SHOWS US HIS NEW COMIC KINGDOM!

10 YEARS OF

SLAM
DUNK
SOUVENIR PULL-OUT INSIDE!

REVIEW
OVERLOAD!
X LONELY THE BRAVE X
X ELECTRIC WIZARD X
XLESS THAN JAKE X
XCHRIS CORNELL X
XLACUNA COIL X

ANDY
THE BLACK AAA AT
HIS A-LIST
DEBUT

PLUS
WOMEN
CHANGING
OCK ISSUE NO 1620

FOREVER!
MAY 21 2016 / £2.50 AUS: $7.50

WWW.KERRANG.COM
 ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 20
16
HELLO, READERS, and welcome to this very
exciting edition of Kerrang!. Exciting because
it’s a joy to welcome AgainstThe Current to
the cover of Kerrang! for the very first time.
Very exciting because they’re a band the
Kerrang! office have been fans of since the
first time we stumbled upon them on YouTube. Now
watch them soar! And that’s not all. Because, on p4, we’ve
got news on the megastar act that will be playing the 2016
Kerrang! Awards. I can’t believe we’ve managed to pull that off!
Have you got your tickets yet? Wait, you
haven’t? Woah, woah, what are you doing?
You don’t want to miss out, right? Okay,
go get your ticket RIGHT NOW!

NEWS ON THE
COVER:
A DayTo Remember bring the
pop-punk mosh to the K!Awards
(p4),Kiss release a movie (p8) and
we take a look at GerardWay’s new
comic book imprint (p9).Elsewhere,
producer John Feldmann is
everywhere – we investigate (p10).

ON THE COVER:
FEATURES We get under the skin of
the phenomenon known
as AgainstThe Current (p18),and then have a look at
just some of the women changing the face of rock (p24).
Elsewhere,we say‘happy birthday’ to Slam Dunk as it
celebrates turning 10 years young (p31),smash some piñatas
with SWMRS (p38) and visit the creepy lair of NewYears
Day’s Ash Costello (p40).

POSTERS ON THE COVER: Make

your walls really happy with
posters of TØP,Biffy Clyro and more (p28)!

LIVES
ON THE COVER: Oi! Andy
Black!Where’s the rest of BlackVeil
Brides?We go inside his first UK solo
show (p46)! Elsewhere,Camden gets flattened by riffs at
Desertfest (p48),Chris Cornell serenades Jimmy Page
at the RoyalAlbert Hall and LessThan Jake part their way
through the Midlands (p49).

REVIEWS Attention! Attention! Lonely

The Brave have a new record
out.This is not a drill – get it immediately (p50).And Lacuna
Coil have made a return to form as well (p51). But where’s
the craziness in all this? Let Ministry mainman Al Jourgensen
tell you the insane,drug-fuelled, Reznor-bullying, bandmate-
hating story of their Psalm 69 classic (p53).

GIGS Issues are locked with new songs for

their first-ever UK headline tour (p56),
and Hull promoter Sam Arundell takes around the 2017
European Capital of Culture (p58).
COVER PHOTO: ANDREW LIPOVSKY

ASH COSTELLO
p40
Ash had been telling Bob her

story about that time she met
Mickey Mouse at Disneyland for
so long that he wasted away…
SWMRS p38
The rest of SWMRS kept their
opinion on their bandmate’s
new hairstyle to themselves…
 BREAKING!

REMEMBER
TO PLAY THE
KERRANG! AWARDS
4 KERRANG!

