Category: Interviews

Photos by Corey Nichols

Emerging from suburban Sydney way (way) back 1982, the Hard-Ons hit their stride by ’84 and stuck their first record out in ’85. Countless releases have followed, and they’ve toured all over the globe playing their amped up rockNroll, which rarely ever follows convention.

Along the way they’ve collaborated with the likes of Henry Rollins and Poison Idea’s Jerry A. Their most recent studio album (“Most People are Nicer Than Us”) was a firestorm of hardcore and heavy metallic fury, whilst its predecessor “Most People Are a Waste of Time” saw them firmly in tune-soaked poppy punk mode. And their latest release is “Suck ‘n Swallow” a 25 track compilation on Boss Tuneage Records.

The Hard-Ons arrive back in Europe in March 2009 for a 5 week tour, including a few dates in the UK. Pete Craven sent guitarist/vocalist Blackie a few questions down the tube to Australia to jog a few memory cells…

By my reckoning you first came to Europe in 1988, 21 years ago… how many times have you toured since?

I’m pretty sure that this will be the 15th… or is it 16th… or is it… hmmm???

Is there a particular tour that sticks in mind?

Hahah! Some things stay with ya but not for the right reasons… umm – look they have all been an adventure … long tours do things to people but Europe is so killer to tour, the people so accommodating and fun that we LOVE coming back here again and again!

Are there any favourite spots you always look forward to?

I would have to say that Spain is a LOT of fun, as is Italy. For us it’s great that Europe is the size of Australia (maybe a little smaller) and in just a few short hours drive you’re somewhere completely different!

And anywhere you wouldn’t want to go back??!!

I don’t wanna answer!! Maybe some small towns in Eastern Germany are a little scary… or some of the northern little villages of England are strange. There is a father of a pretty girl in Copenhagen who has promised to kill me so… oh I’m sorry I’m making this up…

Do you keep a manual note of all the gigs you’ve played?? Have you got a grand total to give us?!!

I’ve lost mine and had to start again (again)… I’m up to 17!!

You must have a thousand stories to tell. It seems like every two-bit artiste is penning his/her memoirs these days… have you any such literary plans??

Well ya never say never, but right now I’m trying to finish writing a movie script! It’s about a group of misfits that save the world but have to fight on two different realms… its highly original and will have lots of kung fu…

I saw a nice picture of you guys being joined on-stage by Dave Grohl… how did you get to know him??

I met him on an on-line dating agency wayyyyyyyyy back… he’s very nice and knows how to please a woman…

Talking of drummers… I read you’ve got Gregor Eshman from (the ace) Jed Whitey is behind the kit for this tour… what’s the story there??

Peter has just had a baby girl and can’t leave his misses all alone with a new born. We didn’t even care if Greg drummed good or not, but he had to look great with his shirt off!!

You’ve got a new compilation CD out (“Suck ‘n Swallow” on Boss Tuneage Record) with 25 songs culled from the past 25 years of Hard-Ons recordings. How did you decide which tracks made the final cut?

We just picked the best 25 songs to do the dishes to. That’s what most people want music for!!

Track 25 is a brand new song; have you any more new recordings in the pipeline??

Yeah that new song is a beauty eh!! The next album is gonna be a killer and we will start recording it in June…

Ok, thanks for your time! But before I go… is there any way 25 years ago, when you started out, you thought you’d still be a Hard-On??? Was it a good career move??

Well I know I will always be playing music. Life is too short not to be doing something so awesome!!!!

Find the Hard-Ons this month at the following UK dates:

March 26th Sawyers, Kettering
27th Town Mill, Mansfield
28th Fighting Cocks, Kingston
29th Underworld, London
30th Prince Albert, Brighton

For the past couple of months, and indeed the past 10 years, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead have been rocking the Crossfire stereo with their unique brand of unmistakably spellbinding and captivating sound.

Their new album ‘The Century of Self‘ was released last week to a frenzy of excitement from fans and critics alike. Amidst debate on the band’s last two major label releases and cries of a return to form we caught up with the man at the helm, Trail of Dead guitarist, vocalist and full time legend Conrad Keely.

You recently came to London for the last ever gig at the Astoria. What is it about the Astoria that made you feel compelled to travel all this way just to play three songs?

I suppose I ought to set the record straight and admit that we didn’t. In truth, we were scheduled to do press that day in London and I called Som (My Vitriol) because we always call Som when we’re in London, and he said “Holy Shit, you could play our show tonight if you like!!!” Of course, once the suggestion was made, we did everything we could to make it happen, in memory of the video we filmed there for Another Morning Stoner.

What memories do you have of playing there?

Mostly there was a lot of drinking upstairs, and there was some drinking around the corner, and there was some playing on stage that took place. I also remembered how long our name looked on the marquis, and also that I fell in love a couple times at the bar.

Your new album ‘The Century of Self’ has already been dubbed by many as your “return to form” after what some believe to be two weaker albums. How do you feel your new record compares to your previous releases?

Oh, I don’t see it that way at all. I think our last album was just as good. But I made that record for me. This one, I made with you in mind.

Tell us about the new album – what did you set out to create? And what are the themes and concepts that inspired it?

There is love, hate, betrayal, and revenge. In short, many of the themes follow the arching plot-line of the Count of Monte Christo. My only intention was that we make chapter six in our book. But I left it with a cliff-hanger that will be resolved in chapter seven, being the next record.

How do you feel leaving Interscope has affected the band and the new record?

I think that it was like standing in a long bread line during Soviet Russia under Stalin, then being tapped on the shoulder and being told that you’re free to leave the country, here’s your visa.

What were the pros and cons of being signed to a major label?

Basically, the pros are that you’re given a bunch of money, but told how to spend it. And the cons are that if you don’t earn it back, you don’t make any money. Also, when you are on an independent label you work with four people. When you are on a Major label, you work with four people and one hundred clowns.

You must have had lots of interest from many labels for the new album, why did you choose Superball?

Ah, well… they gave us felatio!

It’s now been over 10 years since you released your eponymous debut album. What has a decade in the music business taught you?

How to be outwardly humble and remain inwardly arrogant. Sorry, I think I might have that in reverse.

How has the industry changed since you started out and how have you had to adapt to that?

Computers and the internet have changed it. It wasn’t an unexpected change, we wanted it to happen. I love piracy: I love the salty air, the feel of the swaying deck, the chaos of battle. The idea of technological democracy and file sharing appeal to my ideas on liberty. But there is no honor amongst thieves, so when you work hard on something you have to accept that it becomes the possession of the greater internet community with no price tag attached to it. It makes you think of your art as not so much a product as much as a simple contribution.

What are the highest and lowest points of your career so far?

I really love to travel, so that’s always a high point. I really hate being stuck in the studio sometimes, and I think a low point might be the last time we worked with Mike McCarthy.

How do you maintain your passion and drive for it and avoid becoming jaded?

You have to absorb the enthusiasm exhibited by art and music fans. They’re not jaded, they love art, they love music. If you’re jaded, I hope you kill yourself, because you defile the wondrous nature of the human spirit.

Finally, what five bands would you recommend that Crossfire readers may not have yet discovered?

