WASTED! Magazine issue #18

THE HOMECOMING | ESCAPE ARTISTS | KISSED BY KATE | LUCY T | SAVE TARGET AS

WE MANAGED TO GET HOLD OF DAVE MCCLAIN & FIND OUT HOW HE GOT WHERE HE IS TODAY

HEART THROB SAM CARTER LETS US KNOW HIS FEELINGS ON MOST RECENT RELEASE

WE CAUGHT UP WITH LOCALS, VIVID NATION

WE’RE BROUGHT UP TO SCRATCH WITHIN THE WORLD OF TWIN ATLANTIC

INTRODUCING | BLUSH BANTER | NEWS | INTERVIEWS | ALT BEAUTY | EVENTS

wastedmagazine.co.uk Facebook | Twiter | Tumblr Editor Zoe Blush Designers Zoe Blush Imagery Sam Belcher Glenn Richardson Jake Owens Joseph Watts Writers Zoe Blush Mark Dean Jake Owens Craig Elvy George Crome

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writeinto@wastedmagazine.co.uk Š 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 and opinions expressed by contributors are that of their own and not of the magazine as a whole.

CONTENTS: THIS MONTH:

03 INTRODUCING 05 BLUSH BANTER: INVERTED CROSSES & BILL GATES

06 INTERVIEW: VIVID NATION

10 ALT BEAUTY: ALICE LA VIE

17 INTERVIEW: ARCHITECTS 20 INTERVIEW: MACHINE HEAD 23 INTERVIEW: TWIN ATLANTIC

27 REVIEWS

31 EVENTS

[W! #18] Hey everyone, glad to see you’ve got your eye balls on the 18th issue of W! Starting over on PAGE 3 we introduce you to the likes of ‘THE HOMECOMING’, ‘ESCAPE ARTISTS’, ‘BEST KEPT SECRET’ & more.

I rant about inverted crosses & big up Bill Gates in this month’s BLUSH BANTER over on PAGE 5.

The absolutely smokin’ Alice La Vie graces our pages as this month’s ALT BEAUTY. We’ve interviewed the likes of ‘VIVID NATION’, (page 6) ‘MACHINE HEAD’, (page 20) and ‘TWIN ATLANTIC’ (page 23) Our review page is chockablock this month featuring the likes of ‘MISS MAY I’, ‘MEMPHIS MAY FIRE’ & ‘ARCHITECTS’.

We’re also keeping you up to date with the latest & greatest events over on PAGE 31.

Next month will be featuring an interview with the likes of ‘I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN’ & more!

STAY WASTED! Lots of love, Zoe Blush xo

INTRODUCING:

THE PANTHER, SOUND LONDON THE HOMECOMING, CANTERBURY BANDIT For fans of banditthepanther.bandcamp.

For fans of - The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Bury Tomorrow.

£-mail us thehomecomingband@ hotmail.co.uk

Download our debut EP for free at thehomecominguk. bandcamp.com/

The Clash, Billy Bragg, King Blues, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Against Me!

com

THE MINI BAND, THATCHAM BERKSHIRE

ESCAPE ARTISTS, KINGSTON

Website – www.theminiband.com

For fans of - Lower Than Atlantis, Don Broco, Hundred Reasons, Reuben & Four Years Strong.

CELTACHOR, DUBLIN IRELAND BEST KEPT SECRET, NOTTINGHAM For fans of - Mael Mordha, Cruachan, Waylander.

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For fans of - Rise Against, A Day To Remember, Young Guns

DEAD CELLS, AYLESBURY For fans of - Audioslave, Pearl Jam, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters etc.

http://soundcloud.com/ deadcellsband

LUCY T, FARNBOROUGH/BRACKNELL For fans of - Youmeatsix, A Day To Remember, Alexisonfire

http://www.deadcells.co.uk/

HITCHCOCK BLONDE, LONDON For fans of - Skunk Anansie, Foo Fighters, Band of Skulls

KISSED BY KATE, POOLE, DORSET For fans of - Foo Fighters, Paramore, Fightstar, Queens of the Stone Age

SAVE TARGET AS, DEAL KENT For fans of - Deaf Havana, We Are The Ocean, Alexisonfire

SLEEP WELL DESTROYER, DENVER For fans of – A Skylit Drive, Sleeping with Sirens, In Fear and Faith, A Day to Remember

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BLUSH BANTER

I’ve come to find, over the past few months, that a lot of things in life actually drive me crazy.

Saying this, there’s absolutely no point attempting to rant at people personally because they’ll either a)ignore you completely b) attempt to take the role of captain troll or c) try their very hardest to prove they’re right whilst quite obviously talking out of their arse.

So instead, I’m choosing to whack some thoughts, opinions and facts together in this little article over here, hoping to appeal to the few who read it. This month I’m choosing to tackle the topic of the inverted cross. So all you kids who think it’s super cool to draw these all over the place & God bash, read on. You might learn something.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not religious.

The idea of living by someone else’s rules, restricting yourself and doing anything and being anyone but exactly the person you want to be due to someone else does not appeal to me in the slightest, especially not some guy supposedly living in the sky that I have and most likely will never actually physically see – the whole concept just baffles me if I’m completely honest, but haven’t you ever heard the term ‘live & let live’? There is absolutely no point slagging off and attempting to belittle someone due to their beliefs, or attempt to change them because firstly, not only is it definitely not your place to do so but secondly, it also makes you look a bit of a cunt.

