Category: Interviews

20.02.08
Photos by Zac

Liverpool’s punk and hardcore scene has been infected with Cold Ones, a relatively new project that sees Heroin Skateboards pro skater Howard Cooke swap axes and find some new band mates after the demise of Walk The Plank.

Mouthy singer Russell Longmire shared some words with Zac following their London show at The Macbeth.

Firstly, how did this fine mess manage to come together?

Right time, right place, probably started off with lots of drunken claim, let’s do a band blah, blah, we all knew each other anyhow and a had a vague idea of what we didn’t want to sound like.

I personally felt there wasn’t a band out there who was playing punk how I liked it. We were like ‘let’s play some straight forward punk but deliver it with personality and humour, keep it intense but cut out all the tough guy HxC shit. That’s what we do, that’s the essence of the Fifth Dimension of rock music! That’s D5!!! It’s like when you got a bunch of bead eggs – best thing to do it scamble them or just throw them at people!

So, you have ex-members of Walk the Plank, Hammer Attack and Second Guess, do you feel as though you guys are ready to take it to the big time – you know, get onto X Factor and shit?

X factor? Yeah we’ve played with Xstraight-edgeX bands, we even got offered to play a D.A.R.E benefit once! We have felt the X-factor.

Liverpool’s Hardcore scene has had a good bit of action over the last few years. How do you see it progressing, are there more younger kids coming to the shows and getting in to it?

Theres a bit of a venue draught at the moment but the when gigs happens kids are still sneaking beers and boards in the backdoor, hurling abuse, bro-ing off, spewing up, pushing each other over. It’s very Liverpool. Hopefully in time they will realise they too can do exactly the same but on a stage and get paid!! We will testify it’s not about skills and keeping up with modern technology its about having a laugh with a bunch mates, using what tools you have to the best of your ability and putting on a good show. Fuck what people are going to think of you, just be confident and let loose. Spin people out a bit, leave an impression. We don’t need more pretentious Liverpool indie/pop bullshit. The Beatles are dead and The Wombats look like roller bladers!!!

So, it’s a 5 piece, all blokes. You all skate?

We’ve not done a gig without five boards in the back. If were leaving town they make good self defense weapons!

So Howard (Cooke) is now playing guitar, how come he switched from bass that he played in Walk The Plank?

Never really picked up a bass until Walk The Plank and rarely did when I was in them but I’d always have a guitar to wank on in the house.

Is a warm beer completely out of the question for all band members?

If you pay for its gotta be COLD, if you steal it you can’t be fussy.

I take it from your live show at The Macbeth that you enjoyed annilhilating skateboard industry bods and Hoxton mongaloids – not really like Liverpool down here is it?

Lot of turds in the industry, and when you see that side of it, you loose grasp off whats best about skating, but people who are in the know are out there and all the swamps will get weeded out eventually. As for the Hipsters……they’re just easy targets.

What other bands influence you?

FEAR, GENTLEMANS PISTOL, FANG, DISCHARGE, TURBONEGRO, BL’AST, QUEEN, SABBATH, DANZIG…..we all listen different shit. Along as its rips and gets ya in the frame of mind for alternative intelligence. Music to get weird too!

Do you reckon you can pay the rest of the band to move at the next gig?

The Romans built they Empire with powerful statues, now we’ll build ours.

Having Foxy as a roadie must be like having Fozzie bear on the road, does he come in handy or is he a miserable git like when fronts SSS?

When he’s not wearing his headset playing Xbox he has his moments of comedy genius, but he does scare off of the ladies. Instead he attracts loads of smelly bearded Metal Hammer readers!

If you had to steal another bands cold rider of your choice from a dressing room whose would it be?

Amy Winehouse’s! Ha! Someone left a tin of red paint in the back room and Josephs well in Leeds once….Opppps bad mixer!

Did you guys play Livi in 2007?

Took 7 hours to get there, pissed down with rain, stage was soaked and deemed too unsafe to play. Saw Div and this maniac dude named Haggis walking round covered in their own blood after defending their skatepark from invading council estate smack children. A statement of solidarity that all locals should have for there home turf! It was pretty ugly, so we went to Edinburgh, crashed a yuppie party, stole a bottle of JD and fizzled into the Scottish void.

Trouble seems to follow you then?

Yeah, it seems that way. The shadow of misbeheaviour is never too far away though. It just comes out when exposed to certain light conditions. We live in the D5 and speak in terms of Testiculation! If people can’t get down with that, then they gotta leave.

True or False – football fans in Sheffield wanted to get you after a show?

They did chase one us down an alley, we survived.

True or False – you sprayed your band name on a wall outside a gig in London and got thrown out?

No comment, but Inepsy have very bad English but amazing songs!

You fell on your head and almost died at a recent show?

Head stands on stages with monitors after abusing Municipal Waste’s rider is not advisable. G.G wanted to explode on stage too though.

True or False – all of the band are carded members of the original Blue Oyster Bar?

Not all of us but our drummer did contribute the cowbell to the song ‘don’t fear the reaper’.

True or False – 2 birds from Hollyoaks were spotted at a gig of yours fingering themselves?

Soon to be seen on an episode of late night Hollyoaks XXX, we’re the house band, like Circle Jerks in Repo man or TSOL in Suburbia.

What’s coming up?

Pimpin our 7” which is out now on GHOST CITY Records and available of our myspace, writing new stuff for a new record and planning a bunch of mini tours this summer. We’re going all over! STAY THIRSTY

Find Cold Ones at www.myspace.com/coldonesinyergut

South Wales spawned a burst of energy back in 1999 when Dub War exploded onto the scene in the UK. Once the group disbanded, singer Benji and co decided to start a new project, called it Skindred and added Mikey Demus on guitar in replace of Jeff Rose.

Mikey joins Crossfire writer Kelly Renda for this weeks interview.

Hi Mikey, welcome to Crossfire, lets get stuck in…..who are your top 3 musical heros?

I grew up listening to alot of random stuff, not so much rock or metal at an early age, but a lot of punk and alternative stuff.

I think the main reasons I started playing guitar would have to be people like Jimi Hendrix; it didnt seem to me like he was ‘playing an instrument’, it was more like he was wielding some alien force around on stage and all the people looking on were just trying to keep up! He was a total badass, born to do it and in a league of his own. He made it look so easy, it was all off the cuff and never the same thing twice.

Song writing wise, I really dig Elvis Costello, he’s written so many songs that make me think “I wish I’d written that”, he has a natural understanding of melody and articulates amazing feeling with great diction. Plus he always looked so cool, in a really unconventional way.

These days I look up to guitarists who innovate their stage performance without being technical virtuosos; for this reason I think Aaron North (NIN, The Icarus Line, Jubilee) is the man. He shreds with feedback, amazing weird-ass tones and lo-fi noises. Plus I wish I could throw myself around the stage that much and still play the songs, its harder than it looks.

What is the most embarrassing CD in your collection?

I’m glad to say I’m not embarrassed by anything in my CD collection. Any cheesy shit I own, I bought with good reason and put it to good use at some point i’m sure! I’m sure there’s something in there that could be construed as terrible, but hey it could be worse! Thank god I’ve never owned anything like a Gary Glitter record, i’m sure HMV has trouble shifting any of his back catalogue these days. Even the charity shops won’t take them! I’m not speaking from personal experience here, I just have to keep telling myself that ‘Help The Aged’ are keen to also help the under-aged live a decent and Gary Glitter-free life.

Skindred have a band mascot called Mr C, what does the C stand for?

Its a secret that will die with us, I’m afraid. Lets just say that since we liberated him from captivity up in scotland, he has to keep a relatively low profile, and we are all there by his side to protect his anonymity.

I hear that you fancy yourself as a bit of a Gordan Ramsey, what is your favorite concoction to whip up?