I don’t know what bands you have or haven’t heard, but I’ll try to think of ones that might be below your radar: Warsaw Village Band, School of Seven Bells, Berntholer, Knife in the Water, Led Zeppelin, Unrest.

‘The Century of Self‘ is out now on Superball Music.

Photos by By Leigh Righton.

Hailing from British Columbia and Oregon, Fake Shark- Real Zombie! is really something that you’ve never heard but now you’ll never forget. A mash-up of post everything, FSRZ combine many different styles and are now slowly moving away from the pack and created something very special.

Marc Ramage caught up with Kevvy (vocals) and Louis (Guitar) speaking out about their debut album, Zebra! Zebra! And their forthcoming record Meeting People Is Terrible, along with slamming in dresses and being kicked out of Christina Aguilera’s after party.

Let me first start with how absolutely outraged I am to find you have no UK label. What do you have to say to any UK companies scoping around for new talent?

We would tell them to quit cock teasing us like Jemma Jameson.

Are you worried when you do get signed to a major label and get thrown into mainstream recording that you may lose your “roots” like many bands of today do?

All the major labels are crumbling in the next two years. Gone are the days of any labels taking chances on interesting bands that need to develop over a few years, so I don’t think we’ll need to even think about that. There won’t be any majors courting us because they’ll be gone soon, but in response to bigger indie labels trying to impose their opinions on our sound, we would rather take less money and have more say in what goes on artistically than vice versa.

How did you guys get together?

A combination of Craig’s List, Myspace and absynth.

Where does the name Fake Shark- Real Zombie! come from?

Vintage snuff erotica…….anything starring Jemma Jameson.

Musically, what are your inspirations, are their any stand out acts you really look up to, new and old?

We’re all influenced by different things musically. I think there’s a heavy love for early 90’s hip-hop and art rock. Parker likes his funk and smells like it, too. Malcolm likes 2nd wave ska, Lou likes Mini-Kiss, Kevvy likes RIOTTTT GRRRLLLLSSSSSS.

Your Debut record, Zebra! Zebra! is such a huge mash-up of different styles of music and genres, how did the writing and recording process go down?

Louis and Kevvy would bring a riff to practice, usually a verse and a chorus, then we’d jam it out.

Are you excited about your new release Meeting People Is Terrible and will this record be yet again a totally new sound or picking up where you left off?

It’s drastically refined. You can tell it’s us, but there is more music involved, more focus, better song writing. No hidden rap song. It was great to have Rave there as well, to have another set of ears to bounce ideas off of. We all respect him and his catalogue. A lot of spontaneity shows through as we wrote almost the whole record the month before coming in to the studio.

Was the recording sequence any different to when you recorded Zebra! Zebra! was it more fun due to it not being such a new experience or seemingly more difficult?

Zebra! Zebra! was essentially a series of EP’s recorded at different times (whenever we could afford studio time!), this was written mostly all at once and recorded and mixed all in 15 days.

I (Kevvy) went way further as far as programming goes. I sequenced a ton of stuff, and sampled constantly. There’re clips of homeless people screaming at me, crack heads having melt downs, knives and forks, just anything that would support the theme of the song and album.

What has been your most memorable on stage performance?

When I broke a pitcher of beer on some bitches head in Edinburgh. During the same show, Parker also smashed his borrowed bass.

I actually read somewhere that bouncers have had to “manually take down microphones and disassemble gear in order for the band to stop playing”.

We were playing Christina Aguilera’s after party, she and her Zoro-faced cronies didn’t like our sights or our sounds, so she had her douchey conglomerates drag us and the members of Trash Fashion out of the Club Royal mid set.

You played at Christina’s after party?! how did this happen?! Did u crash it?

We were booked at the venue before the party was booked there. I guess it was a case of the venue not communicating with a couple different promoters.

Any other famous after party shows I should be told about?

The band we toured with recently (Mindless Self Indulgence) played Frances Bean Cobain’s suicide themed sweet 16 party! Good for them!

You like to provoke your audience with certain statements, is this to create an obvious reaction or to get a certain crazy, have-no-idea-what-to-expect-next vibe in the crowd?

It’s a statement on how the audience is just as much there for my entertainment as the other way around

Have you any UK appearances in the near future planned at all?

None confirmed, but we’re always looking for some Charlie mate.

Cheers for your time guys, massive success for your forthcoming record and stoked to see you over here soon hopefully.

Thanks very much for the interview!

Check them out at www.myspace.com/fakesharkrealzombie

Trailblazers of the now-rather-oversaturated post-hardcore genre THURSDAY release their new album Common Existance this month.

It’s been a long time coming but boy was it worth the wait. Searing guitars, lush drumming, carefully placed electronic elements and sheer terrifying vocals make this record a must-hear. This much-loved band have paved the way for many bands and given a vital helping hand to more than a few acts who are now insanely huge (My Chemical Romance anyone?).

Thursday continually improve upon their art, even having been at it for over a decade and nothing seems to phase them or prevent the heart-stopping music from flowing. High time for a chat with Crossfire then. Winey G caught up with keyboardist Andrew Everding before the new record’s release…

What thoughts and events led to your unusual approach to releasing new material between ‘A City By The Light Divided’ and the forthcoming ‘Common Existence’? Why did you decide to release ‘Kill The House Lights’ and the Split with Envy before moving onto the next studio full-length?

After parting ways with Island/Def Jam there was somewhat of a golden opportunity to remain unsigned and release both the split and DVD before we put out the next full length. The writing for the record was unfolding into what we knew was going to be a long process, it seemed natural for us to release the DVD and the split in that time. We wanted the split record to be a strict vinyl release and Jeremy at Temporary Residence is very good at this, and he’s involved with Envy, everything seemed to just fall into place.

Are there any (new or old) musical formats that you haven’t had a chance to utilize yet but would like to at some point?

I used to record music at the Belfer Audio Archive in Syracuse, NY. They had the second largest institutional collection of wax cylinder and phonograph recordings. I wouldn’t mind releasing a song on a wax cylinder. Maybe the next film about Thursday should be on laserdisc or beta-max?

Do you think music will ever come to exist in digital form only?

God I hope not. There is a new generation of music listeners that have missed out listening to analog recordings, which is an entirely different experience. It’s not convenient, but it’s a little more soothing to the ears. The charm of listening to a full record front to back is slowly disappearing.

Would you say that there has been a shift in your approach to songwriting over the past two years? How would you describe the change, if so?

I think we scrapped some of the experimentation in exchange for the roots of what we used to do. And we also tried to write the songs with our live performance in mind, since most people know us as a live band.

Your video for ‘Ladies And Gentlemen…’ had a very interesting and original concept. What can we expect from the forthcoming video for ‘Resuscitation of A Dead Man’?

Travis (the director for Ladies and Gentleman) torturing us. I saw the first cut a few days ago. It might be the best video we’ve ever done. It’s crazy, and it was crazy to make. I can’t really give away anything.

What are your favourite tracks on the new record and what do they mean to you?

My absolute favorite is “Circuits of Fever”. It has more to do with the process of writing and recording it than any actual literal meaning. It just hits me in the stomach when I hear it, every time.

Were there many more songs written that didn’t make the record?