Now I understand that it’s obviously really cool to hate everyone & be ‘forever alone’ and ‘fuck this, fuck that’ whatever, but it then it became apparent that it was suddenly really cool to be ‘anti-religion’.

That’s fine. You don’t believe in God? Join probably over half the population now days, but then you got all this overly hyped ‘God-free’, ‘fuck your God’, this that & the other coming out all over the place, which brings me nicely round to the point of this unnecessarily, over-worded rant.

The web definition states: “The Petrine

Cross (or colloquially Peter’s Cross) is an inverted Latin cross traditionally used as a Christian symbol, but in recent times also used widely as an anti-Christ symbol, a meaning which is NOT VALID with respect to traditional conventions of Christian symbolism.”[1]

Back in the days of early Christianity, there were actually two ways of being crucified. The first (supposedly as Jesus was) by being nailed to a cross rightside-up which would eventually cause you to die through suffocation as your body would have to hold itself up in order to maintain airflow to your lungs.

Eventually your muscles would become too worn out and you would suffocate.

As nasty as that sounds, it’s actually the nicer way to go. People who were martyred by the use of an inverted cross were unable to suffocate and therefore would go through a much slower and more painful death due to starvation.

So it’s actually a lot more of a religious symbol as I think a lot of our generation tend to realise.

[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_Cross

Another thing that really grasped my attention this month was a speech by Mr Bill Gates, made at a High School about 11 things kids will not learn in school: 1: Life is not fair get used to it!

2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

3: You will NOT make £££ a year straight out of school. You won’t

become vice-president with a carphone until you earn it.

4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping they called it ‘opportunity’.

6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents fault. Don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now.

They got that way from paying bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools have abolished grades and they’ll give you as many times as you like to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

9: Life is not divided into semesters.

You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you ‘find yourself’. Do that in your own time.

10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shops and get jobs.

11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

Personally, I don’t think I could have put it better myself. Would have probably just added a few f’s and b’s

I DO NOT WRITE WITH THE INTENTION OF OFFENDING & IF I HAVE, KINDLY GO FORTH & DON’T READ MY SHIT. IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THAT :) - ZOE BLUSH

FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW, WHO ARE YOU? We are VIVID NATION from south east Kent.

DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND TO A FIRST TIME LISTENER?

This is always a though question for us to answer... but we’ve been described as have a unique soaring rock sound!

HAVE YOU GOT ANY NEW MATERIAL COMING SOON? YES! Our new single ‘You Just Gave It Away’ is now out, you can get it in hardcopy from our shows or

it will be available for download every soon!

YOU’RE RUNNING A HUGE SUMMER FESTIVAL OF YOUR OWN, WHO WOULD BE PLAYING & WHAT WOULD IT BE CALLED? These would definitely make the line up - Nirvana, Muse, Biffy Clyro, Mumford and sons,

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The Clash, The Damned, The Macabees, Hendrix, The Beatles, Bon Iver, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Marilyn Manson, La Dispute, and Gotye. Now That’s A Line Up Festival.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST EVER GIG? Our first ever gig was in Deal it was a tiny pub cramming about 60-70 people into it, looking back on it was a really cool gig had every one singing along sweating drinking have a great time. So for a first show it went really well despite only being together about a month!

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HAVE YOU EVER HAD ANY

HORRIFICALLY EMBARRASSING MOMENTS ON STAGE? Being an energetic live band, there’s been a few trips/ dives here and there standing out would probably either Luke jumping back on stage and completely forgetting to pick his legs up and face planting the drum kit or Rhys doing similar but taking the kit out altogether!

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT AS A BAND TO DATE? There’s been a fare few things we’ve been really happy with including getting radio airplay on over 15 radio stations in a short time, headlining Chislehurst

Rocks Music Festival, OR playing Wasted! Xmas gig dressed as compete tits!

YOU’VE OBVIOUSLY SPENT A LOT OF TIME TOGETHER, HAVE THERE EVER BEEN ANY SCRAPS BETWEEN BAND MEMBERS? Obviously there has been a few disagreements here and there, but as a whole not really. A band is a bit like a marriage it’s all about knowing and understanding each other also compromising but making sure it’s enjoyable all the time, and we are all on the same wave length plus we keep a lot of humour in the band which helps I guess.

“A BAND IS A BIT LIKE IT’S ALL A MARRIAGE, A AND UND BOUT KNOWING ERSTAN OTHER, B DING EACH COMPRO UT ALSO MISING AND MAKING SUR ENJOYAB E IT’S LE ALL THE TIM E.”

WHO WOULD YOU BE & WHY? That little band from Dartford The Rolling Stones probably , just so we could be The Rolling Stones for a day, mental!

WHAT IS THE MOST LISTENED TO TRACKS ON YOUR IPOD’S AT THE MOMENT? Would be Twin Atlantic “Free”

WHAT’S NEXT ON THE AGENDA? Obviously our new single on the 18th we will be working really hard on getting that around and heard, also on the 26th May we are supporting Missing Andy at The Ivy in Sheerness. Lots and

IF YOU COULD BE ANY OTHER (LOCAL) BAND FOR THE DAY,

WHO HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE BAND TO PLAY WITH SO FAR? We played with a band from Reading called Borderline: Fire great bunch of guys!

lots of shows keeping really busy just how we like it and a tour in august which we are really looking forward to!

HAVE YOU GOT ANYTHING TO SAY TO THE W! READERS? All we can say is keep an eye out for “You Just Gave It Away” from the 18th May being released at the Westcoast Bar Margate, check us out! also if you see us playing anywhere near you please pop down would really appreciate it be great to see you wherever it is !

