WASTED! Magazine issue #10 by WASTED! Magazine

we get friendly with

wastedmagazine.co.uk

CONTENTS

Facebook | Twiter | Tumblr Editor Zoe Blush Creative Director Vicky Webb Photography Robbie Candy Martin Hobby Lauren Selby Zoe Blush Dean Wilkson Writers Ian Gregory Peter Willson Lee Crookshank Zoe Blush Adam Johnson Heidi Elise Pullig Mademoiselle Rougir

THIS MONTH: 03 blush banter 04 letters from the front line 05 INTRODUCING: ffhg 07 TRACK REVIEWS 08 WE INTERVIEW: LISTENER

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14 review: Chapter 11

Hai guys!

LISTENER LOST THEIR BEST FRIENDS TO SADNESS

15 ALT BEAUTY: FRANKIE VAMP 17 ALT BEAUTY: MIKEY GATT

We say goodbye to the entertainment legend that was Ryan Dunn, and also say farewell to a member of ‘Our Final Hour’ as one of them heads for the door.

19 WE INTERVIEW: HILDAMAY 22 WE INTERVIEW: FRANCESQA

© Wasted! Magazine All Rights Reserved. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that details in this publication are accurate, we cannot accept responsibility for such. Readers are advised to check listings information to avoid disappointment. Views expressed by contributors and advertisers do not necessarily reflect those of the editor and publisher.

28 LIVE REVIEW: FORUM 31 GAMES REVIEWS 33 july events 34 PAPI WANG

We’ve got a jam packed issue this month featuring interviews with the likes of Francesqa, Listener & Hildamay, a little something for everyone, so make sure you head over & have a read through those.

4 out of 5 of hildamay would rather catch chlamydia than use a jLs condom... erm, what?

I rant on about the short-lived break up & annouce the good news of Accidents getting back together over in Blush Banter. We also inttroduce ‘Flowers For Her Grave’. Lots of love, Zoe Blush xo

letters from the BACK SO SOON?

Okay so at the end of last issue I’d already decided what I was going to write about for the next ‘Blush Banter’, & it was potentially going to be about the break up of ‘Accidents’ who were a personal favourite of mine within the local scene at the time. On the 4th of May, the boys announced this on their Facebook page: ““Guys we’ve got some bad news, we’ve decided to split up. It’s been such a great 2 years but we feel like this is the best thing to do, as the lineup has had too many problems for us to be able to keep going as well as we feel we can. Watch out for a final show soon, we’re gonna make it the best we can as a thank you for everyone who ever came to a show, bought something or showed any interest in us!” A lot of ‘good lucks’ & ‘thank yous’ followed from their fans, which in a way was nice; it’s good to see that local bands really are appreciated. I spoke to frontman Marcus Reddick nearer the time who told me that the break up was due to the on going line up changes, and with the final departure of clean vocalist George, the boys felt it best to call it a day, accepting the fact that it would be too hard to find a replacement. In my opinion, it was the mix of both the screaming and clean vocals that made Accidents stand out against the background of most local bands around at the moment. Most tend to just stick to the idea of tearing their throats out, & whilst this is all well & entertaining, it’s nice to hear a little differentiation now & again.

So gradually the news died down & we all went back to getting on with our day to day, but then on the 19th of June this was announced on the boys Facebook page: “We would like to announce that we are back in business! We have a new singer and drummer, new songs and new shows, including one very special support slot to be announced in the next couple days! We’re so excited for this, so keep an eye out for new promo shots with this lineup and a brand new song on the page in the next couple weeks, and in the meantime follow us on twitter @weareaccidents. Peace.” & 17 ‘likes’ tells us that people are happy about the news! So of course, the guys are back up & gigging. I know they’re playing for us on the 1st of October at Leos, Red Lion in Gravesend with a bunch of other awesome bands, so much sure you head down for that. GLAD TO HAVE YOU BACK GUYS! Here is a review of their E.P ‘Open Eyes’ by Fraser Godwin: The opening track to “Open Eyes” would fill any listeners ears with promise of something different, something unique. To open an E.P quite clearly labelled “post-hardcore” with an acoustic guitar, allows for hopes to rise about the depth of this band and how they could be trying to reach a little bit further out of the genre. Unfortunately, “Open Eyes” is only downhill from the first track. So it’s lucky that it starts so high.

zone and try to attract a bigger and more varied fan-base. For instance, it felt like I had heard the riff on the second song in a hundred other bands just like Accidents, and for the band to then end that riff with a trademark “Oh” by hardcore vocalist Marcus Reddick, it made a statement to me. The firm statement that the rest of this EP is probably going -0990to sound pretty much the same, perhaps that’s not a bad thing but it certainly dampened my spirits. As I had previously suspected I find myself having to listen to the EP time and time again, not through love of it, but because I keep forgetting it’s playing and get distracted by anything and everything. The music itself is not bad, it’s not a plane crash of an EP, but it does absolutely nothing for the genre, and therefore does even less for the bands fanbase. Overall this EP is a bit of a flop for me, Accidents prove they are a band that know what genre they’re in, but they prove no more than that. Open Eyes starts brilliantly, and then as if Accidents started running out of ideas, the EP does the same, with songs sounding far too similar to one another for a 5 track EP. Definitely a band to look out for in the future, but only if they broaden their horizons, and start to think outside the box. To be honet just lifting open the box would be a start. Listen to: ‘Open Eyes’

frontline

Greetings, one and all. Hope life is treating you all well.

influence and popularity amongst those on the circuit was clear for all to behold.

So I’ve been kindly given a page of the magazine to discuss what’s on my mind in the rock ‘n’ roll scene currently, this month there’s only really one, rather sad, subject that I can discuss. I’m referring to the very sad news that broke recently of the loss of something very close to many people’s hearts. I’m talking, of course...about the split up of Mouthwash. What’re you looking at me like that for, what did you THINK I was talking about?

Their story is one of bonkers tour tales, a resolutely DIY ethic, rising, falling and rising up again through adversity, and genuinely imaginative and great music. They came to personify ‘urban ska’, a mix of old-fashioned ska and streetlevel punk rock fused with more modern dance and rap elements to create something hitherto unheard of at the time, but nowadays largely taken for granted. Often imitated, never bettered? A cliché, but in this case it’s true. It’s easy to say that Mouthwash were a criminally underrated band, and perhaps in the grand scheme of things they were. But, as SB6 bassist Barney Boom points out on his vlog on the subject, placed in context of the punk scene in general, they got further and achieved more than most bands could in their lifetime. Not many underground London bands can say they released a début album on Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong’s own Hellcat Records. Certainly I doubt anyone can trump the tour stories of travelling with mental patients, sleeping in graveyards and setting up home in a shack in a woods.

On a serious note, the death of one Ryan Dunn has rather overshadowed the news of Mouthwash’s demise. On June 21st, after 16 years of activity, the South London ska-punkers released a low-key statement via Facebook detailing their immediate breakup. No fireworks, no bitching, no grand farewell show, just a concise few paragraphs thanking fans and promoters alike and saying their goodbyes. And within minutes, messages of sympathy were flooding in. Fellow bands, including Tyrannosaurus Alan, The Skints, Moral Dilemma, the Dissociates and Sonic Boom Six amongst others, paid tribute to the ‘erberts, as they were affectionately known. Their

But perhaps more importantly than

all that, is the legacy they will leave behind. Even if you haven’t listened to any of the band’s records, you’ve most likely listened to a band they influenced. One band who did manage to break out, the King Blues, have acknowledged the inspiration they gleaned from Mouthwash’s records many times. And this inspiration stretches further than just musically. When I was at a Captain Bastard and the Scallywags show recently, their singer Andrew Keech remembered fondly a show where his previous band The Plan supported the group, and commented just how nice guys they were. Ask any band who ever shared a stage with them, and you’d likely get a similar answer. Never one for fireworks or superstardom, Mouthwash will be remembered as a down-to-earth, affable bunch of guys who wanted nothing more than to have fun playing the music they loved. The fact that they achieved this and a whole lot more, as well as directly spawned a new wave of bands in their wake, means that they will go down in history with their hero status secure. They were well and truly one up for the good guys. Take care of yourselves folks, and I’ll see you next month.

on my play list this month

Adam

The post-hardcore sextet, hailing from Gravesend, seem to have their heads buried firmly in the belief that they have to sound just like the rest of the general post-hardcore bands around at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, Accidents have a lots of potential and a lot of talent, they just need to escape their comfort