Yes quite a few, they will probably be released within the Doves Club which if you sign up for it gives you a new Thursday song or unreleased track every month for a year.

Are you looking forward to getting back to the UK? What are your favourite memories of playing over here?

Yes I am, My favorite memory is flying over for the first time. It was such a big deal for me, to realize that playing music was allowing me to travel all over the world. I still get excited by it.

Is there any particular setting or festival in the UK that you’d like to play but haven’t yet?

Yeah, Glastonbury.

What do you think about the rise of newer British bands to notoriety in the States? Particularly your labelmates Bring Me The Horizon and Gallows?

I’m awaiting to meet Bring Me The Horizon, I heard they are young and kids get all hot and bothered for them. I’ll let you know after I see them live.

Which new bands coming from New Jersey should we be keeping an eye out for?

“Holler, Wild Rose!”

What can we expect from Thursday in terms of live performances and new material over the next year or so?

We’re going to tour as much as we can, playing plenty of new songs as well as the old ones. Maybe Chronological set lists?? New material will be released within our singles/doves club, but you need to sign up for that. Hopefully spending more time in the UK!!

Thursday release their new album Common Existance on Epitaph Records on Monday 16th February.

Live photo courtesy of Ashley Goris
Interview by Dee Massey

Having blasted onto the scene in 2002 with their Mark Trombino produced album ‘What it is To Burn‘ – Finch made their name as a band who combined stunning melodies with searing aggressive screamo.

After the long awaited release of their progressive second album, ‘Say Hello To Sunshine‘ the band were faced with disgruntled fans who’d expected another Burn, but also a new wave of fans who fell in love with the new sound. But things started to untangle for the band, and in February 2006 they announced they were taking an ‘indefinite break‘ from Finch, and the band was no more.

2 years later rumours started filtering through the internet that the band was thinking of giving it another try, and it was finally confirmed by guitarist Randy Strohmeyer on their MySpace that Finch were back. Having recruited a new drummer and bassist (Drew Marcogliese and Daniel Wonacott) Finch are back with a new EP, a UK tour and an exciting fresh sound. Guitarist Alex Linares wandered the streets off Oxford before playing the Academy to talk to Dee Massey about why the band broke up in the first place, the new record…and Randy’s bad tour bus habits.

Hey Alex – how’s it going?

It’s all good – although I’m freezing my arse off here in Oxford! It’s better now we’re playing shows again; we had to cancel a few because Nate has tonsillitis, so we were doing nothing. I really love being in England but we’ve just done nothing for days!

Were you hanging out in London or stuck out in the country?

Half the time we were in Glasgow… and then up in Kettering in North Hamptonshire for the other half. Just doing nothing! [laughs]

So this is your first full tour in the UK since you got back together, were you worried the fans might have forgotten about you?

Well the UK is always a pretty crazy place to come and play, and when we were over earlier in the year for Give it A Name it reminded us how insane the crowds can be, so it’s good to be playing here again. They don’t seem to have forgotten us [laughs]

That Scala show you did after GIAN was one of the best show I’ve seen all year, it was great to see you guys back in the UK.

Aaw thank you! It was a lot of fun!

When you had those years off I know Nate got involved with Cosmonaut, but what did the rest of you do?

Yeah Nate along with Drew and Daniel were in Cosmonaut, and I went back to school…which was really boring! [laughs]. Then I got this phone call from Randy saying “hey…lets do this!” and the very next day I quit school, I dropped all my classes, sold my books and was like ‘ yeah – we’re back!’

So what was behind the decision to get back together?

Well I think the three of us, Randy, Nate and myself just kind of missed each other and missed playing music, and basically we missed Finch. Randy and Nate both tried other bands but I think they just missed playing in Finch and I missed music in general. I made a really concerted effort to not in to be in a band when we split, I was like “No! I’m going to be all responsible, I’m going to go to school and I’m going to get a job!” But…that didn’t last long [laughs]

How did it feel walking back into the rehearsal room on day one?

Well I actually missed the first rehearsal because I was on holiday, but I came back for the second and it was like strangely just really comfortable right away.

Did you know Daniel and Drew before?

I knew Daniel…we went to high school together, and our other bands had played together before, so he was always around. We weren’t like the best of friends or anything, but we were acquainted, and got on pretty well and now he’s one of my best friends.

I know you guys are still friends with (ex drummer) Marc Allen?

Yeah yeah, we actually share rehearsal space with his band, he’s really good guy, I really love Marc.

Can I ask – and it’s totally cool if you’re not comfortable talking about it – what went down with (ex band member) Derek [Doherty]? I’ve read that you called him your ‘mortal enemy’ in an interview?

Honestly, Derek is kinda the reason we broke up in the first place. He’s got a really poisonous personality, he’s just not a good person to be around, he caused a lot of tension and split the band in half. It was like me, Randy and Marc and then it was Nate and Derek, and Derek totally had Nate’s ear. It wasn’t good. We’re now a very much happier band, this new line up is just better- well we get on!

So let’s talk about the new EP you bought out this summer. Compared to [What it is to] Burn and [Say Hello To] Sunshine- how did it feel to be back in the studio?

Well the EP recording was just really easy, mostly because it was just 4 songs. We worked with Jason Cupp again – we have a really good established relationship with him. When we did Sunshine it took forever, mostly because we were just trying to find the right producer, we fired a couple before we’d even started recording and then we found Jason, and as soon as we started working with him everything went really smoothly and really well.

If you’d stuck with Mark Trombino (with the second album) do you think the record would have just sounded like another Burn?

Well…Mark Trombino… makes really great records but it’s becoming apparent that he almost makes the same record. I mean you can tell the programming in a Trombino record, and honestly, it wouldn’t even have been possible to record the record with him in the end. He flat out told us in pre-production, when we had like 17 or 18 songs to work with, that “I like these four song and the rest of these songs are absolute crap and you need to start writing.” And we were like…”but..we like these songs and we want to record them.” And he didn’t think we should, he was just really difficult from the beginning.

So how does it work with Jason? Does he have a lot of input into the record?

Jason isn’t so much as a song writing producer as he is a technical engineering type producer, he still has a lot of input but he doesn’t try to come up with choruses with us. He came into pre-production on the EP and just had some simple ideas as far as arrangements.

Have you got any plans for the next album?

Um…we are planning to do one, but nothing solid yet. The only thing we have planned is to go home after this tour and write for the next 2 months before we head off to Australia.

I know you’re a huge Depeche Mode – would you ever want to work with them, maybe bring them in on a record?

Aaw it was be so awesome to work with Martin Gore! That would be….fuck that would be crazy! [laughs] Actually I heard he was a Cosmonaut fan! I don’t know it that’s true or not, but someone called us up and said his niece or something had said he loved that band. We were like…what about Finch!

I’ve heard you cover Mayonnaise (Smashing Pumpkins) a couple of times, what are tracks would you like to give the Finch treatment? Any other Pumpkins songs?

Um…no. We only did Mayonnaise because it’s in the same key as one of our songs and it leads on really well, but we haven’t done that for a while. Lately we’ve been doing a song called ‘Barry White’ by a band called Far. Drew went to see them in LA…he said we did Barry White way better [laughs]

Ok – now I hear you’re a vegan. How do you survive on tour?!