Images: Joseph Watts

THEY SAY YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY. TELL US YOUR FAVOURITE, MOST USELESS FACT? If you lick a stamp you gain a 10th of calorie. Interesting stuff aye!

WE’RE NOT GRACED WITH MANY OF THEM, BUT WHICH LADY IN MUSIC ARE YOU CRUSHING ON? It would have to be Katy Perry or Hayley Williams.

TELL US THREE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF?

I have “abnormal brain activity”, I had my ears pinned back when I was 15, I’m a pretty good skier.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO GET INTO ALTERNATIVE MODELLING & HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT IT?

It kind of came naturally. I modelled for my best friend’s uni project and realised how much I enjoyed it. So I started to help others out with projects and finally built up a portfolio and before I knew it photographers were asking me to model for them.

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

Listen to lots of music, spend ages on my make-up, shopping, faffing on the internet & modelling.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT FAVOURITE BAND/STYLE OF MUSIC?

I’m really enjoying First Blood at the moment and have been listening to loads of hip hop too. My all time favourite band are Cradle Of Filth and that will never change.

WHAT WAS THE BEST LIVE SHOW YOU’VE BEEN TO & WHY?

Emmure & Carnifex, both had amazing stage presence.

WE FIND YOU PASSED OUT IN YOUR TOWN CENTRE, DRUNK OUT OF YOUR TROLLEY ON A SATURDAY NIGHT. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN & WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DRINKING? More than likely a couple of pubs and clubs. I’ve probably gotten to that stage where I need help with walking and communicating and I have more than likely had way too much cider, vodka, wine, cocktails. When I drink, I go all out.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR FUNNIEST DRUNKEN MOMENT? Me and my friend got locked outside of the house we were crashing in. We slept on the door step until 7am in the freezing cold. My toes went numb and stayed that way for weeks. The most ridiculous part of it was the fact we had been to a boat party and I was dressed as a kinky pirate, head to toe in latex. COLD!

DO YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL HABITS OR HOBBIES?

I collect my ex boyfriends hair and nails & perform voodoo on them. Err nope not really!

WHO’S THE HOTTEST CELEB ABOUT AT THE MOMENT?

Wiz Khalifa is a cool guy. I think Rita Ora is pretty smoking.

WHAT IS YOUR CLAIM TO FAME?

I met Arabella Drummond and had a photo with her. She’s pretty famous in my eyes.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FUNNIEST/MOST EMBARRASSING SEXUAL/ ROMANTIC EXPERIENCE?

When I was younger I used to hang out at the skate park and two guys I skated with actually had a physical fight over me. It was hilarious but kinda cute in an odd way.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 5 YEARS TIME?

Images: Glenn Richardson

Working as a make-up artist for MAC and still modelling. One can hope.

WE INTERVIEWED

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INT O P O N S ’ “THERE RECORD ABOUTL A IR G G N A I T H I T R I W ING UP W D BREAK USE A THOUSAENIT. BECA S HAVE DON ITE BAND AS WELL WRG MIGHTUT SOMETHINY ABO ’S ACTUALL THAT ORTANT.” IMP

With their previous album “The Here And Now” being less than unanimously loved, Architects have a lot to prove. With a new drive and a new edge to their already established sound, “Daybreaker” is a return to form for Brighton’s finest.

Wasted! Caught up with front man Sam Carter in Reading, to discuss Architects getting somewhat darker.

SO YOUR LAST ALBUM THE HERE AND NOW SPLIT OPINION AMONG FANS AND CRITICS, HOW DO YOU GUYS HOLD THAT RECORD? AND WHAT MADE YOU MAKE IT? “I’m umm… Somewhere in between on the whole thing, there’s parts of the record I love, there’s parts I’m not so keen on, but it was an important record to make at the time, and I think it was a selfish record, it was like we wrote like what we were listening to, instead of what we were good at as a band, but I also feel that it was important to do that record in order to do the next one.

I feel like we learned a lot doing that and now we have the new record. But hey!

Kids are always gunna moan but you just got to do what makes you happy and take everything with a pinch of salt. Most of the time they’re about 12 years old on their

Mum and Dad’s PC anyway!”

WAS THERE ADDED PRESSURE THIS TIME ROUND WHILE RECORDING? “Yeah I guess, but at the same time we were all excited to go back to Outhouse Studios and be back with John and Ben, you know, just… go back to our roots essentially and we’re good at being a heavy band and it was really fun to do.”

out so people can hear it!

I feel like I want to show everyone! We released These Colours… and I didn’t really see any negative responses at all, other than just people that were American and were complaining about it but at the same time, if they actually understood and listened to the lyrics properly, they’d realise we aren’t actually taking a dig at them personally just the state of their country, which they should probably realise anyway.”

FIN SO YOU RECORDED HERE IN READING, WHAT MADE YOU GUYS DO THAT? “We loved the production we did on Hollow Crown and Ruin and we loved recording with John and Ben and James.

We did two songs; Devils Island and Untitled just for B-sides and the production on those songs was so good we were like FUCK, we want to do the whole record with you. So we just went back there, hung out and had a lot of fun! We rented a house in Shinfield and just had a really good time! It was so different from recording in America, definitely more fun to record here!”