He’s the kinda guy a lot of people love to hate so hopefully I’m nothing like him, personality wise… but I do think a lot of his food is good. I like making decent scrambled eggs. Its a really simple thing that so many people do badly. But then it’s all a matter of taste I suppose.

Are there any essentials that always go with you on tour? Apart from your guitars and the boys of course

Not many of us could survive without the trusty laptop. Its a window to the world, and keeps a lot of creative processes flowing on the road. I do a ton of graphics and web design stuff, Dan is well into his electronic music, Benji writes a hell of a lot, lyrics, stories, diaries and stuff. Arya organises a great deal of ongoing touring and band business stuff from his computer too. Other than certain pieces of said technology, we’re all pretty low maintenance.

If you could collaborate with anyone, past or present, who would it be and why?

I would love to just be around to watch Dub Trio write songs. Their music is so inspirational, it taps into so many ideas in my head; it all seems so effortless to them, they’re some of the most competent players i’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing a stage with. I’d also love to be around to see how Sikth write; we both did a record with the same label’s studio and engineer, I’ve heard a lot of stories about how complicated their musical world is. I’d really like a first hand experience into how a song of theirs goes from concept to creation. I also think it would have been really cool to be around when punk and rock was such a new thing, I feel now like so many people try to reinvent the same old stuff, like tried and tested ideas with a younger face or something. Thats what makes me happy about being in Skindred; whether or not you dig it is your call, the great part is I get to tell my grandkids I was part of something that really didn’t sound like much else; and these days not many bands can say the same.

Do you have any party tricks?

I can moonwalk if the floor is suitable and I’m wearing correct footwear. I’m also told I do a convincing dolphin impression.

If you could pick three items to put into Room 101, what would they be and why?

I hate the fact that it costs more to eat organic foods in this country as opposed to stuff packed with additives. Two generations ago, people were told that that would be charged more for foods laced with preservatives that would make a better product, now we’re being made to pay more for the option of going back to the way things should be. I understand that the demand for organic produce is lower, hence the higher cost, but it sucks! If more people were educated about the realities of this, I think that there would be bigger demand for healthier options. So throw what ever you’d call the mass of non-organic produce into Room 101 if it’s possible.

Lazy journalism would have to go in the room I’m afraid; too often do music journalists try to put us in a pigeonhole that I feel is way off target… I suppose those fashionable bands out there are always going to disapprove of being shelved in a genre that doesn’t fit their seasonal taste. As for my band, whilst we’ve toured with far too many spectrally opposite bands from different stylistic backgrounds, we still find that press can be too keen to slap a generic label on a sound that we feel is, well, kinda different. All too often is the ‘Bad Brains‘ tag thrown around carelessly. I have to say, do your homework and try to look past a black guy with dreads singing his guts out… as much as I love that band, the last time i checked they rarely mixed it up, they played punk and reggae separately in their own unique way. I can see why fans of that band see similar qualities in us, maybe in terms of attitude or cultural reference (and hell, i take it as a compliment), but let’s be honest, sonically we sound nothing like them; Daryl Palumbo sounds more like HR than Benji does!

Man that all really sounded like one long rant. I’ll keep it simple from now on. Ok so the last one has to be quite easy, i’ll say band members who get on their high horse and turn what should have been a simple interview into their 15 minutes of fame and over-opinionated noise! So yes, that means I have to dive headfirst into Room 101, shit.

If you could be any piece of clothing, what would you be and who would you belong to?

I would be the cheap, ill-fitting, high-street bought, two-piece suit of every mobile phone salesperson and estate agent in the country, suddenly develop the ability to defy the laws of physics and spontaneously combust; leaving my owner unscathed but with a slight sense of shame and an overwhelming need to spend some real money, seeing as they act as if they have any in the first place. Miaow! God i’m such a complete bitch today, love it.

Do you have any odd interests?

I’m obsessive about typography (fonts and type, etc) and photography. Basically lots of things which end in ‘graphy’. And also architecture. I’m just a bit of a design nerd, I get excited about a certain aesthetic that a lot of people don’t begin to think about.

How do you feel about the font that I have written these questions in? Is there room for improvement?

Well, the font i’m reading this in left alot to be desired. Its a default looking serif font that Windows XP is clearly fond of… I’d have swapped it for Garamond, Century Schoolbook or something a little more sexy, if we’re talking serif fonts. My current sans serif fancies are LiHei Pro and also Korunishi. Otherwise you could talk to me in some Swis 721, or good old fashioned Helvetica. Sad but true. So yeh, back to the drawing board for you i’m afraid.

If you were granted three wishes, would you wish for three more wishes?

If I were dealing with a compassionate genie, then yes; most definitely. If not then probably the obvious three; world peace, an end to suffering, and an actual left handed controller for Guitar Hero III. Who wants to play an upside down Les Paul? I dont. Oh and teleporting, I want someone to invent that already. Ok thats four; yes I’d ask for a couple more wishes.

Black socks or white socks?

Generally black though, I always thought white socks were a bit perverted. I guess it all depends on the scenario… See party tricks above in that case.

You clearly like tattoos, how many do you have now?

Well I suppose I have to say 4 or 5, although they’re all fairly large. One is an entire sleeve; a few subtle ‘He-Man’ characters done in japanese style (by Jason Zigzag). It was my favourite as a kid, yes I’m aware that it’s a completely wooden and arguably homo-erotic cartoon. My other arm is almost totally covered now, i’ve got lots of various religious imagery on my left forearm and a big unfinished traditional piece on my upper arm. Its getting finished on this upcoming tour though, hurrah! The same artist (Kiley Truesoul) did this big traditional piece on my chest, it hurt like a bitch but was well worth it. There’s more to come at some point I’m sure, I’d get stuff done on my hands and neck too if i didn’t think i might have to go get a bank loan one day. Its all part of my master plan to distract people from my morbidly pale skin and misshaped body, ha.

I hear through the grapevine that you mix a mean cocktail. If you were a cocktail, what would you consist of and what would you be called?

It’s true i’m also a trained cocktail bartender. And I mean real cocktails like Old Fashioneds and Caipirinhas, not ‘Sex On The Beach‘ and all that other amateur hour shit, beam me up Scotty! I like a lot of things with bourbon in, the more straightforward and classic looking the better. I like making drinks like I the way I make food; simple things done really well. I like to think that I do consist of a good bourbon, I know for a fact that at least a 5th of me is pure booze. I had a catscan, honest.

Any words of wisdom for our readers?…

We just finished dates with with Bullet For My Valentine this February in the UK and Europe, plus we have lots more other things coming up this year. With the state of the industry and the internet these days, not many people are physically buying records. Everyone from kids to pensioners are downloading music, which is fine by me; But if you do want to support the bands you claim to be a fan of, come to a show and buy a t-shirt or something! It’s the best way to keep a band alive these days.

Roots, Rock and Riots is out now, find Skindred at www.myspace.com/skindred

29.01.08
Interview by Dee Massey

With today’s seemingly disposable flash in the pan bands, it’s a breathe of fresh air to come across an artist whose seems more interested in creating beautifully constructed, intelligently written and simply produced songs that the pomp and glory of the industry.

Hailing from Eastbourne, David Ford is home grown talent at it’s finest. With his second studio album making waves on both sides of the Atlantic, he is one of the few UK artists to crack the US, signing to Columbia in 2004. His annual Milk & Cookies charity tour is one of the most sought after tickets in town, treating the audience to hours of his own tracks and covers, with cameos from other artists including Fran Healey.

His song writing has provoked flattering comparisons to Ryan Adams, Ben Folds, Damien Rice and even the great Bob Dylan to name but a few. His tracks have a dark, brooding resonance to them, creating emotional depths that listeners can identify with – but are they the key to the real David Ford, or merely a brilliant disguise? David took some time out on his current UK tour to chat with Dee Massey about it all, and once thing was for certain, in twenty minutes we barely touched the surface of this talented song writer.