FINALLY, WE CAN REVEAL THE SECOND BAND
PLAYING OUR LIVE AWARDS SHOW! LET’S CHAT
TO FRONTMAN JEREMY McKINNON. THEN YOU
CAN GET YOUR TICKETS BEFORE THEY SELL OUT…
AS IF THE Kerrang! Awards weren’t
exciting enough already, we can now
announce that pop-punk kings A Day
To Remember will be joining Asking
Alexandria to play the first-ever K! Awards
live show at Troxy in London on June 9. ADTR
frontman Jeremy McKinnon seems to be as
thrilled with the idea as us. All we need now is to
locate a monkey for the rider…
SO, JEREMY… WHAT CAN WE EXPECT
FROM YOUR SET?
“Expect the unexpected. We’re kind of known
for doing what you least expect, so I’m sure we’ll
figure something out. But, until then, it’s strictly
under wraps…”
MEH, FINE! DO YOU KNOW THE GUYS
IN ASKING ALEXANDRIA?
“Our paths have crossed at festivals and that sort
of thing over the years, so we kinda know them,
but there won’t really be any rivalry on our part
– friendly or otherwise. We don’t really feel that
ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016
Jeremy was so excited for
the awards he wanted to
leave for Troxy now
way about anybody. We just do our own thing, and
whatever they’re up for, good luck to them with it.
I heard that their new record [The Black] is doing
great, which is awesome for them with the stuff
they’ve had to overcome to get to this point.”
THE K! AWARDS CAN GET A BIT MESSY.
WILL YOU LEAVE THE DEBAUCHERY SIDE
OF THINGS TO AA?
“We’re always down to hang out, so whatever
WORDS: PAUL TRAVERS PHOTOS: JEREMY SAFFER
happens, happens. We’ll leave it at that (laughs).”
YOU’RE ALSO NOMINATED FOR THE
BEST INTERNATIONAL BAND AWARD –
HOW DOES THAT FEEL?
“It’s awesome to be nominated. We never
expected to do any of these things that we’re
doing. When we started being a band, I didn’t
expect anything beyond seeing the rest of my
own country. So, 12 or 13 years later, to be
playing shows and meeting people and being
nominated for awards on the other side of the
world, it’s crazy. So, thank you for having us.”
KERRANG! 5
 Guitarist Kevin Skaff
was mad at Jeremy’s
interview copy

something to our fanbase, and we were kicking ideas

around for days and getting pretty frustrated.We were
actually in London playing an acoustic show at a cool
little vinyl store and I said,‘You know, you go online
and see these kids talking about our music and similar
artists, and the number one thing you hear is that this
style of music helps them.’ It’s motivation or it helps
them get through the day or to feel better about what
they’re doing. It’s almost like it’s self-help music and that
was the thought process behind it.We played it this
year but we didn’t last year – it’s our festival but we
don’t want it to be an A Day To Remember headlining
show.We’ll play it every now and then, but other
people will headline it other years.”

YOU’RE HEADING OUT WITH BLINK-182 IN

Bassist Joshua Woodard
couldn’t believe the K!
Awards booze bill
YOU’RE WELCOME! YOU’RE UP AGAINST
METALLICA, PVRIS, ALL TIME LOW AND FALL
OUT BOY. WHO WOULD YOU VOTE FOR?
“Metallica are on there? Everybody else has lost if
that’s the case…”
NOT NECESSARILY. BUT NECK DEEP’S
LIFE’S NOT OUT TO GET YOU IS ALSO
NOMINATED FOR BEST ALBUM. IF THAT
WINS, WILL YOU TAKE THAT AS A BEST
PRODUCER BONUS?
“Oh yeah. I love those guys! I love their band and I love
that album. I’m very proud to have been involved with
it, so anything that happens for them I’m very happy
All Signs Point To…
taking this outside
about. I’ve not seen them for a while, so if they’re
around it’ll be good to catch up.”
YOU PLAYED YOUR OWN SELF HELP FEST
A FEW WEEKS AGO. DOES THAT FEEL LIKE
IT’S FIRMLY ESTABLISHED IN ITS OWN
RIGHT NOW?
“It feels pretty good to be three years deep –
especially as this year’s was by far the best-selling one.
The previous ones were about 11 or 12,000, but then
this year we did 17,000, which was amazing.”
WHAT WAS THE IDEA BEHIND THE FESTIVAL?
“We wanted the name of the festival to mean
THE SUMMER. HOW EXCITING IS THAT?
“blink are one of the number one influences for our
band, so it’s incredibly exciting! For them to choose us
to be the support band, it’s pretty awesome.They were
a big thing for me growing up, but for other people in
my band, blink were their favourite band of all time. It’s
a big deal for all of us.The new song [Bored To Death]
is pretty cool – I’ve listened to it a bunch and I’m just
a big fan of Matt Skiba in general. I love Alkaline Trio,
so I’m excited to hear their new record when it finally
comes out, and I think they sound great together live!”
PARANOIA WAS YOUR FIRST NEW MUSIC
IN ALMOST THREE YEARS. DID IT FEEL GOOD
TO FINALLY RELEASE SOMETHING?
“Oh yeah, absolutely.We’ve been working on stuff
for a while and that was the song that we were really
excited about. It just felt like it would be a fun live song,
and so far so good. It’s been doing well, and it’s the
Number One song on Spotify. People are still listening
to it even though it’s been out for a month or two, and
it’s got almost four million plays. It’s been going down
well at the shows we’ve played, but I’m actually most
excited to see how it does at the UK festivals when
we come back next time for those.That song, out of