TELL US ABOUT DAYBREAKER THEN? “It’s definitely our heaviest record, it’s our most exciting record! It’s a record we all like and it’s fairly political, I just can’t wait for it to come

WAS THAT INSPIRED BY YOUR TIME OVER THERE THEN? “Yeah, it kinda has been inspired with our time in the States, as well as just opening our eyes to some of the problems that there are out there in the world and we just wanted to talk about it. There’s no point writing a record about breaking up with a girl because a thousand bands have done it. Might as well write about something that’s actually important.”

DOES ANY OF THE CONTROVERSY EVER GET TO YOU GUYS? “I was actually talking to Tom about this earlier on.

Sometimes, like, you’ll read a couple of things and act like you aren’t bothered but for a couple of hours afterwards

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you keep remembering what someone had said, but no, not ever to the point where I would ever get really upset because no ones ever really been that harsh about us, normally just like “I don’t like the song”. That’s fine, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it, I can’t force you to!

The only thing that confuses me actually, is just that as a kid, I had the whole “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” attitude, that’s how I was brought up. So I just think, if those kids were standing in front of me, they wouldn’t be saying those things, so why online? And I guess, if I don’t like a bands record I just won’t buy it, I’m not gunna go on their page and go “you’re fucking shit!” I just won’t get it! They might still be good dudes! It doesn’t really get to me. Well it kinda does but not enough to make me stop!

DAYBREAKER is out NOW via Century Media records, and reviewed in this very issue!

(Spoiler, it’s cracking!)

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Words and images by: Jake Owens

HAVE YOU GOT ANYTHING TO SAY TO YOUR FANS WITHIN THE W! READERS? “Can I just say thanks to all our fans, you let us do the best job in the world! We don’t take it for granted, we love every second of it! And we love you all too!”

We managed to catch up with Machine Head drummer, Dave McClain as they hit Belfast on their recent pre-Download UK tour.

SO DAVE, GROWING UP, WHO WOULD YOU SAY WERE YOUR EARLY MUSICAL HEROS/ INFLUENCES? “First was Peter Criss from Kiss, they were the first band I really got into as a kid. When I was ten I had a sister

who was fifteen, she was already into metal and hard rock. I used to go into her toom and check stuff out. Kiss ‘Alive’ was the first record with the imagery and then I got into the songs. I loved the band and they were a favourite of mind for a couple of years. From there it was Judas Preist who had released their album, ‘Stain Class’ at the time. I then went on to get into Thin Lizzy and Rush.”

YOU WERE IN A COUPLE OF BANDS PRIOR TO JOINING ‘SACRED REICH’, HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? A few events occurred back then, Metallica were looking for a new bass player - Jason Newsted filled the position but a friend of mine, Troy Gregory then filled in for the Flotsam gig later in Prong. I knew Troy as we’d been friends in LA and they used to practice next to Sacred Reich. He knew they were one of my

favourite metal bands and told me they were holding auditions for a drummer.

I got Phil Rind’s number and told him that I was going to be their next drummer. Sure enough I auditioned and got the gig.

CHRIS KONTOS LEFT MACHINE HEAD AFTER RELEASING THE VERY SUCCESSFUL ‘BURN MY EYES’. WHEN DID HE LEAVE AND HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT REPLACING HIM? They had gone through a whole ‘Spinal Tap’ thing of drummers and it

hadn’t been working out for whatever reason.

A friend of ours was working as an A&R guy for Century Media, he was really good friends with the Machine Head guys and joined them on their quest on looking for a new drummer. He called Igor from Sepultura, they were liaising in Pheonix at the time. Sacred Reich and Sepultura both had the same management Gloria Cavelera. He called me up, I spoke to Robb - it was a similar process to Sacred Reich. I flew out to meet the guys and auditioned for them.

‘The More Things Change’ was your first recording with Machine Head. Did you find the process different to how you had recorded with previous bands?

In Sacred we did some pretty major stuff. The independent record was pretty huge with reference to the recording process.

The thing about Machine Head was, they were so determined. Their work ethic was through the roof following the major success of ‘Burn My Eyes’.

Interviewer: Mark Dean

They were ready to start writing as soon as I joined the band.

IN 1999, MACHINE HEAD RELEASED ‘THE BURNING RED’, WHICH SEEMED TO MANY FANS AND CRITICS TO BE A COMPLETE DEPARTURE IN THE PREVIOUS MUSICAL DIRECTION OF THE BAND. IT EVEN INCLUDED HIP-HOP INFLUENCES AND A COVER OF A SONG BY ‘THE POLICE’, DEFINITELY NOT ELEMENTS THAT CONSTITUTED PART OF THE USUAL MACHINE HEAD SOUND. WHAT BROUGHT THIS ABOUT? I think it was very typical for that time, just a little more disguised on the earlier, heavier records.

A lot of

people viewed ‘The More Things Change’ as a continuation of ‘Burn My Eyes’. Logan also left the band around that time, so we were trying to replace him with a new guy and establish a chemistry. We also wanted something different so we went on to use producer Ross Robinson instead of Colin Richardson, who had become like a fifth band member. Ross had already worked with bands such as Limp Bizkit and Korn and was currently producing Slipknot. A lot of our fans were asking what was going on but I think what we did image-wise threw people more. If you listen to the record now it’s a pretty heavy and dark record. There was a lot of negativity on ‘The More Things Change’, so we wanted to do something different for our own sake.