I DO NOT WRITE WITH THE INTENTION TO INSULT. ANYTHING WRITTEN ON THIS PAGE IS THE opinion of the author (ZOE BLUSH) & NOT OF WASTED! MAGAZINE. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT I WOULD APPRICIATE iT IF YOU COULD KINDLY GO DO ONE :)

Mouthwash True Stories (2009)

Reuben - Very Fast Very Dangerous (2007)

Fightstar Be Human (2008)

Less Than Jake Hello Rockview (1998)

Flowers for Her Grave are a five piece metalcore band hailing from Dagenham, Essex. They first hooked up two years ago. Since they started the band they have changed members a few times, but the line-up now is fixed and one they are all satisfied with. In the two short years together their sound has become stronger, refined and much more mature and likely to appeal to a much wider audience. Chatting to the bands they state their main influences for their new direction. “Bands such as The Architects, Woe Is Me, Sleeping With Sirens and Ten After Two.” Since becoming serious about breaking through to a wider audience they are also getting press attention form the likes of Kerrang! and rebellicious magazines, as well as our very own Wasted!. Its seems a very incestuous scene over in Essex, when I asked how the guys met. “We pretty much all met through knowing each other, Lttuke met Conor in school and said he was in a band looking from a drummer, Connor already knew Roxxie who was in a previous band (let’s not get into that ha-ha) and Chris well . . .we kinda stole him from another band. Oh well. But the strangest addition was Terry. He’d been our roadie for over a year and it came to the point where we needed a bassist. We was looking for ages trying to find one

ambition and most importantly our sound. Theres a lot of local bands all trying to get into this vicious circle but to stand out you have to have a sound. Your own unique sound, So what does the future hold for and a message that you’re fans can take as they want. I mean whats FFHG? “At this moment in time we are the point of having a song no one getting our gigs stacked up and plan can relate to? There’s too many to hit the world with our new sound. bands just doing it for the sake of We feel its much more original it and writing songs about how than our old stuff and a lot more they fell out of bed this morning or technical. At this stage rehearsal whatever. What a lot of bands and rooms could cost up to £100 a week, people don’t realise is that you’re and i’m sure most people would fans are the most important key to rather eat there own testicles than success, they are what make you pay that! ha-ha. so we thought fuck and that’s who we write for. Without it, and built a studio/rehearsal room them there wouldn’t be any bands, in Luke’s front garden for the band because there wouldn’t be a point (as you do) it took 7 months and cost to music, and what a horrible world about £10,000 (Which was mostly that would be!” paid for by Luke’s dad because were all poor, what a legend he is!) but “Oh yeah and one more thing we anyway… it was so worth it as we are nothing but ourselves and are can rehearse whenever we want never fake, that’s what’s hard to to perfect our sound.” If that’s not find these days. We are all so, so dedication, to playing then I don’t passionate about our music and we know what is! The band have also will never stop, not for anyone, not just recorded a music video for for nothing! For us, music is not just their most recognised track to date a hobby, its a way of life, it’s not a job, it’s a career. Most of all, music “Fallen Angel” is what we want to give to the world So guys, What makes you different, and people who can relate to us, our why should the kids spend their hard fans, and THAT is why you should be listening to us. we love you.” earned pennies on a FFHG show? “Our attitude, our overall passion,

and then we realised he was there all along. Tel played bass, so that came in handy and he was over the moon about it too!”

Catch them at a show near you: 01 Jul / The Robert Beard, London 15 Jul / The Scream Lounge, London 12 Aug / Club 85, Hitchin, Herts 30 Oct / Upstairs @ The Relentless Garage, London

After arriving in Southampton,

The first 13 seconds opens with what sounds like a ‘Guitar Pro’ style track, to then kick in to a heavy riff at a decent tempo, just opening your eyes for the perfectly organised chaos that follows. It then surges through with a mix of catchy little bars and tight progression changes, rounded up

nicely with a comfortable little fade out. You can tell, particularly with vocals, that everyone is really pushing themselves with this track, and it’s clear to say that the boys have really sat down and thought about this one, rather than just throwing out another punchy little number. Comparing it to the likes of ‘Standing In Circles’ and ‘Seven’ I would say that they appear to mature with each single that they release. Mademoiselle Rougir

and spending a while wandering round the town center looking

into the venue we go, where

for the venue, I finally realised

they pair continue to offer me

that

castle-type

food and drinks from their own

building in the middle of the

rider, and chat away to me like

high street is the place.

old friends. We then decide that

the

huge

the best place to conduct our venue, Dan Smith and Chris

the

roof

the sunshine.

Listener, step outside for some

So up we go…

known

some introductions, Dan ask, ‘Robbie Candy, from Wasted! Magazine right?’ Indeed I

‘Depths Of Imagination’ starts with a dead set repeated beat that lets you know from the off this band is not for the fainthearted. The track goes pounding through until 2:20 where it completely flips to a slightly bluesy sounding guitar solo, which caught me completely of guard, then to somehow return back to the previous feel, begrudging through what can only be described as a war zone. To say this track is a bit of a head fuck would be an understatement, but if you’re into music with a twist, with something you can’t quite put your finger on, this is definitely a band for you. 5/10 – Mademoiselle Rougir

Neilson, together

they stop to say hello, and after

Initially the debut offering from Kent quintet sounds promising; well produced heavy as fuck melodic metalcore chugging away with elements of Suicide Silence and Parkway Drive. Sadly, when vocalist Jamie Downs begins is when everything seems to go downhill, there’s no variation in the vocal style at all and the music seems to just plod along without any really dynamic changes. You can tell these boys work very hard at what they do, but more than effort is needed for a band to stand out amongst an already packed genre. The refrain of “This is my destiny” brings on a pretty sick breakdown, but aside from that there’s nothing new on display here at all. Maybe live this song will come across stronger but for now this is just a pretty average metal track from a band technically capable of better. Lee Crookshank

interview would

Not long after getting to the

photos. On their way back inside,

Hmm...After giving a rather appalling review of the bands previous work I sat down with the humorously titled “Why Wont You Suck My Balls?” expecting to turn it off 10 seconds in and just forget reviewing it all together. But as soon as I pushed play I noticed something different, first off while the mixing still wasn’t great it was a sure fire improvement of the previous material. The guitar work was appropriate and sounded chunky, the drums had flare and vocalist “Pain” was successfully carrying the song with his comedy grunts and a catchy chorus, with a sing-a-long melody that just shouldn’t have worked. “Why Won’t You Suck My Balls?” is a short but catchy Nu-metal affair, think Tenacious-D with a hint of KoRn. If “Death Awaits Us” can record this properly, boost the bass and use more of the double layered vocals, they could actually be onto something. I recommend a listen, even if its just for a laugh. Metal Gremlin

am. ‘Come on in!’

It ’s om a lot different fr verse ... verse-chorusto look y’know. I like thing at them as some e like that’s kinda aliv own they have there purpose.

This

isn’t

your first time over t o

Europe is it? D: Together it is. I did tours by myself, like 5 years ago. Played England and northern Ireland, Norway, Sweden and finland and the Netherlands. How has this tour compared to previous tours you’ve done? D: Well, I mean over here it’s the best European tour we’veever done.

Pretty much the only European tour we’ve ever done, 5 years ago was a different story, but yea we’ve been having a great time, did some really great shows, and seen a lot of the different countries, it’s been really beautiful. Do you find that shows over here and in Europe differ in any way to shows in America? D: No, I mean everyones human, and if they come out to watch a music show, they tend to just wanna watch music, I don’t think its too different. C: I would say its different because in America, people go to shows not so much to see music but to be social, y’know, maybe have a drink and whatnot, and here so far it seems that everyone that’s come to a show, has come to watch the music. And still drink and be social, but actually have a vested interest. Not to degrade America or anything like that but, dan probably said this before, there are so many bands in America its almost like a novelty for people to just go to a show, almost like a scene, rather than going because there’s a band they really wanna see, or hopefully get moved by music. I think its different in that way, but other than that, its kind of the same. D: its kind of the same but even in the states, the way we kind of do our tours is different from over

here. We don’t always play just venues, and the usual kind of show. We play a lot of grass roots shows so they feel more like family and friends than just having shows. There are some venues we play that we just have to play. Its different but its all the same, everyones a human being.

tour with them over here, it was nice to just tour with those guys anyway, but it was basically like just watching the chariot with me on stage trying not to get hit with a guitar or something. I got to jump in the crowd a bunch. For our shows we don’t really ever crowd surf or anything.

kinda cut out, and it was very hot and sweaty and close. It was a nice experience.

What have been your best and worst experiences of this tour? D: errrrm I dunno, we’ve just had so many nice shows. Last nice was really nice, in exceter. We played a really nice show there. We’ve just had so many nice shows.