So David, I know you’re on tour at the moment, so whereabouts are you today?

Right now I’m just walking into Sheffield Memorial Hall, a nice little place in Sheffield unsurprisingly!

And how the UK tour going so far?

The tours been going fantastic, it’s been a very pleasant experience! I’ve been playing a lot of nice little, sit down theatres, so it makes it all a lightly more intimate, not so much a rock ‘n roll show, it’s been a bit more of a performance thing.

Sounds good. To go back to basics – you’ve been solo for a few years now, having left Easyworld – what do you prefer, being in a band or going it alone?

I definitely prefer not being part of a band, the whole democracy of being in a band is something I miss, but someone’s always got to be in charge. But at the same time you have this pretence of equality. It always kinda means that creatively you have to compromise in ways that you don’t necessarily feel are justified. I’m glad to not have to do that anymore. Also being solo give you more options – like the kind of show I’m doing at the moment where there’s only three of us on the stage, we get to be a bit more creative in the way we perform the song. The last time I toured there were nine of us in the band, and sometimes I can tour alone. It …keeps it fresh for me, and hopefully for the audiences, so they can come see a show on one tour and come to the next door without seeing the same kind of show.

You’ve had some really flattering comparisons to Ryan Adams, Ben Folds, Tom Wait ad even Jeff Buckley – how do you feel about those kind of comparisons?

I’ve also had some less than flattering comparisons as well! [laughs]

Let’s just forget about those..

Yeah, well I think it probably pays not to take notice to any comparisons at all, I’m not really bothered. People will always try to say one things like another thing when it really isn’t.

So who are your major influences?

I don’t really know what the difference is between stuff that’s influenced me, and stuff I really like. I listen to Tom Waits records pretty much all the time; he’s one of my favourites. I tend to listen to old records; modern music is in a pretty shabby state. I don’t think it’s for a lack of potential talent, I just kinda think the industry is not designed for the production of great work, it’s all part of this very disposable culture that we’ve ended up with, whereby people have a huge hit for one week and then they can go to hell after that. I really like records from the 1970’s because they feel like they have a much more solid foundation, they’re well written and they were built for the right reasons.

Talking about song writing, all your songs seem to have a confessional feeling towards them, do you have a secret formula for writing them?

That’s entirely an illusion, the songs aren’t confessional, they’re not personal – not to me anyway.

But I’m sure there’s plenty of people sitting at home reading huge depths into your lyrics?

Oh no, I mean – I definitely do pore over the lyrics, but it’s not me pouring my heart out, I find that quite vulgar, the thought of that. I do try to write songs to cover the subject matter the best I can. Obviously at some point the songs will have some kind of emotion or intensity I hope, but it’s not necessarily my raw emotions, but hopefully it’s more of a universal human thing that other people can identify with as well. I mean [pauses] there’s no point in writing songs just for myself…. I hope that other people can identify with what I write, otherwise there’s no point in sharing. You might as well just sit in your bedroom and stay there.

When you go into the studio to record, do you have all your songs demoed and ready to roll, or it the recording process a more creative one, where you write as you go?

I write incredibly slowly, and I think I have a very strict quality control regime. I very rarely have that jamming style of writing, where you just come up with stuff and write a song in an afternoon. Most of my tracks take months to create, and even then sometimes I’ll get right to the point of it being finished and I’ll decide I don’t like it anymore and no one will ever hear it [laughs]

A perfectionist! Do you enjoy the recording process, actually being in the studio laying down tracks?

To be totally honest I don’t spend that much time in studios, I prefer to record at home.

So how much of the last album [‘Songs For The Road’] was recorded at home?

I did about half the tracks at home, and then we went into the studio to finish it off, but that was kind of at the behest of my label, who got to the point where they didn’t feel they could trust me to deliver a commercially viable record at home.

So what kind of set up have you got at home? It is all straight to tape and simple, or are you pro-tooled up?

Yeah, I do use pro-tools, but I don’t like to get into all the trickery of it. I essentially use it as a tape machine and editing box, I don’t go crazy with wild plug-ins, I like to keep everything as organic as possible, and use real instruments as opposed to digital things.

I understand you mostly produced it yourself? Would you ever bring in an external producer to oversee a whole album?

We did use a producer for some of the tracks on this album, again, it wasn’t necessarily my idea, and I absolutely hated it. I’m wouldn’t want to be produced again. That’s no detriment to the producer that we used, it’s just not something like I like. Maybe I’m a control freak, I consider it part of my creative remit for making records, I want to have an involvement in the sound of the record.

That said – would you ever want to produce someone else’s record?

I’d love to at some point. I think that could be a really interesting challenge because, not having to be so close to the material, it’d be very different recording and producing someone else. I’m not sure I’d have all the skills to pull that off [laughs]. Essentially the way I produce my stuff is just to record it, and I’m really not interested in trying to get something that sounds great for radio and stuff, and I think the making of a great record just isn’t enough these days – I mean it is for me but not for the industry.

What do you think about bands just releasing material digitally, without a hard format?

I’m a bit of a traditionalist, I like to have a physical thing you can hold in your hand, I like to read the inlay notes, I like to buy records and LPs. But I do think in this day and age it’s useful, it empowers the artist a bit more. It gets to the stage where bands like Radiohead are able to bypass the need to have a record deal and bypass that machine, I mean obviously it’s easy for them because they’re one of the biggest bands in the world and could get away with anything they like [laughs]….but I think it’s good that any decent band with a decent sound is in the position to do their own thing without labels.

Not that it is some horrible big conspiracy, I just think if record labels do find themselves with a fantastic record, I think mostly it’s a happy accident, because mostly they’re trying to find something that they describe as ‘competitive’. I don’t think music is a competition, it’s not a sport, there are no medal ceremonies, you don’t get to win the world cup in song writing, I think good work should be rewarded, I think it’s a great shame that people who actually write music and make records have to consider its commercial potential when they’re doing it rather than just saying I’m to make the best record I can possibly make.

Now I’ve got a few quickfire questions for you, and then I’ll leave you in peace. I hear you got robbed on tour…

Yep, in Philidephia…whilst I was asleep!

Apart from that what was the worst thing to happen on tour?

Well on this tour we’ve have three parking tickets! [laughs] That’s not that bad, but slightly irritating, I’ve not had a parking ticket on tour before and now I’ve had three!

But bad things happen in threes, so least you’re in the clear now! What three essential items do you always take on tour?

Well, I could do the really obvious one like a guitar, a piano and an amplifier…but that’s kinda dull isn’t it? If I’m going over to America, the amount you can take in your luggage and the amount of stuff I need to take just to make the show work means that I literally just take essentials undies and a load of instruments! [laughs]

What’s the most shameful CD that you own?

I have no shame in anything I own, but I’m sure that some people might say that my copy of Face Value by Phil Collins is a little misplaced. It’s a great album! I think in the mid 80’s Phil lost his way somewhat, but I feel his debut effort is an album of great worth…[laughs]

What album should everybody own, apart from Phil Collins obviously..

And mine..

Obviously!

I think Blue Valentine by Tom Waits is a wonderful record. It’s very rewarding once you get past his strange singing voice.

What’s your poison? What’re you drinking when you get off stage?

Well on this tour I’m driving so I’m on the fruit juices at the moment!

Well I was going to ask you what the best hangover cure was..

I can’t really tell you what the best hangover cure is …[laughs]. But obviously it’s a fry up and a cup of tea, it’s tried and tested never fails.

What was the first gig you ever went to?

It was Dire Straits! I was about nine, my dad took me.

Did it help mould you into the songwriter you are today?