YOU THEN WENT ON TO RELEASE ‘SUPERCHARGER’ WHICH SEEMED TO RETURN TO THE OLDER, MORE FAMILIAR SOUND OF MACHINE HEAD. WAS THIS

AN ADMISSION BY THE BAND THAT THE CHANGE IN DIRECTION TAKEN ON ‘BURNING RED’ WAS A MISTAKE? If I had to choose between those two records, ‘Burning Red’ kills ‘Supercharger’, which for me was just a good E.P. WHAT HAPPENED WITH ROADRUNNER UNITED? Machine Head left the label

shortly after the release of Supercharger, was this due to poor promotion or did they not fully support the band?

There was a few things The record was released two weeks after 9/11 which was a very bad time for anything. Everything got shelved even though we were still touring.

They never really reworked the record when the new year came around. There was definitely some bad blood there and to separate for a minute was a good thing. It was good for both the band and the label when we returned later on. We tested the waters to see

what else was out there, it was a dark time for the band. They offered us support and then withdrew it.

ONTO THE LATEST RELEASE: ‘UNTO THE LOCUST’, ANOTHER CHANGE IN DIRECTION FOR THE BAND. HOW DID YOU TAKE IT WHEN ROBB CAME TO THE BAND WITH THE IDEA AND CONCEPT FOR IT? That came about from a song that Robb and Phil had written lyrics for.

When I first heard the title ‘Locust’, I thought that it was cool, just what it represented as a metaphor for a person. It was a great concept and gave the album a personality.

We all bring ideas and contribute to the creation.

HAS YOUR PERSONAL DEFINITION OF ‘METAL’ CHANGED IN THE SEVENTEEN YEARS THAT YOU’VE BEEN A PART OF MACHINE HEAD? Yeah for sure,

back then I was a very impressionable kid. What you listened to musically represented what was going on in your life, however there wasn’t a lot of variety.

AWAY FROM THE MAYHEM OF MACHINE HEAD, HOW DOES DAVE MCCLAIN UNWIND AND RELAX? WHAT INTERESTS DO YOU HAVE OUTSIDE OF THE BAND? Maybe just running. I run a lot, that’s my main thing. When I’m home I tend to sit in Starbucks all day.

I know so many people in bands, so if they

come through when I’m home I’ll go see them, other than that I hang out with friends and go to various bars.

YOU’RE DOING A FESTIVAL CRUISE IN DECEMBER WITH LAMB OF GOD, ANTHRAX, HATEBREED AND OTHERS - THAT APPEARS TO BE AN UNUSUAL MODERN CONCEPT? It is kind of bizarre, it’s going to be cool. It’s being done by Mayhem Festival and we’re going to the Bahamas. I guess we’ll see how it goes.

WHAT ARE MACHINE HEAD’S PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR? We’re touring Europe until August 12th and then the cruise in December and then another US tour in November/December. We have a lot of stuff to do Australia, Japan and then probably back here again next year.

Dave thanks very much for speaking to me this afternoon have a great show.

Scottish alternative rock outfit Twin Atlantic was formed in the city of Glasgow in 2007 around the talents of Sam McTrusty, Ross McNae, Barry McKennan and Craig Kneale. Like Fall out boy, Taking Back Sunday and fellow scots Biffy Clyro, the quartet specialises in stadium-sized,radiofriendly emo-pop that dutifully walks the line between pained and majestic. The band released Vivarium in 2010,and followed it up with Free in 2011. Playing Belfast as part of a UK tour ,I had a chat with the band before their show.

WELCOME BACK, YOU PLAYED THIS VENUE BEFORE. THE ORIGINAL DATE WAS ALSO UPGRADED DUE TO DEMAND.

CAN YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELVES AND YOUR ROLE IN TWIN ATLANTIC “My name is Barry and I play guitar.”

“I am Ross, I play the bass.”

GIVE US AN OUTLINE OF THE BANDS HISTORY? Ross: “We’ve been a band for just up to five years last month. I went to school with Sammy (vocals) and we met Barry and Craig just from other band and from being on other, smaller tours. We decided to get together and we then played a gig nearly every day possible since. We had two records out, Vivarium, Free and an E.P before that.”

YOU’VE CERTAINLY PUT IN THE ROAD MILES, FOURTH DATE OF THE TOUR AND SECOND UK DATE, HOW IS IT GOING SO FAR? Barry: “It’s been great so far, our stamina has been tested already as we were out in America for about two and a half months prior to this.

We did short sets at festivals in Canada and support slots. Getting used to doing 40 minutes or half an hour to suddenly have to play for an hour and a half.”

Ross: “It’s hard for the first few days.

Then you get 45 minutes into the set and you are thinking ‘same again, we are only halfway through’. We have been bowled over by the crowds, we’ve had everybody up for having a good time. Hopefully tonight will be more of the same.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT THE BANDS STYLE AND SONG WRITING HAS EVOLVED OR CHANGED BETWEEN YOUR TWO RELEASES? Ross: “I think that ‘Free’ is just a little bit simpler. The song structures are simpler. That was a conscious effort to make it about the songs rather than how quirky we could be.”

TWO RELEASES IN TWO YEARS,YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY A PRODUCTIVE BAND. ANY PLANS FOR A FURTHER RELEASE IN 2012?

Barry: “We have the makings of another, once Free was released we started working. I guess some bands get comfortable riding the coat tails of a release. We like to move on to the next thing, always forward thinking. Maybe just a lack of patience. Free had not been out that long when we had new songs already started. There is no concrete plans but we are itching to get back in the studio and do more.”

THE STYLE OF VOCALS STANDS OUT IN YOUR SONGS-SINGING IN YOUR NATIVE TONGUE. IS THAT DUE TO A DEEPROOTED NATIONAL PRIDE AND IDENTITY,OR TO GET AWAY FROM BEING PRETENTIOUS LIKE OTHER BANDS FOR EXAMPLE SING IN A PSEUDO-AMERICAN ACCENT?