Whats been your fave show of this tour? D: I just don’t know… theres a lot of nice memories. What do you think?

C: I don’t think any are really better than the other, because we just like every show. Our happiness isn’t dependant on the circumstances of the show…

C: italy has a lot of tolls! That’s all Ill say D: that was an expensive day! There was a couple of days there were we got our van towed in paris, and then the next day was a whole bunch of tolls to leon, the next day was all kinds of tolls and long drives to Milan and then Vienna. Other than that… C: that’s probably the only downer… D: it was like every few minutes I was getting into our money envelope. Dan, you joined the chariot for their uk/Europe tour, and performed david de la hoz. What was that like, and how did that colab come about? D: well it was real nice to

C: I liked paris. I was probably the most punk show we did here because we got there, it was a nice cosy little place, we walked in was just looking around for the PA, but they didn’t really have one. They had a Bose sound system for the bar, it was packed! Me and Dan had to play facing each other, there was so many people! For half of it we had to play with the acoustic g u i t a r because the sound

D: there are so many nice memories. We just have nice memories from each show. I like to take away just nice things.

D: or the numbers of people, sometimes ill close my eyes when I play, some times ill open them up and see people. I just meet different people and talk to people and just have memories of places we might stay or nice meals we might have. We just love them all the same.

Do you prefer doing a tour of venues or do you prefer doing house shows and parties? D: me personally, I would just like to do a tour of spaces that are just the least hassle for promoters, and just a place that people can find, and be safe and comfortable. There are some venues that people just don’t want to go to sometimes, and just feel real out of place, and there are some houses that are like that to. Just anywhere you can have a good show, and a good memory, feel relaxed just to hang out and talk and just be normal people and have a music show. Just what evers the easiest and gonna be the best for the night. Even for tonight, we got emailed about playing in southampton here, and they asked me if we wanted to play a house show, a venue, or a castle! And I was like ‘ errrr castle!’ you didn’t need to ask. You played the cornerstone festival, how does that

compare for you to playing a house show? Is it a different response? Was that your biggest crowd? C: we kinda have the same speed regardless. Like if it was just us hanging out, we’d give you the same, y’know? Ive recently been thnking about this and I think, atleast for me I know when I play, its not so much about feeling emotion, its kind of like this switch that I click on, I think dan does the same thing when we play, I go into this place, and its more about passion and just getting it out, and that has no need for how many people are in the crowd or if they even like it. I mean, we want them to connect with us, and that’s why we do it, but going from a house show for 10 people to 300 people in a tent , they’re gonna get the same thing. D: its really no different. We do that on our tours in the US. The last 2 years we’ve played at a farm, this woman named Linda, she has a pig roast, and

she just invites people to come out. Almost like playing an acoustic song. So We’ve played that for the last 2 years all those songs on that record I just kind and we’ll probably go from that. of learn them as poems, most of them, so I thought ‘well why not just record C: a pig roast of pallets. them as poems?’ D: on pallets slash a backdeck, we played a house show in champagne in that basement with those punk bands and then went straight to her farm show and then to cornerstone. After that we play a venue and then a house. So you just take everyday as a new thing and just go for it y’know. Coz it just might suck or it might be the best thing ever! You just gotta give it everything. You released wooden heart as just the poems, what was the reason for that? D: well we put them on the album as just an extra thing, and if you put it in the computer it’ll come up, and I guess it is on the bandcamp site. But yea, basically for that record anyways, it might be for future records, but in order to memorize all the words, coz theres quite a bit of words to memorize, I’ll write a song and read it, on a computer of paper a couple of times till I memorize it, then I wanna internally remember it, so sometimes at shows if I’m writing new songs, inbetween songs I might just say a poem or something, and that’s just to remember it and just to get it out and kinda feel it out and see where it lies.

When you’re writing, do you start with a poem and add music, or does it all come together at the same time? D: well chris makes all the music and I just make all the words. C: to finish a song we need all the words basically. I write music all the time and have other projects but in order for us to finish a listener song, dan has to finish the words, and he kinda knows, like he said

practising the poems, the movement, where they breathe and all that stuff, and then we get together and we sort it out. It’s a lot different from a regular band where you just have verse-chorus-verse y’know. I like to look at them a s

something that’s kinda alive like they have there own perpose. Do you have any m u s i c al

influences? fave bands that you used to listen to? C: its changed so much y’know throughout my whole life. I started in punk and hardcore bands at high school, a lotta old Fat Wreck Chords bands, fugazi, helmet and heavy stuff, but I always liked oldies, from the 50’s. so its all changed. I did electronic music for a while and now im more into more upbeat stuff, a lot of new, people our age, doing motown, RnB stuff like sharron jones and the dat kings, I dunno if you know who that is, but they all record to tape, reel to reel instead of digital and protools and all that stuff. But I like so much weird t h i n g s

much about that whole world. When I was young, in junior high and high school I was really into rap music for a long time and I made a lot of that. I grew real tired of it but I learned some lessons in writing poetry through that, street poems! Urban poems! Its just the way I learned how to write words and lyrics and songs so I always kept that, so yea, maybe some of those guys. C: you know what you don’t like about poetry and poems and stuff. D: what? C: y’know the styles and techniques that you don’t like. D: well yea, I know what I don’t like. I know what I don’t like about a lot of genres, I mean that’s a whole genre y’know.

that I probably shouldn’t tell people about. Dan, do you have any poetic influences? D: no, I don’t really know too m u c h about

poems or poetry or poetry writers. I just don’t know too

Theres somethings to be said about a genre where you just kinda follow after that genre mindlessly and just make it because its part of a scene rather than just making whats inside your heart and inside your mind as each song comes to you. I like all kinds of music, all kinds. Except reggae, I like everything except for reggae, except for folk or rock, I don’t like indie rock. I’m real open. I don’t like opera, I like everything, but I don’t like pop music, I hate metal, I don’t like hardcore music, but I like everything, except maybe

"I don't want to live forever, I jus t want to live for now."

Disillusionment and frustration can be the catalyst for many things - above all else, you’re normally guaranteed some good tunes out of the angry backlash. Combine that with the DIY ethic that kickstarted punk rock as a musical form in the first place, and it’s perhaps no great surprise that we are currently enamored with a fair few bands and artists carrying the punk protest torch with nothing more than an acoustic guitar in hand and nothing so complex as an amplifier or PA system in sight. Like the reverse of Bob Dylan going electric, many artists, possibly inspired by Frank Turner’s rise to prominence, have splintered away from the current crop of largely swearing, incoherent 80s revivalist groups going under the punk moniker and sworn allegiance to a renegade life spent on the road, in pub backrooms and beer gardens, tunes emanating to cigarette smoke and stories to tell. Chapter Eleven could not be a better example of such a band. Stick a pin into a calender of the last five months or more, and chances are, somewhere in London or beyond, they would’ve been playing a show on that day, be it in a pub, club, park, doorway or friend’s kitchen. This nomadic life of playing, playing and more playing has seen them steadily grow in stature, winning new fans left, right and centre, and we arrive now at their first full recorded output, released on the Pornography for Cowards independent record label.

There are six tracks on display, with five of them being actual songs, and opening track Synapses acting as an extended intro coda for Signal Fires, the first song proper, and an introduction into what the band labels their ‘four-chord acoustic poetry’. Far from this being a bit of PR spin, this is actually a fairly accurate description of the band’s sound. The poetry bit in particular is certainly no misnomer - some of the lyrics featured here are worthy of publication as standalone pieces of literature in their own right, such is their strength and depth of emotion. Everything from politics, the student protests, war and racism to drunken nights out and shared times with friends is covered across this record, with none of it ever feeling hackneyed and trite. The founding duo of guitarists Asher Baker and Hassan Afaneh both share vocal duties, trading off each

grow! Let’s all grow together!’ instead of your standard ‘let’s Having a

punk rock, or ska. C: what about pre-post-9 bit metalcore? D: no im not into that. Im into mildcore. C: mildcore is good D: but I don’t like indie rock and stuff like that. Or rap. But I like most everything. And this is where we leave it.

and

laugh a

friendly chat on the roof of a castle. Ok, so it wasn’t a real castle, but it sure looked like one. Later on during the show I am reminded why I got into Listener. The honesty and positivity of the music, and the two people that make it is impossible to

go!’ are

refreshing

little

reminder of why Listener aren’t your normal band. Listener are one of those rare bands that really care strongly for what they do. They do this for the music, for the people they meet and the fun they have doing it.