You know what, I think it doesn’t hurt! I grew up in a fairly shitty little town, and we weren’t on any gig circuit , we didn’t have cool bands coming to play in our town and I was never really exposed to lots of bands, I grew up in the 80s – I never heard The Smiths ever – but I did hear Dire Straits and Phil Collins [laughs] – in a weird sort of way, I feel it gave me a certain grounding in uncool song writing and I think it’s a valid thing these days, I think there’s a lot of importance placed on being cool as opposed to actually making music of any kind of quality, and songs that actually mean something.

What’s your worst personality trait?

I forget people’s names, the second I meet them I forget their names – it’s not because I’m self important or anything. I’ll meet someone, and they’re say hi, my name is so and so, and the second they’ve said it, it’s gone, and I always have to ask them again. That’s quite a bad trait isn’t it? I’m just forgetful in general, I forget things I’m meant to be doing, I get caught up in particular individual things I’m supposed to be doing and I forget all the other things.

Where would you most like to go on tour?

Well I’ve never been to Japan, and I always quite fancied the idea of Japan. But I feel like I’ve been everywhere else that I wanted to go to. Touring in America is really weird but very enjoyable.

And you’re off on tour of the US again soon?

Yes, I’m going in a couple of weeks, can’t wait!

Well David, thank you so much for taking the time to chat, good luck with the tours – hope to catch a show soon.

It’s been a pleasure!

David Ford’salbum ‘Songs For The Road‘ is out now on Independiente Records – check out www.myspace.com/davidford and www.davidford.mu for all the information.

Since they first toured UK shores with Trivium earlier this year, North Carolina metal crew Sanctity have gone from strength to strength; unleashing a punishing debut album in ‘Road To Bloodshed‘ and proving a surprise highlight of June’s Download festival. The band recently returned to headline their own UK tour, and Alex Gosman caught up with guitarist Zeff Childress shortly before a show at London’s Camden Barfly.

So, your first headline tour of the UK, how’s it going so far?

It’s actually our first headlining tour ever! So we’re really excited about it. This is the third show of the tour, and the first two were great, although we were kinda jetlagged for the first show. Our flight arrived here at 9am, and then we had the first show that same night, and didn’t really get a chance to have any sleep in between. But it was still a blast!

Can you give me a brief history of Sanctity?

Our drummer and I went to school together, we’ve known each other since we were about six or seven years old, and we started getting into bands and stuff, playing together through middle school, and then towards the end of high school we decided to form a metal band. We had actually been a band for a while before we met Jared; we were doing a show at a local college, and he was there watching. We were looking for a singer at the time, because our previous one had just left, and although our guitarist was filling in, he wasn’t doing a great job! So we got talking to Jared, and he came and sang some Metallica covers with us, and joined the band shortly afterwards.

We’ve been through a lot of bass players; and our bassist for this tour is a guy called Brian Stevenson, who was playing with Annihilator when we toured with them and Trivium here, back in April. It worked out great – he learnt our songs in a couple of days, but we’re not sure yet if he’s gonna be able to stick around.

Is there a good metal scene in NC, or did you form because you were bored of lack of good music?

I would definitely say the latter! The metal scene of Ashville is pretty much just us and a couple of other bands. It’s kinda funny, because after this tour is finished, we’re going home to do a local show with a couple of those bands – just because we like to do hometown shows – and it’s going to be at a venue about the same size as this place. Hopefully we’ll get a good crowd!

So how did the Trivium tour go? It was amazing, we had a blast! Everyone became friends, and when we got to the venues, we’d hang out and jam together, and have a good time. If there was enough time before soundcheck, we’d go and wander around the city for a while, and take pictures…it was a great time. We’ve been friends with Trivium for a while – Corey [Trivium guitarist] came down to Asheville one Christmas and hung out for a while, he has family there.

The Download show was just crazy – I remember looking out into the crowd as we came onstage, and the whole tent was packed, it was incredible!

You’ve been described as thrash band, but have a melodic side too; who are your influences – or your favourite bands?

It’s just all over the place, really – we like classic thrash bands like Metallica, Megadeth and Testament, and then we also like more melodic stuff like In Flames, and the whole Swedish metal scene. As for modern bands…Dragonforce and Killswitch Engage are cool, and we listen to all sorts of other stuff too.

The album is called ‘Road To Bloodshed‘ – how come? Is that indicative of the overall theme of the album?

We picked that name because it kind of represented where we were as a band; we’d just got signed, and we’re still like a baby band – so we’ve started on the ‘Road To Bloodshed!’

What makes you happy and sad/pissed off?

When it comes to a show environment, we’re at our happiest when we’re onstage – we always have a blast. It’s all the other stuff that touring involves that sucks; for example, we’re riding in a van right now, and it has regular seats, so we can’t really lie down to sleep or anything.

Living on the road can be tough, although it’s easier over here than in the States, because the drives between venues aren’t as long. We’ve done several US tours, and once we drove from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington – that was about 1600 miles, and took us at least one and a half days to get there. But that’s just how it has to be, and we do try and get a hotel room every few days, because sleeping in the van gets you kind of stinky!

Are you guys a hard-partying band, or do you need to chill out offstage in order to destroy onstage?

A bit of both, really; because although we will hang out and party after shows if we can, we don’t always have the time. We usually do our own driving, and when we were touring on the US Gigantour, we often had to leave for the next venue before [headliners] Megadeth had even started playing – because the drives were so long. But we do like to chill and hang out with fans when we get the chance.

So what are your plans for the near future, after you’re finished in the UK?

Well, we’ve got a couple of bids in for tours in 2008, but this UK tour is gonna be our last for this year, because our singer [Jared MacEachern] is about to have a baby. So we’ve got most of November and December off, and we’re gonna try to get some new songs done during the down-time. Say, about five songs, to give ourselves a head start for when we start recording our new album. We’d like to come back to do Download again, but we’ll have to wait and see on that one!

[‘Road To Bloodshed‘ is out now on Roadrunner Records. Check www.sanctityweb.com for more info]

Some people are just meant to end up in the music industry, Young*Husband singer/songwriter Euan Hinshelwood is definitely one of those people. Growing up in house filled with music, he was lulled to sleep each night by the dulcet tones of psychedelic rock, grunge, John Lennon or even experimental dance music, and left their mark on the young musician.

Still only 20 years old, Euan has been in numerous garage bands, starting off with CCTV, then onto Noble Wilson, Kenton & Clarke (a folk outfit) and finally onto The New Shapes, a band who made a name for themselves with their eclectic brand of punk and indie.

Dee Massey dragged Euan away from reading an Elliot Smith interview for a few minutes to find out what Young*Husband’s all about..

Firstly, thanks very much for taking the time to have a chat.

That’s alright!

Now, we don’t know an awful lot about you – so can you introduce yourself?

Well, I go under the name of Young*Husband, and it’s usually just me playing, but sometimes its with a band but they’re all in other bands [eg Emmy The Great] so it’s usually just me playing on my own.

You were in quite a few bands before Young*Husband, so what was behind your decision to go solo?

Well the last band I was in split up for numerous reasons, and I’d always written and recorded my own songs so I thought it was maybe a good time to start taking it all a bit more seriously.

And do you prefer it on your own?

I kinda do prefer it on my own, but I miss having the noise of a band, and that launch into a noisey gig but hopefully that’ll all come in time. Although I do play acoustically some of my main influences are heavy American rock and indie from the early 90s, like Dinosaur Junior and people.

Talking of influences, what bands are you really into? What’s your main inspiration?

I truly like American music, like Elliot Smith, Dinosaur Junior and Pavement, bands like that. So it’s quite a conflicting mix of genres – like I like the Beach Boys as well so it’s just annoying when I’m playing and I want to hear noise, but all I’ve got is my acoustic guitar.

But the noise will come!

Yeah [laughs] the noise will come one day!