I’m pretty much a total scavenger. I have to eat what I can find, I can’t even really have a meal, I’ll just eat pitta bread and houmous – we get it on our tour rider every day so that’s pretty much what I’m living off!

You’re going to get home all skinny..

Nah, I’m gaining weight from going to the chip shops here!

Good old English food! I also heard a humour that you used to be straight edge? Now I’m thinking you’re not straight edge anymore because I’m pretty sure you were wasted at Scala!

[laughs] Er…yeah…I was really pissed at that show! The tour manager actually said he was really scared at the show, because me and Nate downed a bottle of scotch before we went on. We were like fuck! It’s London! Let’s get fucked up! [laughs]

What are your most essential items to take on tour with you?

Always got to have my iPhone with me, even though it doesn’t seem work over here, but I can still watch movies. On the tour bus it’s good to just put your iPhone on and relax. I always sit up front with our manager Dave, and I have this insane collection of motorcycle magazines. Every time we stop at a WH Smith I pick up another magazine, which is like ridiculous as I have about six on the dash already.

Do you have a motorcycle at home?

Yes! I’m totally obsessed with motorcycles. People ask me what kind of kind of sport I’m into and I’m like…motorcycle racing, and they’re always like…er…what about baseball? [laughs]

You should play at Download at Castle Donnington, that’s like the home of motorcycling here. And actually are you planning on any festivals over here? I’ve not seen you at a festival (apart from GIAN) since Reading 2003!

Was that the main stage show?

Yeah.

Oh…we were horrible that day..

It was an awesome set!

No no..it was awful…[laughs]

I guess we’d been there a few days already… you guys were one of the first bands on the Friday..

You were probably pissed for three days..!

I was sober of course! So when are you coming back to Reading?

We tried so hard to play Reading and Leeds this year, but if you don’t have a major label basically they don’t want you.

Do you think you’ll be signing to a label soon, or are you going to go it alone?

We don’t have a set plan or idea as far as signing. We’ll just take it as it comes I think.

So who winds you up the most on the tour bus?

Randy! Randy winds up all up. The best way to describe him is that he’s a garbage man, he leaves his shit everywhere. He has this horrible whooping cough all the time and making this terrible coughing and gagging sound all day long…it winds us all up so much! Today…ok this is really disgusting but I’ll tell you anyway…we were all up drinking last night, and I don’t know if that made him sick because he wasn’t drinking that much more than me, but he had to have a bucket in the van today..and he definitely used it. I put my iPhone straight on and plugged my nose! It wasn’t that long a drive…only 100 miles…

You’ve shattered my illusions of Randy; I’m never going to look at him in the same light..

Ha..he’s a garbage man [laughs]

If the story of Finch was made into a movie, who would play you, or what would your role be?

I actually had a funny idea about this years ago. Everyone in the band always considers me the shady one, I’m always on the phone and when I’m on the phone I wander away, like now – and whenever we get to venues, after sound checks I like to walk around for a couple of hours. So I figure … the movie would just be kind of like Spinal Tap-esque, where ridiculous things happen, and the only time you’d see me was when the camera would be filming one of the band members and they’d say ” Oh..isn’t that Alex Linares?” and I’d be skulking across the stage, give them a look and run off, and it’d only happen like twice in the entire movie – that would be my role!

What would be your ideal present this year?

Um…that’s a tough question. Actually a friend at home is going to buy me tickets to go see Moto GP, so that will be awesome.

What’s the worst present you’ve ever received?

Oh worst present…[laughs] my godmother Tracey is like the Queen of bad gifts! She got me like a….briefcase or something, and it was fire retardant so you could put all your important pictures and your passport it in, in case your house ever burnt down!

Well now that’s a very responsible and grown up present!

I know…I was like um thank you!

And lastly, have you got any words of wisdom from Finch for the Crossfire readers?

Bundle up…..because it’s fucking cold in England!

Thanks Alex – I’ll let you go warm up now!

Thanks Dee!

You can find Finch at www.myspace.com/finchmusic and www.thebandfinch.com

Thrash Metal was revived in 2008 with the ‘Thrashing Like A Maniac’ European tour taking the headlines.

Bonded By Blood joined Gama Bomb and Sworn Amongst for this Thrash off and came out of it with their heads held high.

Alex Gosman met singer Aladdin at the London show to find out a little about what makes them tick.

So, I gather from your name that you’re big Exodus fans, then? How did you first discover Exodus and thrash metal in general?

Exodus was one of the first Thrash bands I had ever listened to. It was by mistake really. I was in a Crossover band at the time. Some guy had a CD played that looked like mine i turned it on expecting to listen to some D.R.I and I ended up listening to Exodus it was love at first listen. I was in Middle school at the time so was around 13 yrs of age. That was my introduction to thrash I’m sure the rest of the band has their own stories.

Your album out on Earache is called ‘Feed The Beast’ – any story behind the title?

The cover portrays it all. It’s all one big metaphor. The beast is the city that takes you in and spits you back out and you as a human instead of helping society out you keep feeding it.

Is there a good thrash scene in Pomona/California in general? And have you ever crossed the border to play some shows in Mexico? If so, what was that like?

Pomona has never really had a great thrash or metal scene in general. Pomona had a good punk scene when i was growing up here. If you wanted to hear some thrash bands you had to get in your car drive 30 minutes west out of Pomona to LA backyard shows. California now has a real good thrash scene with really good bands in it. We have never had the pleasure to go south of the border. One day soon we will.

What inspires you lyrically? And do you think that we, as the human race, are ultimately doomed?

Lyrically Its mostly all about human experiences. Shit you go through on a daily life. I honestly do believe we are doomed and no one is doing anything about it.

Is Carlos surname really Cerveza?! And what is BBB’s favourite alcoholic beverage of choice?

Haha no Carlos surname is Regalado. They just call him that cus hes always drinking. There are 2 fave drinks, when we are in the mood to get fucked up fast it’s Bacardi 151, when its beer drinking its Mexican beer Corona.

What makes you all happy? And what pisses you off?

Skateboarding makes me happy. Some people in the human race piss me off.

What are your plans for the near future as a band?

Tour Tour Tour and tour some more. Write new songs for the 2nd album and that’s about it.

Find Bonded By Blood on Earache Records at www.myspace.com/bondedbyblood

Watch Bonded by Blood in the studio here:

Words by Coops
Photography by Richard West

If you’re into metal, you should know this band, but if you are a metal-head and you don’t know who these guys are, you need to be slapped, given a dunce hat, be told to sit on a stall in the corner of the room and face the wall!

Municipal Waste are a Thrash/Hardcore/Punk rock band from Richmond, Virginia on the East Coast of America who mix of all your favourite 80’s thrash bands with a hint of punk. Ryan (Guitar) and Tony (Vocals) were both available for some words before their sold out show at The Underworld in London from their December tour around Ireland and England with Iron Lung.

So as it’s the last day of the tour over here in England, how’s it been for you?

Tony: Yeah the tour has been good. It was great to bring Iron Lung, we toured with them before, last summer.

What are Iron Lung like?

Ryan: They’re a two piece band. A drummer and guitar player.