“EVERYBODY
FEELS PARANOID
FROM TIME
TO TIME…”
JEREMY McKINNON

6 KERRANG!
 THE BIG
all of them, just seems like it could go over well in that
setting, and I’m very excited to see if it does.”

IT’S A BIT OF A BELTER ALL RIGHT, BUT WITH

STORY
QUITE SERIOUS LYRICS. ARE THOSE SORTS
OF FEELINGS SOMETHING YOU’VE HAD TO
DEAL WITH YOURSELF?
“Of course. Everybody feels paranoid from time to
time, but we initially tried to write the song so it wasn’t
talking about ourselves.Then it just evolved.We were
thinking of something else, projecting outwards for
most of it, but it took on a life of its own and perhaps
became a bit more personal.” COME – NOW TELL US
YOU PICKED WHO GETS TOK-SH
TAK ING HOM E THE APED TROPHIES…
WHO’S
HOMESICK AND WHAT SEPARATES ME
FROM YOU WERE CERTIFIED GOLD IN THE BEST EVENT BEST ALBUM BEST RADIO SHOW
STATES LAST MONTH. HOW DID THAT FEEL? – PRESENTED BY KERRANG! TV – PRESENTED BY ZIPPO

“Homesick was close to going Gold even without J Guns N’ Roses – Las Vegas J Iron Maiden – The Book Of J Fresh Blood With Alex Baker –
taking streaming into account. I think we were about Reunion Shows Souls Kerrang! Radio
20,000 units away.There were more streams counted J 5 Seconds Of Summer – J Neck Deep – Life’s Not Out To J MOJO Rocks with Phil
for What Separates Me…, but, either way, in a time Sounds Live Feels Live Tour Get You Alexander – Planet Rock
when people do not buy records and with us not being J Slipknot – Alexandra Palace J Asking Alexandria – J Radio 1 Rock Show with Daniel
a mainstream band, it’s quite an achievement.” Shows The Black P Carter
J You Me At Six – The Ghost J No Devotion – Permanence J Beats 1 with Zane Lowe
NOW YOU’RE GOLD-SELLING ARTISTES, Inside Benefit Show J Baroness – Purple J Nights With Alice Cooper –
WILL YOU BE DEMANDING BOWLS OF J Biffy Clyro – Edinburgh’s Planet Rock
M&M’S WITH ALL THE BROWN ONES Hogmanay BEST INTERNATIONAL
TAKEN OUT? BAND – PRESENTED BY FIREBALL BESTVIDEO GAME
“I could get behind that.We need to start adding that BEST BRITISH J All Time Low J Far Cry Primal
to the rider. Like,‘Hey, just so you know, we have two NEWCOMER
Gold albums and two Gold singles, and we’re going – PRESENTED BY HELP MUSICIANS UK J Metallica J Fallout 4
to be expecting a monkey doing jumping jacks in the J Counterfeit J PVRIS J Rise Of The Tomb Raider
dressing room from now on…’” J Creeper J A Day To Remember J Guitar Hero Live
J Milk Teeth J Fall Out Boy J Star Wars Battlefront
WAIT. ARE YOU SAYING YOU WANT J Muncie Girls
A MONKEY BACKSTAGE FOR THE K! J The Struts BEST BRITISH BAND BEST COMIC BOOK
AWARDS SHOW? J Bring Me The Horizon J The Wicked + The Divine
“No. I don’t really need a monkey. Actually, a monkey BEST INTERNATIONAL J Iron Maiden J 2000 AD
would be pretty awesome if somebody could bring NEWCOMER – PRESENTED BY TROXY J Enter Shikari J Saga
him, but he wouldn’t have to do anything he didn’t J Cane Hill J Biffy Clyro J Nimona
want to do. I just want to hang out with a monkey.” J The Dirty Nil J Asking Alexandria J Descender
J Beach Slang
J Beautiful Bodies BEST FANBASE BEST FESTIVAL
J Biters J Gerard Way J Download
J Pierce The Veil J Slam Dunk
BEST TRACK J Reading & Leeds
– PRESENTED BY KERRANG! RADIO J Black Veil Brides
J Moose Blood – Honey J Paramore J Bloodstock
J Against The Current – J twenty one pilots J The Great Escape
Running With The Wild Things
J Panic! At The Disco – BEST FILM BEST COMEDIAN
Emperor’s New Clothes J Star Wars:The Force Awakens J Matt Berry
J Architects – A Match J Deadpool J Amy Schumer
Made In Heaven J Minions J Josie Long
J All Time Low – J Ant-Man J Bill Bailey
Missing You J Jurassic World J Louis CK