Right, so you’re releasing your first single on Culturedeluxe, how did that single deal come along?

It’s weird actually, my best friend’s girlfriend started a new job and one of her colleagues had this label, and we just met for random drinks, and I introduced myself as a singer/songwriter and he got round to listening to it about 3 or 4 months later, and sent me an email saying ‘sorry it took so long to listen to it, I quite like it…want to do a single?!’ And was like…ok!

[laughs]

A good lesson in perseverance! And did you rerecord it for the single or just remix?

We re-recorded parts of it, because we’d recorded it about a year ago and it was a bit of a rusty demo, so we put some drums on it and re-did the vocals.

And who engineered it for you?

A guy called Pete Baker, at the Bakery…[laughs]

And do you enjoy the recording process?

I love it. It’s one of my favourite things. I’ve got a studio at home, just a little studio in my bedroom, kinda got all this old equipment and I find it amazing how much a song can change in the recording process, it goes from sitting on your living room floor writing a song to taking it into the studio and changing it completely…

Are you a great believer of digital and pro-tools or are you an analogue fan?

Well, I’m not anal about it. I’ve got an analogue 8 track, and that’s what I record on. But digital definitely has it’s benefits, I can transfer analogue into digital afterwards and play around with it.

Am I right in thinking you’re releasing your single on download only? What do you make of the whole digital revolution, do you prefer digital or good old 7″ singles..

Yeah..well I love 7″, and I’ve never really bought CD singles but I have bought 7″, I would’ve liked to have released the single on 7″ but Culturedeluxe were a small label before called Prank Monkey, and they were like a bootleg label. They released a few things but this was their fresh start, so I guess I’m like their first proper release.

You’re their guinea pig ..

Yeah [laughs] and I think they just wanted to do something that wasn’t going to break the bank for them, but I’d love to release a 7″ with maybe a code in it that meant you could download it form iTunes as well or something..

Have you got any follow up singles planned? What’re your hopes for the next few months?

Oooh I don’t know really. It depends how this goes. It might be that I release another single but I think it’ll probably be an EP, and record it all at home.

And how would you describe your sound to someone that’s never heard you?

It’s made up of…um…well I don’t want to describe it as lo-fi cos I don’t really think it is…but…it’s kind of like psychedelic acoustic indie scuzz [laughs]

I think that’s a whole new genre – NME will trademark it!

Yeah [laughs]

Where would be your dream venue?

Dream venue? Probably…I suppose The Astoria, just because it’s going to be shut down so I’ll probably never get the chance to play there, but it would have to be there, The Astoria.

Better get in quick! What’s your most played CD at the moment?

Oooh wait a minute, I am looking at it just now…it’s probably ‘The Madcap Laughs‘ by Syd Barrett.

What album changed your life?

It was XO by Elliot Smith.

What’s the most embarrassing CD you’ll admit to owning? Come clean!

Um…probably it has to be..This really band bad in the mid to late 90s called 3T – remember them? They were three young guys doing really bad RnB [laughs] and the worst thing was that day in the shop I couldn’t decide between 3T and Celine Dion..[laughs]

You should be ashamed!

I know, I know …it’s bad! But I redeemed myself, I got Bob Marley The Legend album a week later.

You saw the light and recovered..

Yeah!

So what’s been the most embarrassing thing to happen to you on stage?

Probably when I was in the New Shapes, I was a bit of a youngster, I fell down to quite a few clichés of being in a rock band, and we were playing at Kings College, at a freshers ball. I got really drunk before we went on stage and I had a bass amp that had wheels on it, so in the last song I decided to sit on my bass amp and wheel myself off across the stage. It wasn’t embarrassing then…but God it was embarrassing the next day when I sobered up.

And lastly, what do you want for Christmas!

I’ve seen these little hoover things right…and it’s a robot hoover, with a little disc, it has incredible sensors in it and it can sense dirt, so you just basically press go and leave it in the room, come back half an hour later and it’s all hoovered. So that is what I’d like!

Well if you’ve been a good boy, I’m sure Santa will bring it to you. Thanks for taking the time to chat Euan, good luck with the single!

Cheers!

For further info on Young*Husband check out www.myspace.com/younghusbandmusic

The debut single ‘Could They Be Jealous‘ is available to download now!

2007 has been a crazy year for Watford punks Gallows. In January they graced the cover of Kerrang! Magazine and were given the title of Best British Newcomer from the same mag. Gigs have been selling out all over the country and they recently traveled the world only to return home to find out that Frank had been nominated as number 1 on the NME Cool List!

The roller coaster of chaos continues to this very interview. 10 minutes after these words went down, Zac and Frank were confronted by a maniac threatening to stab them both in Portobello road. Interview off the cuff and all photo’s by Zac Slack.

So, come on then, tell us where have you been of late?

I’ve been er..I’ve been all over the world actually. I’ve been to 100 states in the US that were not worth visiting

(There is only 50….) haha!

Only 50 is there?! Ha! I don’t care. Well, I’ve been to half the States that were worth visiting and a ton that weren’t. I’ve been to Australia, New Zealand, i’ve been to Japan, most of main land Europe. All over the UK – again. So we’ve been busy man, we’ve been covering as much ground as we can.

You’re not on tour right now, usually you’re on tour 24/7. Why have you split from the Taste Of Chaos tour in Europe?

Technically we are supposed to be on tour right now. It got to a point where everyone was getting really sick and my Brother managed to contract bronchitis and he has asthma really really bad so it’s the kinda thing that for most people is just a bad cough, but for him it can land him in the hospital with really serious repercussions. We asked everyone and everyone else was fucked as well. Everyone’s ill, everyones sick, everyone wanted to go home.

Craig (manager) came out to see us in Cologne, took one look at us and said “You’re going home“. He actually sent us home that night. Turns out when we get back, Lags has got flu and Lee has fractured a rib!

So you were in pretty bad shape then?

Well yeah, usually me and Stuart get it, but Stuart’s blood is made of JD anyway. Nothing can survive inside of him! So yeah, I am the only one that is healthy.

You’ve had your fair share of accidents as a band, can you give us the top 5?

Ok, I will start with number 5 which was the weakest but probably the most deadly. We were playing with The Explosion in Metros and while playing the first song I was head banging and I managed to tear a muscle behind my ear, over my right shoulder, effectively giving myself whip lash. It was killing me and I was was trying to man up but I was in agony and as soon as the gig finished I was just sitting like Robo-cop against the wall thinking i’ve got to go home, I can’t move and the next day I woke up and I couldn’t move! When I got home that night, I thought, I’m going to bed, I’m not good and I walked straight in my bathroom and looked in the mirror, my head was at an actual angle. I was flipping out, I thought I had broken my neck or something. It’s pretty scary to look in the mirror and see your head un-hinged. I went straight into my mums rooms and said “Do I look weird to you?” and she was like “Why are you wonky?“, so she drove me to casualty and they told me I had whip lash. The muscle had torn and contracted and then frozen!

They didn’t believe that you had done it at a gig did they? They thought it was a car accident?

This is the thing right, the next day I wake up and I couldn’t move, so I went to the doctors. The nurse at the hospital the night before just said take it easy and take some Ibruprofen . I can’t take them, they fuck my stomach up. So I went to the doctors to try and get some gel or something. I walk in and sit down and he basically didn’t want to know.

He was convinced that I had been in a car accident and then wanted to see my drivers license. So I told him, I don’t have one because I wasn’t in a car accident. At one point he was going to call the police, because he was so dead cert that I had nicked a car, gone joy riding, crashed it, given myself whip lash and here I am coming in two days later complaining. I was like dude, call my mum, she’ll tell you! He still wasn’t convinced and kept asking what I had done to do this….I told him, I was head banging! He was asking what head banging was and I told him I can’t fucking show you, I can’t move my fucking neck!

Number 4….