Tony: What did DB say about them?

Ryan: They’re crack-head metal!

Haha!

Tony: Yeah that’s it….another guy said he’d never seen two people make such a racket!

What was up with that bongo picture on Myspace , where you two are playing the bongos?

Tony: Oohhh!!

Ryan: We did an encore in Washington D.C., a bongcore.

Bongcore?

Ryan: Yeah, It was me and Tony doing a rendition of our song “I want to Kill the President”, but we changed it to “I want to Chill with the President” and so we did a bongo version of it. Its only on Municipal Waste unplugged……..the new record..hehe!!

So how long have you guys been together in the band?

Tony: I’d say 7 but I think its 8 years

Ryan: It’ll be 8 in January so nearly over 8 years man.

What’s the weirdest show you’ve ever played?

Tony: Weirdest?…well we played a weird ass show the other night in Dudley, We played in the Big room and it sucked haha!

Why?!Tony: Because it was probably like a 2,000-3,000 capacity venue and only like 150 people showed up. So we were in this big room with not a lot of people, so we made everyone get up on stage while we played, we just had a stage full of people haha!

Ryan: Then Dave our drummer farted and everyone all cleared off.

…and what would you say is the worst?

Tony: We have a bunch of worst shows. We had one show in Germany which was really bad.

Ryan: Leipzig – Ahhh man, all our equipment fucked up.

Tony: Yeah, Leipzig! Usually when equipments gone wrong, it’s bad.

Tony: I had no voice, but they did this really cool confetti drop for us and it sucked!!

Ryan: HAHA!!…Yeah, it’s was like Anti-climatic, coz we’re playing shit and they’re “ahh celebrate!”

Tony: We havn’t really played a lot of shows where everyone just stands there and looks at us on stage like we’re assholes and that was one of the shows where everyone’s just standing there thinking “What the fuck are these guys doing?”

Ryan: They were giving us tips on how to fix our equipment or how to sound better.

Tony: haha! Yeah, it’s frustrating!

Your gigs are known to be quite rowdy – have you guys ever had any trouble with the 5-0?

Ryan: The cops? Yeah we tried to play house party’s and the Police shut it down, so we can’t even play in our home town anymore.

Tony: Oh man yeah, I remember one time we were at this show at a festival called Macrock in Harrisonburg, Virginia. And at the time there was this big controversy in the states going on with the Christians and there was this lady who was brain dead and they didn’t want her to be killed and it was right when the Pope died. And so they killed this lady….

Ryan: Do you know who her name is?

Tony: Her names Terri Schiavo….and yeah, one of our friends got up on stage and said this speech before we played…hehe!….and he said “Right now the Pope and Terri Shiavo are 69’ing in heaven!!” And this cop flipped out, he was so pissed off and this other cop was like, holding him back!

Ryan: Coz there was actual police at this show.

Tony: Yeah, they were fucking pissed off.

Why did he say that?!

Tony: Coz were just trying to piss people off.

Ryan: Freedom of speech man!

What do you guys think of England when you come over here and play, how is it different from the States?

Ryan: A lot of Beans and toast over here!

Heinz baked beans?

Ryan: Yeah and the beans taste just the same over here.

Tony: I think the crowds at home are more mixed. Theres a lot of punks and metal-heads and over here it seems its more of the metal scene. But metal’s so fucking big over here!

It’s all about the heart of Metal!

Oh yeah, really it is! But I think that’s the only real main difference.

I’ve got a rough idea to what the answer to this maybe, but what would you say is the best band you guys have ever toured with?

Tony: I think me and Ryan will both agree with Suicidal Tendencies.

Just as I thought….

Ryan: As far as being the most down to earth guys genuinely, their a great band to be on the road with. They were incredible everynight.

Tony: They gave us the place of being main support and it was like, they didn’t need to do that. They could have brought on a bigger band and they didn’t, they brought us and it when over fucking great.

Stoked!

Tony: Yeah it was real fucking cool man. I don’t know, we get along great with a lot of the bands we tour with. I mean we’re still great friends with Gwar and Toxic Holocaust…

I remember that picture of you in the toilet next to the dude from Gwar..hehe!

Tony: Oh yeah haha!

Ryan: It’s small!

Who would you guys say is the most irritating out of the whole band when your drunk?

Tony: Haha!!…Probably me

Why?! Hehe!

Ryan: He just turns into a baby…a big stinky baby with bad breath!

I remember about a year and a half ago when I first saw you guys, we were over at the Mean Fiddler on Tottenham Court Rd. I think Dave (drummer) was the only responsible person around whilst you guys were just completely out of it…

Ryan: Nah. Dave gets out of control sometimes!

Tony: Yeah man, when he gets drunk, he’s by far the most out of control!

Ryan: He beats up his girlfriend………….No I’m joking haha!

Thanks for that! OK let’s end this hell. You guys are currently working on the new album now, what’s the name of the album and when is it coming out?

Ryan: We don’t have a name for it yet, but in the late summer early August it should be out. So we will be back! Hell yeah!

We look forward to it! Thanks a lot for the words. Have a good show!

Ryan: Thanks

Tony: Appreciate it man!

Find Municipal Waste on Earache Records.

Fresh off US tours with Swervedriver and British Sea Power, FILM SCHOOL have been making waves around the country on the UK leg of the British Sea Power tour.

Their live shows been described by various music publications as “sonically epic”, potentially “severely detrimental to your health” and to be blunt ” fucking amazing” – and last month the band could roll into town and tell us what all the fuss is about.

With their second full length album ‘Hideout’ the five piece seem to have hit their stride with their updated 2006 lineup, and with a cameo from My Bloody Valentine’s Colm O’Coisoig the album is proving the perfect show case for their exciting soundscapes and thrilling waves of sound.

Midway through the Scottish leg of the October UK tour frontman Greg Bertens took some time out from the tour bus to sample the haute cuisine of Little Chef and answer some questions posed by Dee Massey.

Firstly thanks for taking the time to do this – whereabouts are you right now?

In a Little Chef in Dundee, or as one of the crew members call it, “Little Thief” because of the outrageous prices.

Get back to basics, can you tell us how Film School formed?

Our current lineup came together after Jason (keys) and I put together Hideout. We invited Dave, who used to do sound for us, to play guitar. He introduced us to James, a drummer who he used to play with in a couple bands in Seattle. And Lorelei our bassist we found via a Craigslist ad. The ad said we were “looking for a bassist into Peter Paul and Mary and Husker Du,” which was the same line Joey Santiago and Black Francis used when they found Kim Deal and formed the Pixies.

You’re currently on tour with British Sea Power – how did that come about?

We did 12 dates with them through the south in the US and had an outrageous time. They took a liking to our music and invited us to come play the UK with them. It wasn’t an easy journey to make considering the weak dollar and we weren’t given any tour support, but we were very determined to make the trip and broke open our collective piggy banks to find some funds.

Before that you were on tour with Swervedriver – who apparently were a big influence on you guys? Who else would you cite as your main influences?

Hmm… Sonic Youth, Swirlies, Jesus and Mary Chain, maybe a little Cure “Pornography” in there as well. I’m also a big fan of Seefeel, though most people don’t hear it in our music.