87%

fight. Dan’s suggestions of ‘let’s

RECORDS

other track by track, and this approach works well, mainly because both have distinct vocal styles of their own. Asher’s lower, soulful tones contrast nicely with Hassan’s higher range yelps, and when one takes lead vocals, the other follows and adds backup. Which leads me to perhaps the biggest plus point of the record. Despite the DIY nature of the music, there’s a deceptively high level of musicianship and craft at the core of every song here. A lot of effort in particular has gone into the production, with Asian Dub Foundation’s Martin Savale manning the controls, and for the most part it pays off. Despite the acoustic guitars occasionally lacking bite and sounding overproduced, the mix is spot on, with the guitars integrating with the clever and understated bass work of session guest turned full-time member Stuart ‘Sweep’ Sim to add another layer to the gorgeous folk hooks on display here. But glossy production values would be rendered redundant if the songs themselves were third-rate Billy Bragg B-sides with all the character of a glass of spittle and false teeth, and this is where the band really excel. The arrangements are excellent, with every tempo change, anthemic chorus, vocal line and lead guitar melody flowing together in a seamless display of songwriting skill. With such a short running time, there’s no room for filler, and in a perfect world every song on here is a potential single, especially the fantastic ‘Portway Pl’. On what is easily the zenith of the EP, drums and a guest spot from Ian Britt help push the band to their finest studio performance, with neat guitar tricks, fluid basslines and gorgeous pseudoPhil Spector vocal harmonies bolstering an already fantastic tune. ‘This Ship’ is nostalgic and righteously bitter in equal measure, ‘Night Bus’ is emotive and touching, and the jaunty, ska-infused ‘Head Above Water’ is Hassan’s ode to the redemptive power of punk rock and a beautifully uplifting closer to a record that should see them cemented as ones to look out for on the circuit in 2011. They’re taking off on tour in the coming weeks, and if they’re playing anywhere vaguely near you, do yourself a massive favour and go check ‘em out; I can imagine the late Joe Strummer being a great fan of C11, and there’s no bigger complement I can pay them than that. words by Adam Johnson

Name: Frankie Vamp Lou Location: Manchester List three interesting facts about yourself: 1. I’m obsessed with tattoos and getting them! I can’t stop and probably wont till i’m covered! 2. I love inked guys 3. I have a staffordshire bull terrier called Louie but she’s a girl! The story behind her name is I went to get her thinking i was getting a boy but when we got there she was the only one left and i had my heart set on calling my dog Louie so i thought why not call her louie!

FRANKIE HOLMES

What is your favourite band/ style of music? My favourite band has to be Linkin Park but I love music, I love going to festivals and concerts and finding new bands. I really into most type’s of alternative music from Black Veil Brides to Papa Roach i’m not fussy

What is your favourite song? whooh that’s a question! I think my favourite all time song would have to be Katy Perry- I kissed a girl! Lmao only joking erm i think it would have to be a choice between Linkin Parkssomewhere i belong or breaking the habit! What id your best past time? Getting tattooed! designing new ink, i spend hours on the internet looking for ideas, colours, patterns etc and exercising. I like being outdoors, anything that involves getting a sweat on ;) What was the best gig you’ve ever been to and why? Linkin Park :) because the atmosphere was amazing and i had such a wicked time. What is your favourite film? Has to be The Lost Boys! Still an

original and one of the best vampire films

of the camera and don’t really care anymore what people think!

What is your favourite alcoholic drink? Jd and coke

What (else) do you do & what do you enjoy about it? I’m a care worker and i really enjoy it as its nice to make a difference in people’s life’s it makes you feel like your making a difference and you get really close the person and there family so it doesn’t feel like work! I’m also a ballet dancer which i’m passionate about it’s nice to be graceful as im so heavy handed and ungraceful usually! but when im dancing i just go with the flow of the music and drift away.

Describe a typical night out for you? Get ready with the girls, my friends a hairdressers so she usually ends up doing the victory rolls in my hair! and my other friend is a trained make up artist so she usually do’s some mad make up on me! then get drunk and then head out to rock bars and clubs. Where you think you’ll be in 5 years’ time? I would love to be a well known alternative model and actress. Dita Von Teese is my idol i would love to be as famous as her Your claim to fame? I was on Granda Tonignt! I was an extra on a short film called Bouncers, and they were doing a report on north west tonight. Your dream job? Modelling and acting, or anything creative really. What made you want to get into Alt modelling & how did you go about it? Well i have always been different but not always alternative and a couple of years ago i changed my hair colour, starting getting heavy tattooed, pierced and become me! I used to follow the crowd and be someone who people wanted me to be but now im just me and it feels right. I then started by having some pictures done last year as i wanted some professional pictures of my tattoos. I didn’t like being in front of the camera first and felt really awkward but the photographer had faith in me and said i could go far with a bit of practise so i carried on and started to get more confident. I now love being in front

What is your most embarrassing moment to date? Falling over in Manchester in massive heels! I fell flat on my face and grazed my face! not the best idea when your an alternative model! It has taught me a lesson wear flat heels when leaving the club! what has been the Best year of your life? I think this year because i now have my portfolio and feel ready to follow my dream. Projects are starting to come together now and agencies are started to get more interested. I think if you have a dream in life you have to go and get it. It may not happen at first but if you really want it don’t give up, even if people knock you down, get back up and carry on and you will get there eventually.

next one is deFInIteLy beheading Of A Kings vocalist, Matt Paquette, who, sadly, recently passed away. rest well, Matt x”

A/S/L?

“18 / Male / Isle Of Man, Pebble City and proud!“

FAvOurIte bAnd/StyLe OF MuSIC?

“At the moment I listen to a lot of beheading Of A King, Chelsea Grin, to the Wolves, eyes Of A traitor, between The Buried and Me... Stuff like that! So, Probably Progresivedeath metal. I love all the epic bits, with a good breakdown, I fucking hate all that trancey shit that bands bring into it these days though.”

WHAt IS yOur Current FAvOurIte SOnG?

“My current favourite song? that’s a tough question to answer! I’ll never get sick of ‘Colors’ by between the buried And Me but, at the moment, my favourite song is probably ‘reclaim your Gold’ by beheading Of A King.”

yOu’re In A bAnd, teLL uS A bIt AbOut tHAt?

“Honestly? I joined the band as a joke! I was at my dad’s restaurant, eating Pizza with one of my best friends, Harry radford, when he received a phone call, from daniel, asking if he knew anybody who could sing. I was pretty much just sat there, laughing, telling him to say “mention me”, and when he did, my phone rang. From there, I started going to practice and, it turned out a lot better than I thought! We did our first EP, 2 music videos, and toured the uK, with some pretty amazing people! Now, we’re the best of friends!”

WHAt Are yOur tOP 3 MuSICAL InFLuenCeS?

“Well, I used to be a guitarist in a prog-metal band so, my influences from there were like, Parkway drive, between the buried and Me, Architects, stuff like that but, now, as the front man, I have a LOt more range in my music. I love emarosa (old AND new), I’m pretty fond of Close your eyes, who’re a lot like Adtr but, I don’t really like Adtr, haha. the

WhAT (ElSE) Do you dO And WHAt dO yOu enjOy AbOut It?

“Besides the band, I pretty much do nothing. I’m pretty sure I’ve slept most of my life away. I’m always late for school but, I get all of my work done. I only work one day a week, and I always take holidays so I don’t have to go. I love sleeping, and I’m always designing more tattoo’s, then there’s my trusty xbox. I love that shit!”

WHAt HAS been tHe beSt GIG yOu’ve been tO And WHy?

“Well, I’m going to have to say the show I literally just got back from. bring Me the Horizon, Parkway drive,

Architects and the devil Wears Prada, at Manchester Apollo. I wasn’t ever really a massive fan of bMtH but, they put on some fucking show! It was unbelievable! I went to see Parkway drive mainly but, we bumped into Architects in town and they were really nice guys, they impressed me but, I only really enjoyed their older stuff.”

WHAt IS yOur dreAM jOb?

“I have it. I just want to stay in the band, and see the world. I want to meet new people every day. I want to be moving, all the time! That’s My dream job!”

yOur beSt PASt tIMe?

“Our uK tour, February/March. We made the best of friends, and had the best of times. I loved Scotland, as I’m a bit of an adventurer. I wanted to go out and see everything in edinburgh, so I did. It was Me, Sam, jamie, and our Merch Guy, dan. I took them

everywhere! If I had a lady with me, it would have been the perfect date! We even got ice cream ;d”

WHAt IS yOur FAvOurIte FILM?