BEST LIVE BAND BEST TV SHOW TWEETER OF THEYEAR

– PRESENTED BY RED STRIPE
J Black Veil Brides J The Walking Dead J Jono Yates
J BABYMETAL J Daredevil J Corey Taylor
J twenty one pilots J Jessica Jones J Mark Hoppus
J Nightwish J Making A Murderer J Becky Blomfield
J Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes J Adventure Time J Hayley Williams

NAME:
ADDRESS:

EMAIL:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
Get your tickets for the K! Awards POST YOUR COMPLETED FORM TO:
KERRANG! AWARDS 2016, PO BOX 2930, LONDON W1A 6DZ
at Kerrang.com VOTING DISCLAIMER: The Kerrang! Awards 2016 is voted for by the readers and listeners of Kerrang! Magazine, Kerrang.com, Kerrang!
Radio and by the staff of Kerrang!. Kerrang! readers can vote in all categories listed on this page. Other honorary awards will be awarded by
the Kerrang! judging panel. The final decision is the reserved right of the Kerrang! staff. Voting closes June 2.

KERRANG! 7
 Paul Stanley’s Tic Tacs
were a bit funny looking

THE FEED
THIS WE
EK IN ROCK

I WAS MADE FOR

WATCHING YOU
AS KISS BRING THEIR NEW MOVIE TO CINEMAS, PAUL STANLEY TELLS
US WHY HE’S NOT READY TO BECOME A HOLOGRAM JUST YET…
FOR KISS, anything worth doing is together something much closer to a stadium ’cause you’re all in it together and it’s a very unique
worth overdoing.Their new concert show inside a very small venue and it really is one situation. It’s one that I’m very proud of.”
film, Kiss Rocks Vegas, will be screening of my favourites, if not my favourite, stage sets that
in cinemas around the world before its we’ve had.” DOES IT EVER FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IN
DVD release. And it’s guaranteed to contain more COMPETITION WITH YOURSELF? MORE FIRE,
flying rockstars, explosions, confetti and blood than IT LOOKS PRETTY MUCH IMPOSSIBLE FOR BIGGER BOOTS…
any other live footage you’ll see this year. Guitarist/ ANYONE TO GO TO A KISS SHOW AND HAVE “Smoke machines and bombs and all the rest will
vocalist Paul Stanley tells us what we can expect… A BORING NIGHT… only get you so far, so ultimately it comes down
“It’s amazing to be onstage to the commitment of the people onstage. So, yes,
UM, SO, WHERE TO [looking] out at faces that I’m competing with myself, but I’m competing with
WORDS: AMIT SHARMA PHOTO: GETTY