Spinner.com describes you as one of the ‘most successful band to translate ..shoegaze into the 21st century.’ Do you buy into that? How would you describe your sound to someone who’s new to Film School?

We want to be the most successful band to translate shoegaze into the 22nd century. But oh wait, haven’t you got the memo? We’re “No-gaze” — it’s wall of sound but with loads of energy (and no gazing at shoes).

Hah! Phil Ek produced ‘Hideout’ – we know him best for The Shins, Pretty Girls Make Graves and Fleet Foxes – what was behind your decision to go with him?

Well he mixed the record, but yeah, I’ve been a huge fan of his since he began work with Built to Spill, in particular “Perfect From Now On”. I wanted to work with someone who “got” reverbs and space, but also a sense for songs and melody. Some people we’ve worked with in the past have tried hard to define every instrument in our songs and try to separate all the tones. In the end the songs felt overworked. I wanted someone who understood how instruments could blend into each other and create new overtones, while still maintaining strong melodies and driving songs. I think Phil gets that. Though most likely he’d laugh at all this and say whatever man, let’s make some music jackass!

Are there any producers you’d like to work with? How much input did you have the production?

I’m not sure. We’ve never worked with a producer, but I’m open to it if the right person came around. I produced the last record so I guess you could say I had quite a bit of input into the production.

Colm O’Ciosoig guested on the album – how do you know him, and any chance you’ll work with My Bloody Valentine again in the future?

Colm is a friend of ours, we’ve known for years. He lived in the Bay Area (of San Francisco) when we were up there as well. He came to some of the early Film School shows when his sister Finnoula would play violin and sing — we sounded horrendous. I don’t know if we’ll work with him again, I hear going on a spiritual journey with Tibetan monks after the MBV tour.

What other bands would you like to work with?

I’d like to do some work with DJ Adam Freeland.

Are you egos still in check or are you asking for random things on your rider yet?

We’re still just trying to get a full case of cold beer (no Carling please) and some water! Apparently it’s a massive challenge!

What are you 3 essential items to take on tour?

Laptop, deodorant…a sense of self?

You’ve been a band now for a few years, what are some of the highlights and the lowlights in the bands history?

We had all our gear stolen in Philadelphia in 2006, that hurt pretty bad. One of the highlights is being here right now in the UK playing with British Sea Power. Awwww!

If you hadn’t been in Film School, what job would you be doing instead?

I don’t think about it that way. If I wanted to do something else I would be doing it.

What’s next for Film School?

Recording. We’ve done 3 North American tours and all these shows over here. It’s time for us to lock ourselves in our studio and write some new material.

And lastly – any words of wisdom for our Crossfire readers?

Beware the vegetarian English breakfast at Little Chef!

Find Film School online at www.myspace.com/filmschool or www.filmschoolmusic.com

DIY Hardcore punk bands receiving mainstream attention isn’t exactly a new phenomenon but the instances are few and far between and the results are invariably very messy.

Whether it’s Gallows, Nirvana or Napalm Death, bands who have all experienced mainstream attention on different scales, the ripple effects felt by their explosion from the underground are always impressively far reaching.

Fucked Up hail from Toronto, Canada and are unlike any hardcore band before them. Which is why they hit the cover of the NME last month. Although the foundations of Fucked Up’s music is unmistakably punk, they are so much more than that. This year’s ‘Year Of The Pig’ eighteen minute progressive hardcore single was a fantastic example of how far into the unknown the band are prepared to take their music and new album ‘The Chemistry of Common Life’ continues the journey.

James Sherry caught up with guitarist Mike Haliechuk to get the lowdown on the latest record out now on Matador Records.

It really sounds like a lot of thought was put into the multi-layers of music. Is this the case of was it a bizarre accident?

I guess when we in the studio last time we had a better idea of what each song was like while we were recording so we didn’t have a lot of room to put any other stuff on,” explains Mike. “This time, we had almost no idea what each song would sound like so it allowed us to experiment with any little idea we had in the studio. First we recorded drums then left it for a few weeks while we were on tour. We’d listen to the drum tracks and get some new ideas to add in. After six months of doing that, with new ideas for each song coming every couple of weeks it gave us enough time to put as much onto the record as we could.

With your previous album ‘Hidden World’ I presume you had those songs written when there wasn’t so much touring going on and you had a lot of time to spend on the songs. A lot of bands seem to fall into that trap of having a successful first album then go on the road for a year and their label says ‘ok, we want a new record! and the ideas get thrown together into that disappointing second album…

Well, It was a lot like that!

But it doesn’t sound like it!

We did write a few songs while on stage, but with the amount of breaks we had we could listen to the stuff again and again and add to it a lot which helped. We’d go to the studio, record a little bit then come back to it later and do a little more. Space things out.

You have done a lot of touring; it seems that you’ve been to Europe a lot in particular, how many times have you come over here?

I think in total this has been the seventh trip over. We’ve only properly done mainland Europe twice, but the rest of the times we would come over here. We actually came to London for just one show once! We just like London so much, I guess that explains why we keep coming over!

What is it about London that appeals to you so much?

I think it’s the whole cosmopolitan feel to it. It’s such a mixture; you can walk 8 or 10 miles from the east end and cover so much ground. Shows are great as you take a lot less money with you than you would in the States because the dollar is so ridiculously weak right now. The shows are really working over here too, they’re getting busier, and it’s always real good atmosphere from a huge variety of people.

You do seem to play very different places and different venues, and you always seem to have the right band playing with you, like The Shitty Limits, rather than some industry shit or an agency favour…

Well we come from a community, rather than just being a manufactured band so we always have great bands to play with. And a lot of our friends are in great bands so we are lucky to play with them often.

What about the Gallows tour earlier this year, was that a good experience?

Well they picked us to play with them. It was really good opening for them; normally a lot of opening acts get eaten alive, I know when I was a kid going to shows I didn’t want to see anyone other than the band I came to see. Everyone else is just a waste of time, like I paid to see these dudes, not you! But we had a gnarly reaction from the crowd, they could get into it and we had a lot of fun. There wasn’t a bad show on the whole tour.

The Astoria show in particular seemed to work. A lot of punk bands’ sound gets swallowed up in larger venues but yours manages to fill the venue perfectly. And of course it helps that frontman Pink Eyes gets so involved with the crowd.

The crowd make the show man! Even if things aren’t going for you sound-wise, the crowd can always turn things around. If you let them make the show it takes the pressure of us a little! Getting down and dirty with the crowd is the best part.

How different is it being on Matador Records compared to your previous involvement with Vice?

Vice, for us was just a London-only thing, we just had our friends set up all those tours before. It was good, and this is good now. It’s different I guess, there’s a lot more work involved what with promo and all that. Even though Vice is such a huge piece of culture it was still a friendly thing and this is a real big step. Matador has a great history and we’re gonna get involved in a lot more things through them.

Like Gallows, who have obviously came from a similar DIY community as yourselves and have subsequently been thrown into the mainstream, do you find it a battle to hold onto your roots?

I’ve seen them a lot of times now and we know them well; I think a lot of people are sceptical, which is fair enough, a hardcore band going into the mainstream, I would probably think that if I didn’t know them that well. Personally I think that Gallows are just like any other hardcore band but happened to be a right place at the right time. I think they’re really honest.