“Donnie Darko. Nuff Said.”

typical night out? “night out, or night in? I prefer to stay in, watch movies, play xbox, chill out. Going out over here is overrated. It’s full of wankers and I just end up getting into a fight with some drunken scumbag!”

WHAt HAS been yOur MOSt eMbArrASSInG MOMentS?

“I don’t actually know. At the half way point of tour, we were in Leicster science park, just parked up in the van. It was about, 1:30 in the morning, and, while the others were playing football, with a sock, I came out naked, running around, to “celebrate”. that was more funny than embarrassing though.”

WHAt IS yOur CLAIM tO FAMe?

“urm... I get a lot of attention when I’m out, because I wear a foxes tail.”

WHere WILL yOu be In 5 yeArS’ tIMe?

“With any luck, I’ll still be in music, touring and stuff, living like I am now. Every time we finish a tour, and I have to go back to school and work, I just hate it. Schools over now anyway so, I don’t have to hate on that shit anymore!”

WHAt AS been tHe beSt yeAr OF yOur LIFe And WHy?

“2011. Straight up. So much has happened, and so much more is yet to come! I leave the Island on Wednesday to do a few more shows in the uK, and then our next 6 track EP! Pretty stoked on that!”

MIKEY GATT

Originally the interview with the band was going to take place inside the forum, but with beers in hand, Sean playing Simon & Garfunkel’s The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)’, relaxed in the back of their van, the boys invite me in... So guys, how are things today with Hildamay? Ollie: “Oh! Pretty bad actually” Tim: “Why bad Ollie?” Ollie: “Well because I went out last night, so I’m really hung-over!” (Tim laughs) Ollie: “Na! It’s good! It’s good... we are excited about playing today, it should be a good show!” Are Hildamay fans of Francesqa? Ollie: “I am indeed! I have their E.P on my iphone... and so does Tom!”

Chris: “I had a listen to them last night, they are quite cool.” Sean: “Yeh! They are pretty epic” Ollie: “Let’s face it; they are going to be massive” Sean rambles about them needing more bags, everyone laughs and no one understands what Sean is talking about... something about them playing bigger gigs then Hildamay and thus more bags are needed? A standard Sean comment.... Obviously you have had a few line up changes; Ray, Josh, Rich. Is this it for Hildamay? Ollie: “Yeh” (laughs)

Sean: “We feel the strongest that we have ever been! We gel better.” Chris: “Yeh! Well I’m enjoying it.”

proud of it.”

Ollie: “Well we have known Tim and Chris for a while anyway, in other bands, I was always like ‘Those guys are well good, I’d love to be in their band!’ and then it happened! So yeh, we are chuffed!”

Ollie: “Yeh! Exactly, it’s much more together. More established.”

Sean: “I mean we have our ups and downs, arguments, but it’s worth it.” So, how has your new music with Tim as your singer been received? Has it been a better response? Ollie: “A firm yes. I would always worry about showing our music to other people, I was never too sure about the quality of it, but now I can confidently show everyone our music and be

Chris: “It’s more... I guess, grown up.”

Sean: “I was never really sure what it was going to sound like in the beginning, but it’s alright!” (The guys laugh) Ollie: “But you still don’t get to use your tambourine do you Sean!” (Sean shakes his head and Ollie shakes the tambourine lurking in the back of the van) Define your music for us then boys? Ollie: “Punk and Roll!” Tom: “... with a twist of grunge!”

Wow! Heavy Fest guys! That’s pretty damn good! How you boys feeling about that? Tim: “Fucking well excited!”

what is on the agenda for Hildamay? Tim: “We are going on tour this summer! It will be a UK tour but we will be doing bits of Europe as well.”

Chris: “A bit nervous, but still, excitement!” Yeh, because you’ve got bigger crowds there so do you think you guys will get nervous before playing? Or will you embrace it? Ollie: “I think I will be a bit nervous, but fucking loving it at the same time!”

Chris: “Oh and the E.P is coming out at the end of September... hopefully.”

Sean: “But that’s what makes it good man!”

Tim: “You reckon me and Tom will!?” (Laughs) Ollie: “Tom’s the trouble maker!” Sean: “Yeh, defiantly! It’s like that alpha-male kind of thing, like Tim was the... I guess leader of his band and Tom has always been the dominant

Ollie: “Yeh! It will be like... positive tension” Other

then

Heavy

Festival,

Okay, so when you are on tour things can become a bit... uncomfortable. Do you guys ever come to breaking point with each other? Ollie: “Tim! You and Tom will!”

one of ours...” (Ollie cracks up!) Tim: “I’m top dog!” Time to change the subject boys, at the risk of another line up change... So, where did the name ‘Hildamay’ come from, and please don’t say Swanley! Tom: “It was from our old band.” Ollie: “Yeh, we when was like fourteen, we had a song called ‘Hildamay’ ...” Sean: “Well, it was kind of Swanley... Hildamay Avenue.” Tim: “My friend’s Gran is called Hildamay as well!” (The boys crack up!) Tim: “She actually is!” Ollie: “She needs to be in our video!” Tom: “I want a T-shirt with her face on and ‘Hildamay’” (More laughter) Sean: “It is kind of like when we were hanging around doing things when we were younger, the name represents our past... the name, the place; it is like our urban wasteland. We are always going to be that band from that suburban

culture... you know, that shithole! It will always be a part of us.”

empty quiche packet on the van floor) (Laughs)

Do you guys have a message for your fans? Tim: “Have we got any?”

Chris: “Scotch eggs as well!”

Ollie: “Yeh!” (Laughs) “Just, thanks for the support!”

Sean: “But come on, you couldn’t turn down a sweet pie!”

Okay, so finally I have a couple of non-musical related questions from some of your fans...

Ollie: “Savoury, no contest!”

Hannah, 20 from Southend asks: ‘What’s your favourite kind of pie? Are you sweet or savoury chaps?’ The boys crack up! Through the laughter... Unanimously: “Savoury!” Ollie: “I prefer quiche” (points to the

Tim: “Yes! We are real savoury chaps!”

Katie, 22 from Kent asks: ‘JLS condom or Chlamydia?’ Ollie: “Chlamydia!” Tim: “Chlamydia.” Chris: “Chlamydia.” Tom: “Chlamydia!” Sean: “JLS Condoms??” AND WHAT A WAY TO CLOSE AN INTERVIEW, WE’D LIKE TO THANK THE GUYS FOR THEIR TIME AND WISH THEM ALL THE BEST FOR THE FUTURE! MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THEM OUT!

Hi guys! How are things in the world of Francesqa? Ashley: “Really good!” Ben: “Yeh things are actually great!” How about your show today! Are you guys excited? Nervous? Tom: “I’m excited!” Ashley: “I don’t know, we just treat it like work now, we have done enough shows to just enter into ‘show mode’” So there are no nerves anymore? Ashley: “Yeh we just don’t get nervous anymore.”

(Laughs) Tom: “Yeh it’s actually impossible to get onto that stage!” Ben: “I bet I fall over!”

Tom: “It has been quite gradual, so you know... not too much of a system shock. Obviously we have had to make some changes, like work wise...”

How would you guys personally define your music? Ben: “This is the hardest question that we always get asked... really good?!”

Ben: “Behaviour wise!”

Ashley: “I dunno, like you get so bands that put themselves into the same genre, but then they all sound freakishly different anyway. So like, we just leave our listeners to make up their own minds as to which music spectrum we fall into.”

Ben: “Actually I get nervous, right before we go on, I always worry that I’m going to do something really stupid like fall over!” Ashley: “Yeh I guess, if anything, it’s the whole walking on thing that can make you nervous.”

Tom: “It’s quite an obvious thing to say, but really we just want people to make their own minds up about us... we don’t want to be pigeonholed by anything” Ben: “You get pigeonholed enough by everyone else, so doing it yourself as well, it’s just not good.”

Ben: “Yeh especially today seeing as we have to jump over a drum kit in front of the backstage door to get to the stage!”

How did Francesqa adjust from going from a small time band to becoming so well known?

Ashley: “The weirdest thing for us was the gaps between headline tours. Because we did our first headline tour and nobody came and then our second one sold out! I don’t really know what happened! We all feel exactly the same; it feels like nothing has changed when everything has!” Tom: “When you’re doing it every day its weird to take a step back and notice what’s actually happening.” Ashley: “You’re working so hard and your building it all yourself...” Do you think getting recognised was hard? Tom: “It was weird, not hard.” Ashley: “Yeh we went from like being competition winners and getting to play

gigs, to actually being asked to play...so much can change in a year!”

What are your musical influences then? Ben: “Anyone who writes something decent, as cliché as that sounds.”