Barry: “It’s really simple, we have all been in bands when we were younger and try to emulate people that we have looked up to. I think eventually if you are going to be in a band that is going to be looked up to by others, well nobody can relate to your personal stories in another accent. If you are going to tell stories it’s better in your own voice.”

IN YOUR 5 YEAR HISTORY YOU HAVE TOURED WITH MANY HUGE BANDS,EG BLINK 182, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE AND LIMP BIZKIT. ANY PRINTABLE ROCK N ROLL STORIES FROM THOSE TOURS? Barry: “There is one that we try not to talk about. We did have a funny experience while playing with Limp Bizkit which had never really happened before. At the start of our first set, before we had played a single note. We walked on after the fans had already watched another support band. They were demanding Limp Bizkit by the end of the set (and we have never played better live), we had won a portion of the crowd over. When Fred Durst came on he gave the crowd a talking to for the way they had treated the support bands. He came to the dressing room afterwards and was a genuinely nice guy, with a bottle of champagne for us.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER BANDS THAT YOU HAVE TOURED WITH E.G. MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, DID YOU GET TO MEET THEM,OR WERE THEY SO BIG THAT THEY REMAINED CLOSETED AWAY FROM THEIR SUPPORT BANDS? Ross: “They are such big bands, you can have a conversation but still be a little in awe of them due to their status.”

ARE YOU PERSONALLY FANS OF THE MAJOR BANDS THAT YOU HAVE TOURED WITH? WHAT ARE YOUR MUSICAL INFLUENCES? Barry: “As a band growing up we were fans of Blink 182 and a few of us were fans of The Smashing Pumpkins. To get to play with people whose songs we learnt individually.

To get into a position where we are playing with them, it’s a strange thing to get your head around. It’s a big honour to be asked to play with those bands. To have put them on a pedestal,and for them to say ‘actually, I like your band,’ is a massive compliment.”

ON APRIL 23 YOU RELEASED “MAKE A BEAST OF MYSELF”ON VINYL-RECORD STORE DAY..

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON THE CHANGING FACE OF MUSIC TODAY WITH THE DOWNLOADS REPLACING PHYSICAL PRODUCTVINYL,AND CD? Barry: “I think its just a natural thing, everything goes through a process.

Vinyl was forgotten for a while, tape, mini disc. I like artwork but download a lot of music from iTunes only because we are touring a lot. If I was to buy music I would end up with a huge collection and we hardly have any room in our suitcases as it is.”

Ross: “We actually feel it’s nice to support record stores as the band all grew up with vinyl and record stores.

It’s sad that a lot of the shops have been forced to close.”

ALTHOUGH IT’S EARLY DAYS INTO THE BANDS CAREER, ARE THERE ANY SONGS THAT PERSONALLY YOU ARE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF EITHER TO HAVE RECORDED

LARGE FESTIVALS WINNING OVER AN ALIEN AUDIENCE OR A SMALL SWEATY CLUB DOING YOUR OWN HEADLINING SHOW. WHICH DO YOU PREFER? Barry: ”They are both great for different reasons. There is nothing

like playing to fans familiar with your music and singing along. There is something equally refreshing about seeing somebody in the crowd who is a bit non-plussed and by the end of the set has been won over and into what we are doing. Without playing to new audiences you can’t be expected to increase your audience.

I NOTICE THAT YOU ARE SUPPORTING BLINK 182 AGAIN ON SOME JUNE UK DATES BUT NOT PLAYING N.IRELAND WITH THEM? Ross: “It actually got split up with several bands. We were lucky and got to pick the shows that we wanted to do. We have festivals booked

either side and were only able to do certain shows which we got. Tom is particularly nice to us.”

FINAL OBSCURE QUESTION TO FINISH. BOTH YOURSELVES AND 1 OF THE TOUR SUPPORTS(LOWER THAN ATLANTIS) HAVE NAVALNAUTICAL NAMES. JUST WONDERED IF YOU HAD PLANS TO VISIT THE NEWLY OPENED TITANIC EXHIBITION CENTRE WHILE HERE IN BELFAST WHICH RECENTLY OPENED? Ross: “If I had known it was open definitely because I had nothing to do for the first 5 hours of the day.”

Thanks for chatting guys, enjoy tonight’s show.

Interviewer: Mark Dean

OR PLAY LIVE? Ross: “My favourite to play is probably “Yes I was drunk” from the latest album. I like that song a lot but my personal favourite, not due to the lyrics but what actually the song has done for my life is “Free” without that song I would not be getting to travel the world and do all the amazing things that we have always wanted to do.”

Architects – Daybreaker

Memphis May Fire – Challenger

Unbelievably we’re on to our 5th Architects record now, an impressive feat for a band who are all still very young. After the somewhat… Interesting “The Here And Now”, Architects have an awful lot to prove, having many people doubt their passion for making heavy music. Good news 1st then, Daybreaker is incredible.

Seriously incredible. It’s the perfect blend of heavy and melodic, techy and brutal, political and heartfelt. The whole album is a beautiful mixture of everything we loved about Architects when they released “Hollow Crown” a few years back, with a new darker flavour. There is a serious political edge to the record, discussing everything from capitalism to the London riots of last year. This is done in the best possible way, it’s not a cheesy gimmick used to sell a record, this feels like the real deal. There’s a definite anger and desire to make a statement in the boys on this record, and it really pays off with how the record sounds. Standout tracks are Alpha Omega, featuring a huge singalong, Outsider Heart with it’s ridiculous riffage, Even If You Win, You’re Still A Rat with its guest vocals from Oli Sykes, and closing number Unbeliever, which has beautiful vocals and a great message. All in all, this is one of the greatest heavy records released in a long time, and its one you should really go and buy. Go!

