Of Love Blind Eyes’ and the last song ‘We Are Life’. Each song has catchy guitar rhythms and ‘tap your feet’ drum beats throughout, the only down side to the album is how short it is, only ten songs this time round compared to the twelve on Relativity, that being said the songs are not short themselves and you will definitely be putting this masterpiece on repeat whilst going to work or just relaxing.

Emarosa have stepped up to the bar and raised it higher with the new self-titled album, all the hype surrounding it was right to be there and expect even more hype for the third installment from these guys.

For more information on Emarosa and bout gigs in the UK go to their MySpace at www.myspace.com/ emarosa.

In late 2007, there were a couple bands we were sure to see the end of. First was the up-and-coming screamo hopefuls Emarosa, who parted ways with their vocalist Chris Roetter, and the second was Dance Gavin Dance, who had recently shed their lead vocalist Jonny Craig. Craig went on to work with Emarosa, leaving Roetter to find and adopt a project of his own. Not much later, we saw the birth of Agraceful.

Agraceful burst onto the scene, playing with such large acts. They signed quickly, without releasing so much as an EP, and released their debut album The Great I Am on Sumerian Records.

One of the reasons that Roetter left Emarosa was so that he could start project that had a more religious foundation. This is the reason behind why they have many Christian-minded lyrics on The Great I Am. They’re not blatant, and they’ve usually got some style, but for people that dislike the Christian message, they’d be a turn-off. They’re not beating you over the head with the message, but at the same time, you know what it is they’re writing for, and it gives the album some definite class. In a time where it seems like most Christian bands either feel the need to deeply ingratiate their message into your mind or to completely disregard the religion they’re supposed to be embracing, Agraceful is a breath of fresh air.

The vocals of the album are one of the main highlights, and they dominate the tracks. Whether it’s Roetter’s screamed,

Words by Mike Douthwaite

growled, or sung vocals, they impress. While the screams do border on grating in some places, they mostly fit it well, and the vocals are mixed up quite well; you get solid doses of all three of the vocal techniques. The growls are particularly impressive.

It’s not that they’re anything new, it’s just that Roetter’s happen to have a great sound. The clean vocals, while good, aren’t anything new either, and they’re basically a rehash of The Devil Wears Prada’s sung vocals. The band have still got bite, and they do well to keep it away from the standard instrumentation of most screamo releases. While the vocals may get heavier in parts, and the music may do the same, they don’t have to rely on a breakdown to get their sound across.

They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and that seems like the truth with Agraceful. While Jonny Craig made a complete genre transformation with his move to Emarosa, Roetter’s new project is very comparable to his old one. And why not? I can’t blame him for doing what he does well. Basically what I’m saying is if you think you’d enjoy a more mature and interesting version of the old Emarosa, then look no farther than Agraceful.

However, if you didn’t enjoy them before their line-up change, then you’d be best to stay away from Roetter’s new project. While I did like the fact that Jonny Craig had taken over and changed Emarosa I will admit that with Agraceful Roetter has made a fantastic album.

Words by Mike Douthwaite

We spoke to Alesanas very own Shawn Milke, and asked him the questions you wanted answering

Tell us a little about the band and why the name ‘Alesana’? We started writing music together when we were in Baltimore, and we lived on alice-anna Street.

We moved to North Carolina to start the band, because there’s a much better local scene down there, but kept the name to remind us of where it all began. We always had plans of changing it initially, but we just never did. It’s kind of cool because it’s just like a made up word, so when people ask “what does it mean?” it’s nothing really. *laughs* What did you all do before the band and what would you be doing now if you weren’t part of it? I played baseball all through school and I was supposed to play in college, but I chose having a life over playing sports. If you play sports at that level then that’s all you do. And I was also a really good student.

I graduated first in my high school class, so I was in college for grades, and I was one semester away from my business degree, when I quit for Alesana. I just felt like this was the right path, but I would definitely be a writer of some sort. I’m actually working on my first novel right now and as we’ve got bigger I’ve had more down time so I can actually do the other things I enjoy doing.

Do you think you’re going to be releasing your novel soon? I sure hope so. I co-authored the short story that goes with our new record, so this is my first venture into a full on novel. I’m kind of nervous, but I like it as well.

What’s it like touring the UK, compared to USA and Europe? There’s definitely not that much difference between the UK and the US, don’t take this the wrong way but American fans and UK fans tend to be more jaded. They see a lot of music so they don’t get as excited when a band comes through. It’s like ‘ahhh cool, there’s this band, whatever’, but in Europe you’d think you came from another planet. It’s like, ‘where did this band come from?!’ they’re always so excited about it, no matter what you do, it’s like ‘ahhh this is great!’ it’s kind of more realistic in the UK than Europe.