Mike from The Bled wanted to do a song with us on the last night they were on tour with us so he jumped on half way through “In The Belly Of a Shark“. Well, one minute Lee was there and the next thing, I just see him Super Man into the crowd! We didn’t actually find out until we got home. So he was drumming with a fractured rib for about a week and a half.

Number 3….

Number 3 would probably be me again. I broke my own nose. We were on stage at the Hammersmith Apollo with Bullet For My Valentine tour and the kids just weren’t getting it. So I was head banging again and put my foot up on a monitor and managed to break my own nose on my knee. It was really bad, I looked up and could feel it swelling and my eyes were streaming, but there was no blood? I popped it back in later that night.

Number 2….

Number 2 would be my brother. Stuart hit him with his bass guitar in Brighton. We were playing an NME gig. It was the first song – again! He got a tuning peg behind his ear and got a 1 inch deep gash behind his head and he got concussion. He was saying ” I’m cool man i’m cool”. Then he turns around and he has got pretty much a fanny on his head! We were telling him he needed to go to hospital and get some stiches, but he wouldn’t, so he put one of those little blue kitchen plasters on and off he went. 30 seconds into the second song he was in the crowd with blood pissing out of his head. It was funny man, all these indie kids were leaning back so they didn’t get blood on them! He finished the entire set.

Number 1….

Number 1…I ripped my finger nail off in Bristol and for a long long time I had a video of it on my phone, maybe I still have it, I will try and blue tooth it to you later!
I wrapped it up and carried on with the show, when I get back to the hotel I take a look and I had lobbed a chunk of my finger off and I could see the base of the nail. I went to the hospital, they injected my finger 6 times because it was so swollen. They pulled the nail off and then put it back on and wrapped it up. 2 days later i’m in agony, I haven’t slept….They used to torture people by putting bamboo shoots up your nails, you’d be suprised how bad it is. Anyway, I go to the doctors and he undresses it and my whole finger is pretty much black, it just looks like a cherry. He squeezed my hand at the first knuckle and from under my nail just runs yellow and fills something the size of an egg cup with puss. It felt so good, he pricked it with a pin.

So Rudeboi’s….

It’s not emo, fuck off!

So, whats the deal with Bizzle?

He is really down to earth, he knows where he is coming from so he is really appreciative of what he has got and what he has going on. We just recorded a video with him and we are off to the studio to record a session with Zane Lowe next week.

Are there more collaborations with Bizzle to come?

Erm, we are just putting this out for the time being, having some fun. Playing Rudeboi’s live is my favourite because he goes mad, he loses his shit and stage dives. He is a big boy, so all the people in the front row are like “Please!..” But he doens’t give a fuck. As for collaborations, I don’t know, we need to write a new record first.

Whats the deal with that then, have you written anything on the road?

No, nothing…

Is it all secret?

No, not at all, no secrets, there is fuck all. There is talk of us going into the studio to write the next single. It’s a bit fucking daunting going in to write your next single. No pressure! It’s alot of fucking pressure, just to go in and knock out your next singIe. We know it will be a fucking great song though. We’ve all been waiting so long and are so excited about writing again. Last time we went in we wrote Black Heart Queen and I love that song. A really good new direction, so I am looking forward to seeing where its going.

Ok, there is an obvious question thats happened recently, obviously we’ve been a bit closer than most to it…but Frank is the coolest person in the UK, is this true?

I didn’t even know it was going to happen. I went to the photo shoot with James. I was told it would be worth my while, so I went along…but as everyone knows i’m not a big fan of the NME. It was a big fucking deal for me to go down there and I was supposed to steal the Dior suit that I wore and I didn’t.

You didn’t take it?

I know, I was fucking gutted. Usually there is loads of people rushing around but at this shoot there was only about 4. I didn’t even bring a fucking bag. I was really pissed with myself y’know, but whatever, I did the shoot and the photos looked good.

They’ve been waiting a while for the picture with you with your tattoos out and your top off….

Yeah, they dropped 4 features on us because I wouldn’t do it.

What made you decide to do the photo in the end?

Just for James. I personally couldn’t give a fuck about being anywhere in the ‘Cool List‘, but without him and you, our band wouldn’t be where it is today and I whole heartedly believe that.

People don’t appreciate how much goes into press and promo. James would never make us do anything we didn’t want to do, but he said it could be big for us. Big for Punk. Even if I was in the top 5, it would be big for us. So I did it and we fucking won it.

Looking back, how do you think you guys have made a difference to hardcore?

I don’t think we have made a difference to be honest. Although saying that hardcore had kind of collapsed in on itself and that was part of the reason we weren’t excepted as a hardcore band and that is exactly why I think we have got where we are now, because no one wanted us and we said you’re going to listen whether you fucking like it or not. I would like to think that is had brought attention to the fact that you can still play 3 chords and it can still be good and interesting.

Look out for Gallows album ‘Orchestra Of Wolves‘ out now, see more at www.gallows.co.uk

Shy Child have been blazing a trail through the music landscape throughout 2007 with their Noise Won’t Stop record touring with the likes of Klaxons and Muse and making people throw shapes like it was going out of fashion at Reading, Leeds and Bestival.

Aaron Coe caught up with them recently to talk about all this Shy. Check it:

First of all, How are you guys?

Pete: (Laughs) Yeah, I’m good. How are you?

I’m really good thanks.

Nate: I like that, I appreciate that as a first question. I won a bet with the sound man that foxes were closer to dogs than cats.

Sound man: Its not been proven yet by the way.

I don’t know, I think it’s more cat.

Pete: (Laughs) But it’s so obvious, how could he think that.

Nate: He was told when he was a kid in school.

Pete: Look at it, it looks like a dog.

Nate: I can see why people think it looks like a cat, maybe.

Pete: But it doesn’t look like a cat. It has a long snout like a dog.

Nate: (laughs) Anyway, lets continue.

What was it like working with Paul Epworth as a producer as he has a lot of big bands under his belt?

Pete: Paul was great, we did a couple of tracks with him and it was awesome. I think he has earned his teak as one of those guys, as he is really talented at what he does. He’s so good at building a song and making it work. He has an ear for guitar sounds obviously but secretly he’s really good at getting keyboards to sound sharp and rocking. I think that was some of the best stuff we did.

Nate: Yeah, I was little nervous before we did it but he’s really loose in the studio. If he gets an idea he just gos with it.

You played with Muse at Wembley, how did you go about that, did you change your setup at all?

Pete: No, we didn’t change anything. Nothing, what you’re seeing on this stage is the exact same setup we had at Wembley.

You also played at Fashion Rocks where you were introduced by Samuel L Jackson and you had models playing musical chairs to Drop The Phone, what was that like?

Pete: Fucking awesome. To have Sam Jackson say the name of your band. Were thinking about sampling that on the next record (Laughs). The models were hot, simple pleasures really. It was pretty ridiculous the whole thing.

Nate: I didn’t really even notice the models as I was concentrating on not fucking up, it was a pretty cool experience.

You have a very complete sound with just the two of you, do you ever think about bringing in another instrument?

Pete: We did think about, we work with other people in the studio a lot. Sometimes we get our friend to play saxophone in New York. He plays some cheesy sax solos over our stuff. But it works a lot better just the two of us. The configuration of the band, its fast, we can write songs fast. We don’t need to schedule a load of practises with 9 people, we’ll call each other up and be like “Can you do it?” and that’s it.

Is your first time in Cambridge?

Nate: No we played in that, what’s that weird place called…?

The Junction?

Pete: Yeah, its pretty scary place (Laughs), we played with The Little Ones. I’ve had a look around though, just got back, it looks cool, wish I had more time here really. I love the uni vibe, it’s really attractive to me. Smartly dressed woman .”I’m late for my class” (Pete does in posh British girl’s accent) Girls on bikes, for me a girl on a bike is all I need to see.