As I’ve said, your pretty big right now, what with you guys having music videos out! How was shooting the videos? Ben: “Long!”

Ashley: “Actually, we do listen to some horrendous music!” (Laughs)

Ashley: “Yeh, so tiring... it was fun but I don’t know, like someone plays a CD of your song and you just have to go ballistic to it! Like you have to do the biggest movements you possible can and be as theatrical as possible, you just kind of think like this is my job...it’s the most ridiculous thing to have to run around and act like an idiot!” (Laughs)

Warren: “It’s all about positivity! What we like, we like, and that’s what impacts our music.” Where did you guys originally meet? Ben: “I met Tom at school. Then we met Ash through playing with bands in the local area.”

Ben: “It is quite weird to realise how you actually have to make a two and a half minute video. It takes like 12 hours shooting and then editing!”

Ashley: “Yeh! I met you for the first time when we played in that church!” (Laughs) Ben: “We were like 15.”

Ashley: “Yeh like we had to do performance shots, but then we also had to do ‘acting’ shots...” (The boys laugh)

Ashley: “Back when you paid to play gigs!”

Tom: “Yeh ‘Acting’ shots!”

Tom: “In churches!”

Ashley: “I had to do a full day of them! But with our most recent video it was just performance all day, so there wasn’t the opportunity to chill out for a bit, you know pose in car for a bit like in the other video, it was just full on performance all day, non-stop! I actually don’t remember being in the van on the way home...it was ridiculous!”

Ashley: “And basically Warren was in a band that we were all a massive fan of!”

How’s your tour going? I’ve heard life on tour can get pretty uncomfortable... Ben: “I hate everyone!”

Ben: “It is cliché but we met through music. Even Tom, I wasn’t actually friends with him at school but we needed a guitarist so one of our friends asked him to be in the band, he actually didn’t want to be... but we persuaded him!”

Ashley: “I think bands feel most comfortable on tour, because when you are just sat at home you kind of feel like you’re not working, like your off sick... we always feel like we should be doing something, so we don’t like it when we are not. So now like... we are not wasting time anymore. We always knew that tour life was going to be tiring; we knew we would have to repeat the same process every day. It is hard work, but enjoyable...” Rewarding? Ashley: “Yeh rewarding!” Okay, so you guys released a statement on Francesqa. com explaining that Joe had unfortunately left the band, you said that Francesqa is going

Ben: “They were kind of local heroes!” Ashley: “Then we all became friends through recording; we recorded some of our stuff at his studio. When all of our bands broke up we got together.”

to continue with just the four of you. You said: ‘We are stronger then we have ever been as friends and as a band.’ Did you honestly mean that? Or do you think it would just be more hassle then it is worth to try and find a replacement? Ashley: “With the four of us it never feels like we are ‘in a band’, people always turn around and say to us that we are unnaturally close, so considering that I think it would just be really hard for someone to just try and fit in with that. We are odd people as it is!” Ben: “We have played so much together as well, we have been playing in bands together since we were fourteen so right now there is not anyone that is in the group enough to be like ‘yeh your in’ kind of thing!”

Ashley: “If it happened naturally then .... I guess that we are not ruling out the possibility of a fifth member, just right now it feels right just being the four of us.” Tom: “Probably because there is more room on stage! I love it!” Also in your statement you said: ‘The music we are writing at the moment, we feel, is the best we ever have... we hope it will make us and you proud of Francesqa.’ We can we expect to hear this new stuff? Ashley: “Well the demo is up on our website. But I don’t know, I think we might want to do a single or something fairly soon. The album will be recorded around the end of the year but we don’t have any dates set in stone as

of yet...” Ben: “I think we are just going to take our time on it and make it as good as we can, make it something that everyone can say is wicked!” Your new demo ‘October’ has just come out. How has the reception to it been? Ashley: “Insane!” Tom: “It has been better than anything else we have ever put up! It’s ridiculous. Nervewracking as well because it is kind of going away from our older stuff, so to have a good reaction to that was obviously amazing for us because we are always worried that people may hate it!” Ashley: “Yeh because we kind of expected it to be an even response. We have released

singles in the past and they have always gone down well, but with the reception to this one it just makes it even more exciting to record this song, because if that is what we can do with the demo then we can’t wait to see what we could do with an album!” You guys said: ‘Getting nominated for a Kerrang award honestly blew us away.’ You were nominated for ‘Best British Newcomer’ How big of a shock was it to you guys? Ashley: “Massive shock! I remember when I was a kid and I would watch it on TV, I always wondered what it would be like to actually go there and be part of that thing... so yeh its gonna be a lot of fun and probably the messiest night of our lives!”

How old are all of you then? Tom: “We range from twenty to twentythree.” Ashley: “I turn twenty-one soon. Twenty is a void... the same as seventeen and nineteen!” I’ve seen on your Facebook page that a fan of yours had the lyrics: “I will love you every day until the earth surrounds my bones.” From ‘Lonely Home’ tattooed on them. That is one committed fan! So, have any of you received any strange gifts from fans? Ben: “I got given a Wagamama’s cook book! So there are some really useful

gifts like that! But our fans have been really good actually, we have never been swamped!” Warren: “Thing is our fans say that they want to get us presents but we always say don’t.” Ashley: “I would give feel so weird if like all these strangers gave me gifts!” Tom: “The best gift I ever got was a first edition of a Harry Potter book!” Ashley: “I got the same thing!” Ben: “I didn’t get it! Even though I am a bigger Harry Potter fan than you guys... they just left me out!” Ashley: “Excuse me but I have actually been a massive Harry Potter fan since the first book came out!”

Ben: “How very dare you!” Ashley: “I would say we are pretty equal actually!” (The guys laugh!) Ben: “I’m literally going to give you a pop quiz on it!” Ashley: “But anyway! Those gifts are always pretty cool! But tattoos are actually insane, they keep cropping up everywhere. Someone even has the ‘F’ logo behind their ear! I actually went into a bar in my local town and someone had the word ‘Francesqa’ tattooed across their shoulders... so I guess it’s all very flattering.” So, my favourite song of yours is ‘A Little Closer’, what are your favourite songs? Ashley: “Mine is ‘October’ because it is about a very specific day in my life and it is the one song when I play that I know what it is about, I know what I’m singing about. I can see it. It

is about a feeling rather than an event; it has so much imagery and significance.” Ben: “I am a reignited ‘Lonely Home’ fan for some reason.” Tom: “There is a song that we wrote that no one has heard yet called ‘Wishing Well’ and that is my favourite.” Warren: “My favourite song is ‘Come Find Me’ but that is another new one.” Ashley: “All of the new songs are quickly becoming our favourites.” Okay, the lyrics in your music are pretty deep. A friend of mine commented that musicians can write such beautiful lyrics but in reality, from her experience, they are actually real bastards! Obviously I’m not asking you guys if your actually bastards! But I am

interested to know if any of the songs, with the lyrics considered, have any special meaning? Or if any are based on personal experience?... or is it all lies? Ashley: “Everything is based on personal experience. As a band we are fairly unanimous in saying that anything we write isn’t based on the kind of experiences like going to a prom or a party... it just doesn’t connect! But if you really have something worth singing about then we are going to do it. Obviously we aren’t going to discuss it in detail but every member of this band has had some sort of horrendous upbringing or some horrible reason for us being the way that we are. I guess, if you can’t vent that then... well, what I’m trying to say is that music is an expression of self, there aren’t that many avenues that you can express yourself so clearly in. So everything we write is totally based on our own experiences.” What is your best memory as a band?

Ben: “Wow! We have never been asked that before. For me it is playing our first show as the just the four of us.” Ashley: “You reckon?” Ben: “Yeh defiantly.” Tom: “Mine is playing a sold out gig at the Oxford Academy. It is kind of our home town and it was near the end of our February tour... so to see that many people there singing our songs was really amazing.” Ashley: “That was a really great show. I remember when we started the band our first ever gig was supporting a band called Canterbury and we were like the local openers for that show, it wasn’t that busy but it was kind of an incentive. We thought ‘imagine what it would be like to sell this venue out!’ And then like a year later we were doing it... so it was pretty insane!”

Who came up with your name ‘Francesqa’? What does it mean? Why the use of a ‘Q’ instead of a ‘C’? Ashley: “Basically the band started really slowly with a song called ‘Boy’ that we randomly recorded one night because we were bored and we were going to make an acoustic band but we knew that we would get bored of it. From there we talked and we all decided that we all really liked the idea of a band being named after a person. Ben rang me up one day...” Ben: “Yep. I came up with it in my car whilst driving...” Ashley: “So he called me up illegally!” Ben (Laughs) “Yeh I did actually. I told Ash the name and he really liked it. But I said I think we should make the last ‘C’ in the name a ‘Q’, and so we did.”