I guess a lot of people of this generation haven’t really seen music like this before, especially if you’re not tuned in to underground scenes. A lot of kids will think of them as a new indie band who are really exciting, they’ll turn up and see them and you guys and just be blown away. They’ve really caught the right moment.

That’s the thing, these kids have just seen something they really like and there shouldn’t be anything frightening about that. I know when I was a kid I would have been thankful to have a band like Gallows or Fucked Up showing up.

And you’re back here now in November?

“Yeah we are. Should be fun. Bring it on!”

See Fucked Up at the following dates. Buy their records now.

NOVEMBER
07 – LONDON 93ft East
08 – BRIGHTON Freebutt
09 – BIRMINGHAM Barfly
10 – OXFORD Zodiac
11 – EXETER Cavern
12 – CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
13 – STOKE Sugarmill
14 – NOTTINGHAM Bodega
15 – COVENTRY Kasbah
16 – GLASGOW King Tuts
17 – SHEFFIED Corporation
18 – LEEDS Cockpit
19 – MANCHESTER Roadhouse

14th October 2008
Band shot by Nick Brown
Last photo on this page by some lad from Leeds.

SSS (aka SHORT SHARP SHOCK) are that one of those bands that you need in your life.

Their mix of bolshy hardcore, thrash and metal has impressed and attacked ears all over the UK and are set to light up more on a forthcoming tour to promote their second full length on Earache Records.

Crossfire’s Tom Lindsey decided to get the best out of lead singer Foxy from his home of Liverpool and delves into the background of why SSS need to be on your stereo.

So let’s kick this off by asking what happened to Dave on the ‘Get in the Van‘ tour with Cold Ones and Down and Outs this year?

Dave went into hospital before we started the tour with pneumonia. He went in on the Tuesday, we found out Wednesday and we were starting tour on the Thursday. So we were in the middle of recording vox and I said. “listen- i got this idea”. So me and Mark legged it down the hospital and proposed the idea that we strip away the guitars and bass and vox from old and new LP, put the drums through the PA, play along and karaoke it up! We were all getting nearly burnt out with doing the LP and we had to get out of town. Shame Dave couldn’t come of course, but i couldn’t stay in Liverpool another week while everyone was on a tour having a laff!

So we filmed Dave in his hospital bed-head banging, we all had viruses on our computers so we edited the vid and outputted online. Then we looped it and put it on our Russian video mp3 player, took a TV with us on tour and placed it behind the kit and ….viola. Dave was still on tour, in spirit at least! It was a really odd doing this but it worked. Something was better than nothing, or worse & nbsp; canceling. People buzzed off what we scrambled together!

What do you get up to on the road?

I’m usually driving. That’s all that happens on the road. 3 in the front and one in the rocking chair in the back! Not really seeing much apart from the road, trees and petrol stations along the way. If we have time and there’s a concrete skate hole in the ground that finds itself on the radar then we load in early and go skate it. Frontside shralp and back to the the venue. Try and cram in as much as possible in is always on the agenda.

Talking of skating you have graced the skate scene a few times with your Night of the Living Dead skate jams, is there intention there to continue these in skate parks or have the boat parties replaced them for good?

Those events for UK skateboarding were a pivotal point i think. The scale and success took me by surprise. I always wanted them to be good. but they got to the core of people’s imagination and attitude and they exploded. Skate all night, bands playing, fly in Antihero, Black Label, Real teams, Death match and blow some stuff up! Liverpool made people go berserk! The City is a law unto itself but it got big too fast and the pressure to come up with new and inventive things got to much. That’s why it died. Everyone wanted a piece, crap shoe companies and energy drink shite hawks wanting in on the underground. Well….we make the underground and you’re not welcome. Plus attitudes at the park changed for the worse.

I avoided this as much as possible but it consumed itself over a very short space of time. The DIY attitude hasn’t left, it’s just been directed into other areas now. Like you say the Halloween events have found new venues, the emphasis is now music. Decorate the place up get great bands to play and tear it down. Never say never though….I was talking to someone about this the other day about doing a new event so you never know…

Looking back, what are the highlights from these past events?

That the kids got stoked on the teams that came over and could rub shoulders with their heroes and at the same time snake them, give them shit and get amped in (at the time) the best sk8park in the UK.That everyone who came got blown away by the attitude of the whole event – a beer soaked 70ft long bowl people slammin’, Slayer playing, fireworks going off! It was unreal! The yanks went home scratching their heads going why can’t we have something like this? Bringing in a PA. getting bands I wanted to see destroy on a makeshift stage made of 70 pallets that got stacked up. Dropdead, Leatherface, Send More Paramedics, Conquest of Steel etc.

Also when I threw out pigs hearts at number Night of the Living Dead 3 kids didn’t think they were real! Two sk8rats brought one back going these are fake! I said eat it and tell me if you reckon it’s rubber! One bit into it and tasted the blood and puked on the other ones shoes!

Is there a favourite city/venue SSS love playing?

Newport is always a good laff, get messy with the loose locals at the gig, Grim from freestyle sk8 shop let’s us stay at his, sk8 his backyard ramp in the morn and load up at the greasy spoon cafe at the end of his street. Birmingham is cool too. Always a good mixed crowd that gets into the spirit very quickly. plus when we done we can drive home to our own beds. Hometown Liverpool gigs are always fun. The clowns come out to play and things happen. Lubline in Poland was off it’s head. The place was rammed when we toured last year with our good friends Daymares. We played every song and they wouldn’t let us leave! Dave kept standing up and this big punk polish fella picked him up and said. “more, more, you play more!” Europe as a whole loves music. I suppose anywhere that isn’t infected with the hardcore-dogshit-too-cool-for school attitudes. In the UK, that is few and far between.

Have there been any changes to your live show since the last time you were on tour? Are you playing any new material from the new album?

Yeah. We have started to get the newer stuff into the mix. About time too really as been playing this first LP for coming up to 2 years now so things can feel as they are going through the motions on occasion. Always good to mix set lists up. We have been practicing hard and have gotten tight with the new songs. We aren’t on the same page as we were with the first LP.

What have been your influences and mind sets going into he studio to record? I’ve read that your approach to this record is far more aggressive than your debut…

We have avoided painting ourselves into a musical corner, however, things could get boring very quickly so we have delved into our big musical pockets as it were to draw influence from more areas. We did a gig on Sept 11th and that was 80% new stuff. A lot of those songs played for the 1st time. People were into it, or so they said, they could of just been being polite! Ha!. I’ve still got some views to air on this record, aggression to come out musically with us all so yes, I’d say it’s a bit relentless on occasions.

Give us the SSS Top 5 must-have bands on the van stereo…

Dag Nasty, Smoking Popes, Metallica, Lungfish and Queen.

Top 5 skate vids?

Wheels of Fire, Blind Video Days, Shackle Me Not, 1st Anti Hero vid and Speed Freaks.