You guys spend a lot of time together on the road, have you ever got to the point where you just wanted to tear each other apart? It’s interesting, you’d think 300 days out of the year we’d get sick of each other, but we’re honestly like family. We bicker like brothers would, we do get into our arguments, but they’re resolved in like 5 minutes y’know? Sometimes when we get drunk a little more anger comes out and we fight each other, but we’re blessed that way and we’re definitely very grateful for the group of guys that we have, for sure.

What’s the weirdest encounter you’ve had with a fan? The weirdest fan interaction was in Columbia, South America, it was like something out of a horror movie! I heard this girl scream my name, it was like in slow motion, I turned around and this girl just came running straight for me. I just remember thinking ‘Oh my god, what am I going to do?!’ and Shane just sticks his shoulder out at the last second and the girl goes flying to the ground! I was like, ‘oh my god, thank god you did that! She would have completely taken me out!’

She was a big girl to. She was streaming for me, full force!

The look on my face must have been pure terror.

Have you ever been given any strange gifts? The strangest gift I’ve ever been given was a voodoo doll, and I swear it looked exactly like me. The guys would mess with me and kept hanging it above where I slept. I was so creeped out by this thing that I didn’t want to throw it away because I thought it would be bad luck, so I toured with this little voodoo doll for like 2 years straight. I’m happy to say I think I lost it in the end, but that was definitely the weirdest.

What advice would you give to any aspiring bands?

Baby steps. Don’t get ahead of yourself. So many bands want to be so cool and so popular right away that they forget to write good songs and forget to learn how to play properly on stage and that’s ultimately what ends up causing bands to break up. So I would just say don’t be so worried about that part. If you do things the right way that part will come, it absolutely will, and make sure you pick the right guys in your band because if you don’t get along with your band mates then life will be living hell. I’ve been in a band where nobody liked each other and it was the worst week of my life.

What’s the story behind ‘The Emptiness’ and who is Annabel?‘The Emptiness’ was a short story that I completely created. I’m really into horrific love stories and I’m really into period stories, like things that take place in older times.

I actually set the story in (and ive since been told that this is like a ghetto now) Slough, here in England. I wanted one of those places where you’d live in a farm hour and it would take you at least 45 minutes just to walk into a small village, so when I was researching and found pictures of Slough and it being exactly that, I knew it would be perfect. But now apparently it’s a ghetto [laughs] so I guess we won’t be visiting there. It’s just about a sketch artist who wakes up in bed next to his lover, whose name is Annabel, and she’d been slaughtered.

The rest of the story is him just trying to put the pieces together. One of my favorite horrific poets is Edgar Allen Poe, and his last poem ever published was Annabel Lee, so I named her after that to pay homage to him.

After the emptiness tour, what’s on the agenda for you guys? We did the US ‘Emptiness’ tour and then the Europe one, then we actually have five weeks off which is nice for a change. Then we do the whole Vans Warped Tour in the States, and then we do Australia, Asia and South America.

How would you describe Warp Tour? Its’ pretty much just a giant party with a lot of cool bands. All I will say is don’t party too much, because it’s literally just a party, that’s all it is and it’s so easy to get lost in it. You’ll be like three days in to the tour and be like “what am I doing?!” You’re just hungover 24 hours a day, it’s crazy!

If you could choose the line-up of bands past and present, what would be your ultimate line up? It would have to be Spitalfield, Mae, and The Beatles. They are my three bands that I just can’t get enough of. I just think they are all complete geniuses. Them and Mindless Self Indulgence, because they’re really good, and fun to watch. <W!>

YOUR QUESTIONS

Simon Gowing, from a local band in Gravesend called Fate Built Reason, asks, how did you adjust from being a local band to going on tour and being a big famous band?

I don’t know really, the transition from being a local band to being a touring band is such a gradual thing, you don’t ever really quite realise. At least for us, we left home to go on tour and we didn’t come home for 17 months. We started our own first little tour, and from there some other slightly bigger band would ask us to tour with them for a few weeks, and then a small booking agent found us, then a bigger booking agent found us and then suddenly we’re on tour with From Autumn To Ashes. We just stopped for a minute and it was like “how the hell did this happen?”

Kat Mitchell asks: what’s your favourite venue out of all the ones you’ve played at? We played a small arena in Chile in South America. That’s just cool to be able to say we played an arena so that’s probably my favourite one. That stage was so big. We play really hard and move around a lot, but that stage was even difficult for us. I was running sprints just to get to the other side of the stage, it was gigantic! But there were so many people there, it was the most surreal thing of all time.

EVENTS

Cheryl Bance from Gravesend asks: what has been your biggest challenge as a band? I guess keeping it fresh, not even for our fans but for ourselves, that the music we’re writing is still exciting for everyone as we’re very conscious of that. When we sit down to write, we’re like “lets make sure that we keep writing what we enjoy writing” if our fans don’t except it, then we’ll deal with that when it comes to it but the most important thing is us, the six guys in this band, we care the most what we feel. We love our fans but our fans aren’t going like us if we don’t like us. So it’s always very important for us to always enjoy what we’re doing. <W!>

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