Now you have signed to Wall Of Sound, are you living in the UK or do you still base everything out of New York?

Pete: We’ve lived in London since April, but we’ve moved out our flat and living on the road for the time being. Home for the holidays.

Nate: It’s been really fun actually, were going back to New York at the end of this tour. I like it here, I wouldn’t mind staying here but it’s really expensive for us. Like in London I can get a good coffee for £3 but then I realise, shit that’s $6.

What are the plans after the holidays?

Pete: Writing. After this tour is done we are gonna go into the studio and make an awesome record hopefully.

How did Shy Child come together?

Pete: We went to university together and played in a bunch of bands together. After school we both moved to same neighbourhood in New York and randomly, just for fun started playing in Nate’s bedroom. We just never stopped, it grew and grew into where we are now.

Do you miss playing the Super System songs?

Pete: Yeah I miss playing those songs, of course I do, we had some really good songs. Totally miss it.

What are your biggest musical influences, are there any artists people wouldn’t expect to be in your record collection?

Pete: I have so much weird shit on my iPod. Let me read what’s on my iPod…I’m a very track based listener, I don’t really listen to an artist or an album, just individual tracks. Kraftwork, Jay Z, Frank Sinatra,The Fat Boys, Elvis, Dr Dre. The list goes on.

When you first started, did you play any covers because I can’t imagine you playing any covers?

Pete: We played a Devo cover, they’re like a very Nu Wave band from the early 80’s.

The press you have received for the album has been really good, were you surprised about how well it has done?

Pete: I haven’t really read that many reviews but i guess I’m surprised, I’m always surprised when people like our sounds, it’s such a great feeling to make something and people want to see our band. It’s awesome.

Out the both of you who would win in a fight?

Pete: I would fucking destroy Nate. First I’d go with the elbow, then drop the elbow, then knee to the groin, then the leg drop.

Nate: Well if it Pete and I up against another duo we’d clean up. Like Wham!, me and Pete against Wham!.

No one could lose to Wham! though.

Tour manager: What about JT and Timberland?

Nate: Timberland would kick both our asses by himself.

And on that note, you can check Shy Child out at www.shychild.com and www.myspace.com/shychildmusic

With so many fresh new bands battling for recognition in the cut throat gig world, Badge of Friendship are a breathe of fresh air.

Music aficionados Claire and Paul have built on their love of music to become live music promoters who are dedicated to fighting the corner for unsigned, exciting new bands, giving them a chance to get out there and get heard.

With an every growing fan base, the hardworking duo have put on some awesome nights this year, topped by the innovative DIY Festival in July. Dee Massey brings you this report from the underground.

So firstly, introduce yourselves.

Claire & Paul: Hello! We are Claire and Paul i.e. A BADGE OF FRIENDSHIP – gig promoters based in London town.

You started off running the ‘zine ‘Broken Violin‘ – how did you make the jump from ‘zine to promoter? What exactly is Badge of Friendship, how did it all come about?

Claire: It was quite easy to go from writing a ‘zine to being a promoter because some contacts had already been made with bands and things, but I personally find promoting more enjoyable. Broken Violin was fun to do but I essentially wanted to do something that turned heads and really got bands noticed and so when I met Paul that’s when we started A Badge of Friendship. A Badge of Friendship is the name we use when promoting gigs in London and the aim is to put on really cool nights that bring about some sort of “community spirit” amongst the bands and fellow music lovers in the underground music scene. We want to get people excited about live shows again!

Paul: It was never really our intention to do the ‘zine on a long term basis. We love live music so much that it seemed like a natural progression to move into promoting. It was also something we wanted to do because we felt there wasn’t enough of the type of bands that we like playing. So, instead of complaining about the live music scene from the comfort of our own home, we decided to try and influence it directly.

Your first night was the awesome Barfly show with Hell is For Heroes, Sucioperro and Silicon Vultures – how did you get involved with Captains of Industry to put that show together?

We had gotten to know Ben Myers through our friends, who are in Biffy Clyro. I grew up with them and toured with them for a while (doing various jobs) and subsequently met HIFH on one of those tours a while back (it all sounds a bit incestuous!). All of us have a similar ethos, and as a result decided to put on the best show possible, with a cool label high on integrity, cool bands and, quality DJ-ing.

We’ve actually been promoting for about 3 years now but our first night at The Barfly was with HIFH. This was our biggest show to date and it was so much fun. We’ve got many mutual musical friends and just started talking about helping each other out and promoting the label and basically having an excuse to party!

The DIY Festival was a huge success, what was behind the idea for that, and tell us a little about it.

Claire: There are so many festivals that are just bullshit and boring. The same bands play the same places and it just becomes a showcase for talentless drivel that doesn’t show you anything new. So we both decided we would just put on all the bands we love at our own festival. It was a great chance for small labels, bands and music fans to meet up, exchange CDs, drinks and chat! We so many nice people during the festival and received many awesome comments afterwards. It was such a brilliant chance for smaller bands to play to different folk.

Paul: Yeah, the whole day just had great vibes, with everyone enjoying the music and the company. That is really what we try to purport – good vibes, good music, good people – and I think we managed to achieve it with the DIY Festival. Also, it was an attempt to do something different from most of the big summer festivals and to at least give people an alternative option. So, we decided to go up against Live Earth and T in the Park, just to give ourselves a bit of a challenge! Ha ha.

You champion younger unsigned bands – who should we be looking out for in the future?

Paul: There are so many unsigned and underground bands out there – the scene is vibrant at the moment. People should check out Limn, Silent Front, One Unique Signal, Zettasaur, The Furious Sleep, Elks, Restlesslist… That is just a few and only encompasses these shores.

Claire: The scene at the moment is absolutely brimming with talented bands. Look out for They Died Too Young if you’re into your alt-rock noisy stuff. They are a brilliant live band and the loveliest boys you’ll ever meet. YouMeTheSwitch are also great. They’ve played for us a few times now and are outstanding. There are so many though – check out our myspace top friends to see who we’re listening to at the moment. It’s hard to name a favourite – we love them all!

What’re you hopes and plans for Badge of Friendship?

Claire: We obviously want to progress and become slightly bigger, branch out and put on bigger bands so we can get our favorite smaller acts on the bill as well. We’d also like to take ABoF to various festivals and things and possibly do another DIY Festival because it was lots of fun, hard work but worth it! There are other things going on too, but we don’t want to give too much away at this point – you’ll have to watch this space!

Paul: If we can get to a point where we can put on bands from all over the world that we truly love and include the bands we have had the privilege to work with so far, then that would be perfect. Also, if we can develop and enhance the scene and give smaller, more diverse bands the opportunity to grow and help reinvigorate the music scene on a wider scale.

As promoters, what are your pet hates about gig nights?

Claire: This is an easy one… HIRE FEES! If you want a decent venue then the hire fees are sky-high and it’s difficult to make back expenses and things. Then there’s the flip side of doing gigs in cheaper venues where the sound is rubbish or it’s in a crap location etc etc… For smaller promoters, it’s just a pain to pay so much money out to do one single gig and if you make a huge loss it can be really dis-heartening. We’re trying to put smaller, unknown bands in more commercial venues because we’re now finding that despite the expense, random punters become intrigued and actually end up paying to watch the bands which is great news. Apart from that everything else is peachy. Doing gigs is what we love!

Paul: Having to deal with the odd (and they are odd) disingenuous individual circling like vultures coming in to mess with our shit! As I said before, we just want to create an enjoyable evening for the bands, the punters, the venue staff and ourselves, so it can be quite dis-heatening when people aren’t there for the right reasons.

What’s been your favourite Badge of Friendship night?