Spill the beans on stuff we don’t know…

The first ever gig SSS did we jumped on at the 247 club in Liverpool and did 3 songs. Some donkey skinhead giving us V’s right in my face. His pint got slapped out of his hand, so he went the bar and got another, again he trying to be funny so I did the same-smash. Then when we done he’s causing fights with our friends so I picked him up from behind, chucked him down the stairs! he slid on his back backwards down the steps while everyone giving him shit, spitting on him, throwing empty cans on him and pouring the dregs of pints on him. Classic stuff!

Mark and Pete blagged Dave they went to a topless Chinese after a gig once in London. That the waitress poured the soy sauce off her tits onto your food! He was gutted.They forgot to tell him it wasn’t true and after 2 weeks of him telling everyone how he missed out, they remembered! Oh and Thrash musical chairs anyone?

Ha! We know you guys appreciate the collectors out there. Will we be seeing any limited edition releases of the new album?

Yeah. There’s a splatter wax edition for the release gig in Liverpool and on the Earache webshop. Plus if you buy the CD/LP from an independent record shop you get a free Skate and Destroy 7″ on splatter wax too. 6 songs about skating. Plus we got a special guest in the form of Frank Sidebottom. He lays down some serious bosanova riffage! Grimace to SSS and smile to Frank at the same time! Ha! Records come with pullout poster, stickers and all that jazz. The limited editions of records have always been our thing. People that have been with us from the start and get down early will get a good limited package. Once they are gone, they are gone.

The general consensus amongst the music world is that SSS are the figurehead of the modern UK thrash movement. Does that give you a sense of pride or pressure?

It’s cool that people are into what we do. The biggest gift is that a kid is stoked on our record as much as we are. The fact that we are on our 2nd LP is off its head. we never set out to take it this far but to have 50+ songs under our belt at this stage is mega. The whole thrash movement isn’t what we are about though. We have grown up in different climates.If people need to tag us with a label to make it understood and digestible to others then so be it. No pressure has been felt as yet, we will always take our time, and work things out in our own way. We work pretty fast, plus everything is done in-house as it were. We can demo songs easily in our practice room, they can sink in and if anything needs changing it can be done there and then. This flexibility is key as we hate being on any sort of clock. We played Prague and these Russian lads got a train for 36 hours to see us. They were massive and were scared of flying. That floored us that hey traveled all that way. Unreal!

Even though you signed to Earache, you’re still heavily affiliated with Dead & Gone Records. Do you think it’s important to keep in touch with your roots?

Nothing has really changed after signing. We still have families, kids, mortgages and jobs. Daily life doesn’t stop. When we tour we still get a transit from Birkenhead van hire, 3 in the front and one on a rocking chair in the back! The only difference is that Earache has dedicated staff to get your record out to the furthest corners of the planet. Our roots run so deep I don’t think we will ever want to cut loose from them. It’s always nice to swim in the big sea and play really big venues/bands – that sort of thing gets you exposure to a bigger crowd and the experience is mega. I’ts always nice to come back home to the garden pond. – you know what i mean? SSS will always be a photocopied band. We are far too ugly and don’t look good in gloss!

How did the hook up with Earache happen?

When the first press of record came out. we were all proud that we got it out. We wanted everyone to know about it too. So posted out 150+envelopes with a CD and covering letter to every label we could think of. A good exercise in self promotion. It was like…here’s what we have made, take a look. Our good friends Ian Glasper, Zac from Crossfire and James Sherry were flying the flag for us and a few bits a pieces ended up in the mags and helped us out. The New York office got the CD, as did Earache HQ in Nottingham at the same time. a conjunction of stellar proportions made everyone site up and take notice at the same time. i got an email from and Al in NYC. they wanted us to sign without even seeing us play. They said the infamy surrounding the band and the music itself sold us, so we scribbled.

You recently played with hardcore legends Negative Approach. How was it playing with a band that is so respected and has been so influential over the years?

It’s always good to be asked to play with a band that are such heavy hitters as NA. Sure there was a line of bands that would have chopped off an arm to do it too, So the gig wasn’t taken lightly by any means. It was great to play with them, the place was packed! People were up for it and it went off. I’ve got a checklist for the band of things we want to achieve. That was one of them.

You have recently toured with Gallows, a band which has had a lot of mainstream coverage recently. What was it like being exposed to a larger audience both live and in the press?

For me (remember this is my first ever band), the learning curve for that tour was straight up. Those size of venues and to interact with that many people is a world apart from what we were used to. The banter went over the heads of a generally younger crowd. On some of those stages I felt like a headmaster at assembly. There were pockets of people into it though at each gig and we’d be straight back on the stand hawking our wares and talking to people who came down. We’d always look at each other and go “how daft is this!” that we were even on that tour. Hats off to gallows for even taking three completely different sounding bands on tour with ’em. Definitely one to remember that’s for sure. Some of the press got it, some didn’t that’s just the way it was. All press no matter how good or bad, it all counts.

You’ve known each other for years and have been together as a band for a while as well. Now you’ve reached the point of that difficult second album are there any tensions in the band?

The black cloud did loom over our heads but the way we work is very fast, even to this day i still don’t know how 30 songs came together to be whittled down to 20 that go on the 2nd lp/cd. We have only been together coming up for 3 years. It was still a big task and that pressure is all external, we never really felt it internally. I can remember writing some full lyrics to songs, some stuff on the bus to and from town, loads of scraps of paper with one liners on in my notebooks. One song had been done two years ago and that was the very last one to be finished lyric-wise. Again for me I can say that i wouldn’t put any other words down on paper just to fill it up. Each one has to say summit, have an idea and a meaning and a conclusion. We as a band wanted the best we can do, a snap-shop of were we are at, at this point in time. I’d say the only strain was getting all the elements of recording, art, dvd to collide at the same time. The best they can be. The few weeks staying up late due to endless lists in your mind was the only part that done my head in. Me and Mark having conversations daily on what done and what’s to be done. That sort of stuff shapes the record as well. Last minute tweaks until the deadlines reached.

Anybody want to make a solo record? Arty electro journey through self expression for Foxy? Nu-Rave album for Dave?

We have some other bands on the go, that’s were the valves are to release that pressure. Mark is in a band called the Down and Outs. I’m in a band called the Bendal Interlude. Both are worlds apart from SSS.

If you had to do one of the following things which one would you choose and why?

a) Caught in a mosh with Anthrax.

b) Caught in a bong with Municipal Waste.

c) Surfing Nicaragua with Sacred Reich.

We don’t do drugs, surfing is for fags so caught in a mosh it is! Why? – You can scoop your brains out with a rusty spoon, beat your chest like kong or bark at the moon and no-one cares what you look like.

And finally the obligatory end of interview question; what can we expect from SSS in the future?

Roll on the 3rd lp! We’d all like to travel in time to see what our 5th LP will be like actually. That’s the ultimate goal, that’s the test , to get it to that stage. It’d be great to look back and think we did all those. You can look at them as a time line. Like a diary and always be in print and if someone gets stoked on it. Bingo. To get the the checklist ticked off with new places to play, bands to take stage with, countries to visit is always up there. Take SSS as far as it can, and look back and laugh. Cheers for the interview, see everyone at an SSS gig soon!

New LP called “The Dividing Line” is out 20th October 2008 on Earache Records. Check for releases, gig info and limited records galore and visit the SSS MySpace for live dates kicking off soon.