Memphis May Fire are a real success story on the scene, growing from a fairly mediocre and unknown band, to one of the standout groups on the scene. New album challenger is a turn up for the books, being a seriously solid metal record. The sound of the record is great, it’s a very well produced, clean sounded cd, which highlights the tight nature of the band. There is also a good mix of vocal styles featured on this cd, from some pretty beefy screams to some equally powerful cleans, which, refreshingly, aren’t all the same note.

Take note other clean singers. The vocals don’t sound hugely autotuned either, another nice change to the typical metalcore sounds we hear oh so often. Where the record does fall down though, is that it’s just a bit gimmicky. After listening to the record a few times, there’s no denying that the glitchy guitars and bass drops do get a little bit tedious and repetitive. I would’ve liked to have heard a bit more variation in the guitar sound overall, but that’s just me being picky. Tracks which really grab attention are Losing Sight with guest vocals from the charming Danny Woresnop, Prove Me Right, which is just a big track overall, and Vices, another big tune. This is a good metal album, and one which is worth checking out if you fancy something different.

(10/10) - Jake Owens

Miss May I – At Heart After their previous effort “Monument” catapulting the US band into the limelight of the metal-core scene, At Heart has a lot to prove.

The record says a lot about the band, it’s seriously heavy, and seriously passionate, showing a much more mature side to this group of young men. This is a group of very talented musicians, and this is shown well through the clear mixing and mastering, which allows you to hear every little thing which is going on. The drums are especially impressive, Jerod Boyd is a true mentalist on the kit, seemingly playing at breakneck speed the entire length of this record. Levi Benton’s vocals have come on leaps and bounds as well, now displaying more range than ever, which makes the music that bit more dynamic and powerful. The clean vocals are a big improvement as well, sounding huge and making all the songs sound epic. Songs to check out would be Hey Mister, a huge fist pumper which sounds massive, and Ballad Of A Broken Man, which is a spot on end to the record. This is a solid metal-core record, which shows a lot of growth in the young band, and sets them up to become one of the biggest groups on the scene.

(8/10) - Jake Owens

(8/10) - Jake Owens

In Remission – The Great And Shallow “A good cross-section of where the band is at right now” is how ‘In Remission’ vocalist Daniel Lillie describes his group’s shiny new E.P., The Great & Shallow; a statement which seems increasingly modest the more you delve into the record.

Transcending The Flesh – Eternal Suffering When a band called ‘Transcending The Flesh’ releases an E.P. called Eternal Suffering, large-scale brutality is more or less guaranteed and this 7-track offering from the Thanet four-piece packs a Hulk-sized punch into the ears of all who listen.

Opening track ‘Shipwrecked’ kicks things off with an impressively eerie intro before ushering in a gargantuan bastard of a breakdown that sets the perfect tone for the rest of the E.P. ‘Eternal Suffering’ goes on to construct itself a backbone of solid, blazing riffage, sparingly used blast-beats and a bass tone dirtier than Tulisa’s home video collection, all of which has been skilfully produced by Daniel Lloyd.

But perhaps the best thing about Eternal Suffering is that, unlike so many death metal acts, it has more than one trick up its sleeve.

The atmospherically discordant guitar lines on ‘Revolution’ add a welcome element of light and shade to the ‘Flesh’s sound and Matt Culver’s neat guitar solos defy death metal tradition by opting for subtlety as well as speed. However, if the music scene did give out ‘man of the match’ awards, this accolade would surely go to vocalist Barry Roberts whose supremely fierce guttural growls punctuate some genuinely memorable lyrics (yep, you can actually understand them!). For those familiar with the Kent metal scene, the intriguingly titled ‘To Feel Like Charlie Sheen’ features a guest appearance from two members of the widely-respected ‘Foreboding Ether’; Dave Osbourne and all round nice bloke Ollie Ross.

The experienced ‘Ether boys provide the track with a different edge and it’s always nice to see unity between bands instead of the customary bitching over being ‘too low down the bill’ and ‘hey, that band’s using our gear!’.

Clearly, gigging with the likes of metal heroes Chimaira and the up and coming Revoker has had a positive impact upon this promising band because ‘Eternal Suffering’ is an impressive slab of modern death metal.

‘Transcending The Flesh’ are an exciting and promising band and, along with Foreboding Ether, probably the best thing to come out of Thanet since...ever, probably.

8/10 - Craig Elvy

The Great & Shallow presses the right buttons from the word ‘go’ on the raucous opening ‘Fractions’, grabbing you by the balls (or a suitable alternative if you’re a girl) and making you want to immediately add this gem to your music collection. And somehow, the band manages to maintain their own ridiculously high standards until the final dying notes of the absolutely epic ‘Solstice’. Each song drips with heartfelt, gut-wrenching emotion without ever sounding clichéd or pretentious and the E.P. never seems to run out of ideas as it swings confidently from pulsating rhythms to choruses catchier than herpes.