Paul: There are a few that spring to mind: a Gringo records evening a few years back where it was packed and we had the likes of Lords and Bilge Pump rockin’. This gig actually made us realise that we were on the right path and promoting was probably somthing we could do. Also, when we put on one of our favourite bands from the last couple of years Riddle of Steel. We subsequently discovered another band who they were touring with – Roma 79 – who were also superb. These were the first bands from The States we had put on, which was apt, as this was the country which probably shaped our musical taste more than any other.

Claire: The gig that sticks out for me at the moment was An Emergency, They Died Too Young, Jesus Knives, Geordi La Force and Cinemechanica quite recently at The Fly. This was a 5 band bill! We put on Cinemechanica last minute as they were touring the UK (they are from Georgia, USA) and one of their shows had been cancelled. It ended up being a really busy night and every single band was really well received; everyone from the crowd to the bar staff loved all of the bands. What a night, good vibes all round. Cinemechanica said that it was one of the best shows they’ve done here and in the USA! What a compliment.

What’s in the pipeline?

Claire: As I said before, I think doing bigger shows, working with different labels and things. We’ve been talking about a label at some point but there are so many great underground labels out there (Captains of Industry, Gringo, Big Scary Monsters, Ascetic…) that it would be hard to compete with such quality! Never say never though… There are just so many great bands out there that need to be signed! And yes, a few more things… Top secret though! Crossfire will be one of the first to know!

Paul: Gigs, gigs, gigs! We are putting on a Dischord band called Antelope on Saturday 10th November, and then Meet Me In St. Louis and Bee and Flower next month. So, quite varied nights if anyone fancies a night on the tiles.

What tips have you got for people who want to put on their own nights?

Paul: Stick to your principals, maintain your integrity and follow your heart. If you do that, your in with a shout because it will be real and not transparent or cliched.

Claire: You need a lot of patience, be a genuine, an excellent communicator and have an absolute burning passion for the music scene and bands you are trying to promote. We’ve heard a lot of bands say they’ve had nightmare promoters just put shows together to make a quick buck or not even turn up at all! It’s very hard to make money from promoting shows so it should just always be about the bands first and foremost. The bands should always be happy and never let them see how stressed you really are!

What would be your dream line up for a Badge of Friendship night?

Claire: Oooh, I like questions like this but it’s too difficult to choose just one line up. I’ll just say some of the bands I’d like to put on! Les Savy Fav, Trans Am, Faraquet, Shellac and Slint are amongst some of my all time favourites. There are a plethora of amazing unsigned bands we could put on the bill to support them as well.

Paul: Really difficult – I could probably name about 5 different line-ups. Here goes though: let’s start with an atmospheric band like American Football, followed by the rockin’ Faraquet, a side order of their label fathers Fugazi, and finishing with a big show from Mew. Oh I forgot Burning Airlines and Braid and Shiner and…

For further information on Badge of Friendship nights check out www.myspace.com/abadgeoffriendship

Aaron Coe managed to find time to chat to frontwoman Becky Ninkovic of Canadian dance-punk collective You Say Party! We Say Die! at their Cambridge show this week. See what she had to say about biker gangs, touring and the internet’s role in band success.

Aaron: Im sure you get asked the question, where does the band name come from more than any other question, did you pick that name so you could get a lot of hassle for it?

Becky: (Laughs) Well basically at the time of forming the band it wasn’t about being a legitimate band, it was more about getting together, making up songs and playing music for ourselves. So when it come the time of picking a band name, for a long time we picked really silly band names. We’d joke around and be different names all the time. One of them was “The Clap”. So when we picked YSP! WSD! it was around the time we did our first show, we had to pick one name so we stuck with YSP! WSD! It was kinda what we envisioned for our show before we played it. We’d come on and sand shout YSP! and our friends would shot back WSD! But we all individually come up with our own meanings but theres no one exact reason why we chose it, theres no universal deep meaning.

Aaron: Are you sick about being asked about it?

Becky: (Laughs) Yes. Its definitely the number one thing were asked. But its good that so many people asked because for a long time we didn’t know how to answer it.

Aaron: I suppose it gets you a little more attention?

Becky: Yeah, it really helped when we played at SXSW in Texas for the first time. It was the year of the weird band name and so people were coming to check us out just because we were one of the weird band names. I think the music world goes through these trends with names and genres. For us, when we were just starting to tour we didn’t realize just how much we were a part of that and so it really caught us unaware.

Aaron: I read that you formed from an old bike gang called the Smoking Spokes. Is there any truth in that or is it some sort of Wikipedia myth?

Becky: (Laughs) No it’s true. Do you have something called critical mass over here?

Aaron: I don’t know, I don’t think so.

Becky: Its like, when you take over the streets on your bikes, holding up traffic, kinda like a political protest on car traffic (Laughs). One of our first shows we made some patches and spraypainted on t shirts with “Smoking Spokes”. At this point it was like are we Smoking Spokes or are we YSP! WSD!, It didn’t even really matter, it more about the movement and the gathering together of music.

Aaron: Ive been looking at your tour schedule and you’ve been pretty busy since august, you’ve got some shows in Europe coming up, are you glad to be getting back to Canada just in time for Christmas?

Becky: Very glad to be home for Christmas. This is the longest tour we’ve ever attempted, usually we go for 2 months at a time so this is double that. Its not nearly as hard as i thought it would be, I’m also a lot healthier than i used to be. Ive quit a lot of things and i focus on nutrition a lot more and treat my body better. So for me the shows don’t feel monotonous anymore, so every night feel i have a chance to rock out with new people, dance and have a good time. So its definitely been a really exciting tour in that way for me, i think individually were all finding new ground on stage in our performances.

Aaron: What are your plans for next year, are you going to start writing or tour a little more?

Becky: Writing is going to be our priority. We are definitely going to keep touring, its going to be more spread out. We really want to put as much time and energy, blood sweat and tears into our third album. We don’t even know yet how its going to look but with our first and second albums as much as we are proud of them they were rushed pieces of work.

Aaron: Why were they rushed?

Becky: Different things, firstly we always had a really small budget and so time wise in the studio is always limited. So we’re trying to plan that out in advance so that we have a good budget to work with. And we had a tour sponsored by a national Canadian magazine and they put a lot of pressure on us so that it lined up with the tour. Like listening back to the songs now, theres little bits where we think “maybe we would change that now” and noticing little things where if we had a little bit more time to stew we would do things differently.

Aaron: Do you change the songs when you play them live then?

Becky: Yeah, they’re really different now, well not obviously different but definitely in the way I sing them, the way in which Derek plays his guitar and Devon’s adds more complicated things into the beat. Were all evolving because were playing night after night. Its the same with anything, practice makes perfect. Some of the songs were still really fresh at the time of recording, now night after night they’re becoming really refined.

Aaron:You’ve become pretty big on the internet, would you say that Myspace had a big part in that role?

Becky: For us definitely. The internet’s really great for bands, it allows us to have a much better connexion with our fans. Like before you would buy the bands vinyl, and then go to their show and by chance got them to sign it, that was a huge thrilling experience. Now you go onto Myspace or Facebook and leave comments and have the bands write you back. So thats really great.

Aaron: Did you expect that both your albums have done this well and that you’d be able to play all over Europe of the back of it?

Becky: No, not at all. I still have moments when I’m sitting in some bedroom and cant believe I’m here, its really cool.

Aaron: Is your first time in Cambridge?

Becky: No, we played here….(thinks). Last year, May. In the Soul Tree.

Aaron: So have you had a chance to look around Cambridge, how do you like it?

Becky: Yeah, Last time we were here we got to walk around a lot more. I like it.

Aaron: The tour is nearly over now, have you had a good time in the UK?

Becky: This is been our favorite time in the UK. Its our fifth time here and its leaps and bounds above all the rest, I’m even starting to speak with an English accent. (Laughs) I’m becoming English.

www.yousaypartywesaydie.ca