THE FORUM Honor Amongst Thieves

Tom: “I really like the idea of a band having an actual name.” Ben: “My favourite story about the name is when we did The Pretty Reckless tour and we were in Manchester and we got out of our van and there were some people waiting outside the venue to help us take all of our stuff in. One of the guys asked us where Francesqa was, we were like...this is it! He was really disappointed that we were not a girl singer!” Ashley: “I like it! Like we are all individuals but when the four of us are together we are named after someone else! We are almost one person.” Ben: “Like one giant person... like the B.F.G!” (Laughs) I went to see We Are The Ocean the other week and Dan the vocalist had to go off stage for a couple of songs because he fell and his hurt his knee. Someone had to fill in for him and it was a bit of a mess. Have you guys had any misfortunes on stage? (The guys all immediately start laughing!) Ashley: “Oh poor Dan!” Ben: “I saw a video of it!” Tom: “Dan, if you’re reading this I am very sorry that happened to you!”

Ashley: “Ben has had a few tumbles on stage!” Ben: “Yep!” Ashley: “You have torn down a few drum kits in the past.” Ben: “Well yeh...” What’s next on your agenda? Tom: “Slam Dunk festival!” Ashley: “There are some festivals that we really want to announce but we can’t because if we do they might not let us play, so we will keep our fans posted.” Ben: “We are basically going to do the tour and then some festivals and then go home and write the album and get the website up... we are going to be very busy.” What advice would you give to aspiring bands? Ashley: “Work really hard and don’t wait for things to come to you! You have to go out and chase it! This is your life and your career and no one will ever care about it as much as you do. Management and Agents, they can always find another band, just don’t put all of your faith into signing contracts because things can always fall through. Just enjoy the writing process and work as hard as you can.” Is there anything you want to say to your fans? Ben: “You are all bloody marvellous! Thank you for the constant support!”

Ashley: “If it wasn’t for you I would still be slaying chickens... unfortunately that was my job before the band!” Ben: “And I would be a ‘Uni lad’!” Ashley: “And Warren would still be working at Game!” Ben: “He loved it; he would get excited about the 3am game released!” (Laughs) Ashley: “To be fair he did earn more money than any of us!” Ben: “Well yeh because me and Tom didn’t earn any!” Finally, the most important question for your female fans... who is single? Warren: “Me!” Ashley: “I spent many, many months trying to find that special someone...” Ashley turns to Tom and places a hand lovingly around his shoulders... Ashley: “Then we finally found each other!” (The boys laugh!) Ashley: “No me and Tom have wonderful girlfriends...” Ben: “But the important thing is I don’t!” Ashley: “He actually lying... he is really a dishonest womanizer!” Ben: “Shhhhhh it’s a secret!”

nailed the musical side of things, with time I have confidence they will own I had never listened to these guys their crowd. I would defiantly advice before, but I was an instant fan. They anyone to check them out, ‘Say What carried off the mix between the pop You Want’ is my personal favourite and rock genres perfectly. Catchy song, have a listen and for anyone lyrics and melodies made it easy for into the pop-punk music sector I’m a first time listener to move to the sure you’ll be an instant fan. music and actually enjoy it rather than trying to figure out whether Hildamay they were worth sticking around for. The lack of crowd lead me to believe Hildamay’s live performance rocked! that I shouldn’t have had high The guys came onto stage with a expectations for these guys, however copious amount of energy and told I found myself pleasantly surprised everyone to pull in tight for the at their musical ability, by the end of show. Undeniably, the boys have a their set I was certainly impressed. great connection with their crowd. In Needless to say musically they turn the crowd reacted well to their performed brilliantly, however they energy and sung the lyrics back to Tim seemed uncomfortable connecting with as much passion as he delivered with their crowd, which is key in live them with. The band also had a performance; anyone can hit up their strong sense of camaraderie looking Facebook page, but I felt like this to each other as they performed. The was an opportunity they had missed; band was so in sync with one another they had the chance to really rally up that they almost moved in time whilst some new fans. In spite of this I still playing; perfectly choreographed in came away saying that I would listen their performance. to them again, but purely because they played some pretty sick songs. What can be said for them as a live band, despite their lack of confidence connecting with the crowd, was their sense of togetherness as a band. George the vocalist announced that they were going to play the first song that they ever wrote; passion defiantly transcended through their performance. Undoubtedly they have an unshakeable enthusiasm for their music and performing together, and the quality of their music live was unfaultable. With time these guys can work on their stage presence and really encouraging their crowd. This three-piece pop/rock band can only get better, they have already

Both Ollie and Tim took centre stage whilst playing and rallied up support from their crowd to spur them on in their show. Hildamay’s stage presence was striking; all of the band members took the time to talk to the crowd. They explained that they were ‘from down the road’ and that it meant so much to them that everyone took the time to come and see them play. Even Sean took the time to have a joke with their fans about the inadequacy of the toilet facilities. Needless to say the boys were received extremely well by everyone who came to see them. The boys talked to the crowd as if they were friends as opposed to fans. Tom impressed on the drums. Ollie, Chris and Sean cannot be faulted for their performance. Tim, as opposed to be a motionless singer, emphasised every word with hand gestures signalling to the crowd to move with him. Musically, the guys were very impressive. The band’s sound was clean, free from static and beautifully clear. With each song more and more fans joined in singing and moving with the band. After each song the boy’s thanked their fans sincerely, and then switched back into performance mode and rocked each song with as much enthusiasm as they did the last. For the last song Tim asked the crowd to get intimate, he said that he loved the Forum and thanked Francesqa for taking the time to play alongside Hildamay. Overall Hildamay are a modest band; they are very aware and thankful of their fans, even more so, the opportunity they have to perform to them. They have a real sense of comfortableness with both their music

and live performances. Their music was sharp and on beat. I genuinely recommend that, for anyone who is after a real lively performance that they can get involved with, that Hildamay is defiantly the band to see.

Francesqa I have found it hard to review these guys; as much as I would love to give the boys a great review, their live performance at The Forum really let them down. Personally I loved their performance, as a huge fan, I found Ashley’s vocals mind blowing when they performed their new demo ‘October’.

humbleness and a real appreciation of those who came to see them play If I am going to write a fair review I have to relay the opinions that were conveyed to me on Francesqa after their performance; most of their fans felt let down. Although the boys did It was obvious that the guys are totally deliver a lively performance, the guys devoted to their music; they love really could have been performing their songs and are totally committed anywhere to anyone, or no one. to playing them. Musically, despite The boys seemed unmoved by their some technical difficulties to begin crowd, perhaps if they had not been with, they performed each song following Hildamay this may have not perfectly; Ashley obviously felt every been so obvious, but nonetheless lyric he sang. there was something missing from their stage presence. But this may have been their downfall; where they exceeded in As headliners they should have been the musical ability they missed something most dedicated band out of the three, that Hildamay did not; a sense of I cannot deny that they did talk briefly

Words: Heidi Pullig Photography: Lauren Selby

to the crowd of their tour and gave a mention to Hildamay, but overall the crowd felt unappreciated. Commitment to your crowd is crucial in live performances. To any Francesqa fans who want to see them play purely to hear their breathtaking music played live I would recommend that they are worth seeing, as the boys did delivered their music as perfectly as it sounds recorded. For the fans that are after a little something extra, the reason a lot of us go to see live shows, I have my apprehensions as to whether Francesqa can satisfy that particular need.

Nonetheless, as put off as many of Francesqa’s fans seemed after the performance, this particular fan would defiantly see them again, being submerged in their music in a live environment was enough to persuade me that they are worth seeing again.

Now normally I wouldn’t review a port but this is a port like no other. Not only is it the first genuinely decent game to be released on the 3DS (something gamers have been waiting on for too long), but it is a port of the greatest Zelda game ever made and it has the added bonus of being in beautiful 3D. Now the game is breathtaking. It’s a pretty simple premise, you take the role of Link who takes on the adventure of a lifetime, for he is the only one that can save Hyrule from the clutches of Ganondorf, the evil King of Thieves.. It’s a nice easy action adventure game where you go around, solving puzzles and fighting monsters. In a sense it is a sandbag game as you wander round the world visiting villages and exploring dungeons. As you progress throughout the game you collect gems that allow you to upgrade your weapons and abilities as you grow up from a young boy into a man. It all looks very pretty, so much so in glorious 3D the visuals seem to pop out of the screen as they run smoothly on the 3DS’s hardware. Overall it’s still to this day a modern classic and a perfect choice to boost sales of the 3DS. It worked on me and I hope it works on you.

DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. These are the words I feared I never had to say about a game I had such high expectations of. It’s just so fucking bad. To explain, take a game, start it 12 years before you release it, make it really bad and make no effort to update it, throw in some shoddy combat and penis innuendos and you have Duke Nukem: Forever. It’s is quite possible that Duke Nukem has the worst visuals I have ever seen on a current generation FPS. The people look lifeless, the textures look plain and there seems to be a lack of attention to detail of any kind. Gameplay is nothing special. I honestly believe they must have looked at a giant of a FPS such as COD and went “you know how COD’s FPS gameplay mechanics are amazing, let’s not do that”. I don’t understand how THQ have managed to fuck up a game so bad. If this game had been released 6 years ago on the PS2 it would still feel dated. Oh and if you thought well maby it sounds nice, you would be wrong. I’ve seen the room shake and rocks fall from the celling in complete silence. The terrible Homefront puts this game to shame so just to make sure; DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.

Now it’s time for a sequel, this time in the form of Infamous 2. Now I love sandbox games but somehow Infamous never really appealed to me. However I gave it a go and thank the heavens that I did. The game is pretty darn good. You basically play the part of Cole as you progress through the game leveling up to become the ultimate bad ass. As you progress through the game you complete main missions that progress the story onwards, there are also side missions that unlock new abilities and leveling up options. Whilst doing this you must choose the path of good or evil. This does affect the gameplay as the path of evil tends to persuade the residents of the world to turn against you where as the purer path gets the residents on your side. This leads us on to the city, the games city is an incredible living breathing world with a ton of different environments and areas to run, climb and jump around.

All in all it’s a step up from the first one and with the added option to create and share your own missions the potential of this game is limitless.

96% Visuals 9/10 audio 9.5/10 Gameplay 10/10 Life

9.5/10

OVERALL 9.5/10

45%

E3 2011 ROUND UP

So I stayed up every night of E3 this month, fueling myself with relentless and Cigarettes jut to see what’s hot and what’s a pile of wank.

£20 on what the 3DS launched at. They had a fair amount of launch titles to show like Little Big Planet that looks mighty fine. They didn’t have anything huge in the way of Sony game titles unfortunately as pretty much all of their attention was focused on the Vita.

For those of you that don’t know E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) is the worlds biggest gaming press conference that happens once a year in America. All the big publishers and developers have presentations where they show you what’s coming up in the future.

gameplay footage with Kinect voice commands. Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 were also being there and in honest I have to say that I felt as though Battlefield looked far stronger. Modern Warfare looked nice but it looked exactly the same as the previous. Microsofts reveal of HALO 4 was quite impressive, although Microsoft did accidentally leak HALO 4 before E3 so it wasn’t that big a surprise. Other titles such as Gears 3, Zelda, Fable, Batman look pretty cool too. I know I haven’t mentioned all the greatest titles from E3 but trying to condence a 3 day event into a page is a tough challenge.

Visuals 3/10 audio

4/10

Gameplay 5/10 Life

4/10

OVERALL 4/10

89%

So we start with Microsoft and I’m not gonna lie, Microsoft were a flop. They were basically trying to promote Kinect and not a lot else. They evolved on the gimmick that we all know and ignore. There games aren’t so bad, they announced HALO 4, and the new Fable game. But nothing caused an explosion in anyones pants.

Visuals 9/10 audio 8.5/10 Gameplay 9/10 Life

9.5/10

OVERALL 9/10

Sony on the other hand had a few surprises to give. First off the rails was the Playstation Vita as it’s now called. The price tag was a shock to everyone, Sony are notorious for overpricing everything so £239 for the WiFi version is ridiculously cheap, considering its only an extra

Lastly Nintendo stole the show with the official reveal of the WII U. Their new home console that looks incredible. More powerful than a PS3, with third party titles such as Arkham City, it looks great. They showed leaks of a HD Zelda for it that looks incredible. Other usual titles such as Mario and Super Smash Bros are also in development. They had a lot of first party titles to show off for the 3DS such as Mario Kart and Super Mario, they also revealed the first look of Luigis Mansion 2 that got a few people going. As for 3rd part developers there were the usual titles going. The one that stuck out for me was Mass Effect 3, showing some incredible

All in all Nintendo stole the show it seems but there was a lot of great content to be seen from many other developers throughout. What is most exciting is that were now entering into the world of a next generation of consoles and I’m sure were all waiting to see what Sony and Microsoft bring to us over the next few years. That’s about all for one but I will leave you with this, I personally have gained information about Mass Effect 3 from EA that now# one should know. This has not been confirmed but I will say this. 4 PLAYER CO OP SEPARATE FROM THE STORY. Mind blown (unless you don’t play Mass Effect then I’m sure you don’t give a fuck).

Glastonbury Festival on Shrooms So this year I actually honestly, truly, and factitiously went to the Glastonbury Festival which, as we all know, is in Skegness. As soon as I arrived at the festival (you know, the one that I did actually go to) I decided to take Fly Agaric mushrooms which are the less effective and more legal (legal) kind of magic mushrooms that look like the toadstools from a Mario game. They smelt like marmite and tasted like sick. I chewed and chewed on them and retched each time I swallowed. It took about an hour before anything started to happen and even when something did start to happen it was rather hard to explain because it wasn’t very powerful. It felt like I was on a small dose of morphine. Despite the shrooms obviously poor effect, the festival was absolutely incredible. While there are other things going on in the world (regardless of parochial myopia), things like; communists storming the acropolis in Greece, arrest warrants out for Gaddafi, Obama starting negotiations with the Taliban (whilst ignoring the Palestinian Hamas), poverty staying as hungry as ever, and David Cameron meeting a Chinese man, supposedly unafraid to ask him difficult questions about human rights issues (whilst condoning the

bombing if Libyans)… the thing that has grabbed my attention the most this week is of course: Beyonce. Beyonce headlined at this festival that I definitely, did actually go to this Sunday. What? I did. I wasn’t ready for her jelly because her body was too bootylicious for me and I subsequently died of bad song lyrics. Question: tell me what you think about me? I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings. Yeah, she’s so independent that she buys her own stuff with the copious amounts of money she makes. I’ll tell you one thing that she’s definitely independent/separate/miles away from… and that’s the people she was playing to. Glastonbury brings people together, but what it also does these days is highlight the gulf between people and celebrities. The crowd I suppose represent the upper and middle class, and the poor, well… the truly poor aren’t there and at 200 odd quid a ticket you can see why. It’s hard to believe that the first ever Glastonbury festival cost just £1 and the second one (which had David Bowie headlining) was free! There are millions in poverty all around the world and the gap between rich and poor is massive; I’d like to see some starving African kid covering that Destiny’s Child song like this: Question: tell me what you think about me? I got no food and I’m emaciated! Even when I felt resentful towards the likes of Beyonce for being so rich and oblivious, I had to accept that people do like her (regardless of logic), that’s why they all went to see her. But I was shocked (as I’m so sure that many of you were) at the remarkable and moving speech that she gave at the end. It was so good that I wept like a new born

babe when she announced that she was going to give 90% of her money away and start a new career that isn’t driven by money and fame, and is instead driven by love and altruism. Glastonbury festival this year was truly magic. Bright Eye’s socialist tinted lyrics actually created a wave of revolutionary excitement. The Wu Tang Clan made a moving speech about global warming. Biffy Clyro stripped naked and started to turn into hamsters. Queens of the Stone Age were kind of just this orange blur. All the members of Coldplay each did a singular long thin poo on stage and danced around them whimsically. Morrissey ate a whole cat to himself, and Laura Marling (whoever she is) pissed in someone’s eye. It was a fabulous occasion and one I very much definitely went to. I decided to go and see U2 and realised pretty soon that the shrooms had started to finally kick in because all I saw was a huge vagina with legs prancing about on stage, it was Bono. Despite South Park alluding to the idea of Bono as the biggest piece of shit, you have to give him credit for all the philanthropic work he does, letting us all know that poverty and famine can be eliminated simply by celebrities, fund raising concerts, and of course, Bono himself getting snapshots alongside some black people with his fantastic, super cool shades on. Of course famine and poverty are now all a thing of the past thanks to the likes of celebrities who make Jesus look like a piece of shit on a stick. Oh no, wait… famine and poverty still exist, my mistake. Perhaps we need some political and economic change and not just a vagina with shades. Hmm…maybe it wasn’t the shrooms after all?

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