Although ‘In Remission’s background dwells in the hardcore scene, the biggest influence here is undoubtedly Welsh heroes Funeral For A Friend, however the Bedfordshire boys aren’t just mimicking their idols, they’re a class enough act to be serious contenders to take over the aging FFAF’s throne in the U.K. rock scene. Although it seems like a bold claim, with extensive touring and good promotion, if ‘In Remission’ can produce an entire album of this quality, their music will lift them head and shoulders above the competition.

Inspired ideas and innovative musicianship are at the heart of The Great & Shallow’s success, but for all its charisma, the E.P. never strays far from its melodic, post-hardcore sound. Luckily, six songs isn’t long enough for this to become a problem, however a full-length album would definitely benefit from a bit of variety in the mix ‘In Remission’ should be proud, this is fucking belter.

9/10 - Craig Elvy

We Are Fiction – Earth Medicine After wisely abandoning record “label” Rising Records and then losing a guitarist, ‘We Are Fiction’ haven’t had the easiest of times since forming in 2007.

Whilst less passionate bands may have abandoned ship, We Are Fiction sailed on through the rough seas, came out the other side and judging by new single ‘Earth Medicine’, have used their experiences to push their music to new levels.

‘Earth Medicine’ is a concoction of anthemic aggression, sexy guitar-lines and confident vocals courtesy of Phil Barker, with a heavy influence of Alexisonfire and We Are The Ocean. The song begins softly, drawing its listener in with dreamy atmospherics and impressive vocal aerobics before exploding into a maelstrom of post-hardcore emotion.

Never sounding frantic or rushed, ‘Earth Medicine’ benefits from its slow pace. Consequently, the track is allowed to build naturally towards its climax; an epic ending with mesmerising chanting and an excellent “Take a flame, Start a fire” refrain which is guaranteed to spark mass sing-alongs when played live.

‘We Are Fiction’s ‘Earth Medicine’ is undoubtedly impressive and the emphasis on creating a dream-like atmosphere with layers of vocal and guitar lines is enough to separate the song from other bands of the same genre.

7/10 - Craig Elvy

The Rebecca Riots The Rebecca Riots are a 5 piece something band from Canterbury.

Noticed how I described them as a “something” band? That’s because this band cannot be categorised and labelled into a genre, it is literally impossible, and nor would I want to do them the injustice of doing so, as they have created a unique style, which cannot yet be categorised by the English language.

The thoughtfully named opening track, “An introduction” can’t help but be compared to that of La Dispute’s opening track, “Such Small Hands”, both similar, but that’s not bad thing, especially if you like La Dispute. The other tracks mix emotive lyrics with equally poignant music. The music turns destructive at points, with heavy riffs, that are matched alongside vocals that are so emotive they could make Ann Robinson cry. Then, out of the blue, there are random claps, tambourine shakes and gang vocals that highlight this bands total disregard for boundaries.

The Rebecca Riots are a refreshing band that just simply like music, whatever it is, and this clearly shows, influences are taken from every genre to create a style of their own. My pathetic attempt at trying to sum up this band’s style is pretty confusing, but listen to them and your understand what I am trying to get at, hopefully.

- George Crome

Whitechapel – Whitechapel (Self Titled)

This Years Winner Is – When In Rome

Before I get into this, a note for you all. Whitechapel were/are a deathcore band primarily, deal with it. Right, now that’s out of the way, let’s get into this new record. Whitechapel kicks off with a haunting piano riff, building into opener Make It Bleed. As soon as the guitars kick in, and the drums get going, it is obvious that it’s still the Whitechapel we all love, only different. Gone are the lyrics about killing sluts and being aroused by corpses, and in is a more mature lyrical theme throughout. Well done Phil for that one, a really good step for the band. Gone also is the one note chug chug of the previous records which seemingly plagued this band, as they now have much more interesting riffs and leads, adopting a different sound and evolving from the deathcore norm. It also helps that all the guitars are triple tracked so they sound fucking HUGE. Listen to Section 8 for proof of this, it’s a belter. Let’s get on to how those new lyrics are delivered while we’re on this song. Phil Bozeman remains an absolute monster, giving one of the most powerful vocal performances on a record in years. His high pitched screams have now been replaced almost entirely with his brilliant guttural growling and a new feature – spoken word. Any negatives then?

Well I guess it could be a tad more diverse, but comparing this release to their previous work they’ve done wonders with their sound.

There is no longer a breakdown every other bar, and the band really sounds great for it. Tracks to listen to would have to be Hate Creation, for its big riffage and demonstration of Phil’s new vocal style, and Section 8, which has an absolutely ridiculous breakdown at the end. This is the new benchmark ‘Deathcore’ album, and one which probably won’t be surpassed for a long time. And best of all, it’s disgustingly heavy.

Jolly Good.

As band names go, ‘This Years Winner Is’ is a pretty optimistic one judging by the quality of their new single, ‘When in Rome’. The band take their sound from the same cookie-cutter as Cute Is What We Aim For, adding a hint of ‘easy-core’ and a faux-Californian accent that does unfortunately make the track very hard to listen to considering they actually come from the Isle of Man.

(9/10) - Jake Owens

Pop Punk has always been a tricky genre for British bands to pull off; only the love-them-or-hate-them YouMeAtSix can really claim to have had success with the sound. But ‘When In Rome’ is disappointing, not just because it’s all been done before, but that it’s been done a lot better and with a lot more conviction. It’s not all doom and gloom though; the band are proficient players and tight as a unit, all of which results in a crisp, clean and professional sound which will serve them well if the song writing was improved. Ultimately, the track is colourful and energetic enough for a summer’s day sound track but probably one you’ll have forgotten by September.

4/10 - Craig Elvy

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