BEGIN? THE NINE- are celebratory. There’s no what I can physically do!”
SHOW RUN AT THE anger, there’s no hostility,
HARD ROCK HOTEL it’s a gathering of a tribe, all EVER THOUGHT ABOUT DOING A KISS
STARTED WITH THE these people. The difference HOLOGRAM GIG ALL AROUND THE WORLD?
BAND LANDING ON with Kiss is that everybody “They save holograms for dead people, and I’ve no
THE ROOF… FROM is sharing in this huge cult, plans to check out in the near future (laughs)!”
A HELICOPTER?! the largest cult on Earth,
“Well, we’ve never been you give thumbs-up to your Kiss Rocks Vegas hits cinemas
known for subtlety… It’s neighbour there, and you
gotta be big! We’ve put give thumbs-up to everybody
on May 25

MAN GETS EAR BITTEN SUM 41 SIGN

“WHAT THE F*CK OFF AT EODM SHOW TO HOPELESS
Last week, a man had his ear bitten off Sum 41 have signed to Hopeless Records –
IS ‘LIT’??? STOP after a fight in the crowd at an Eagles
Of Death Metal show.After the gig in
home to AllTime Low and New Found Glory.
The label will put out their next album – the
MAKING NEW Toronto, at the Opera House on Saturday,
May 7, drummer Jorma Vik wrote a
follow-up to 2011’s Screaming Bloody Murder.
“I think this a good thing because it still feels
WORDS…” Facebook post saying:‘A dude in the crowd
got his ear bitten off last night at our show
like there is still so much to do,” says frontman
Deryck Whibley.“Which is why I am
UCE, BEN BR inToronto. First time for everything, I guess!’ excited for a new album and to be releasing it
ASKING ALEX
ANDRIA He later deleted it. with Hopeless Records.”
8 KERRANG!
 WITH GREAT power, they say, comes
great responsibility. Now Gerard
Way definitely has both. From My
Chemical Romance’s larger-than-life
glory days – where the band bridged punk rock
and cosplay to captivating, generation-defining
effect, to his authorship of The Umbrella Academy
books (a graphic series as darkly beguiling as they
were resoundingly acclaimed), the erstwhile emo
figurehead has never been afraid of wielding his
ink-stained comic fandom.
Even still, his April 7 crashing of Batman/
Superman/Suicide Squad publishing giant DC’s
panel at Emerald City Comicon to announce he’ll
be curating their new “mature readers’ pop-up
imprint” Young Animal marked a whole new kettle
of creativity. And he’s just leaked the first glimpses
of what to anticipate online…
Promising a revival of the tripper, quirkier
comics of the ’80s and ’90s, we can expect a
welcome alternative to the grittier-than-grit
groundedness and plastic lunchbox-ready
“expanded-universe” populism that’s coloured the
industry of late.
“I wanted to form this little group – like a band,
and then make crazy art!” enthused Gerard to
online comic authority CBR News, confirming
his enthusiasm to pull on his frontman outfit
one more time. Seemingly, though, crazy is the
operative word…
Come September, we’ll be getting an initial four
offerings. First up will be a Gerard-written, Nick
Derington-illustrated run of the legendary Doom
Patrol. Given the series’ seminal contributions by
Grant Morrison – one of Gerard’s heroes – we
can expect an enthusiastic interpretation. “It’s
really weird,” says Gerard, which sounds about
right for a metallic-tinged ensemble piece featuring
the ubiquitous Robotman and intriguing newbie
Casey Brink – a character patently nodding to
Gerard’s rock background: “Influenced by Black
Sabbath and Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley from Alien.”
And, judging by Gerard’s slew of blog posts,
there’ll be plenty more to follow. Shade,The
Changing Girl – from writer Cecil Castellucci
and artist Marley Zarcone – promises a
feminine reinvention of the legendary Shade,The
Changing Man, taking in adolescence, bullying and
extraterrestrial madness. Following that, Cave
Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye – co-written by
Gerard and Jon Rivera, drawn by Michael Avon
Oeming – revisits the little-known sci-fi spelunker
(that’s cave explorer, kids…) as he juggles heroism
and fatherhood.
But most intriguing is the final, and only entirely
original, creation of the run: Mother Panic.Written
by Gerard and Jody Houser, with art by Tommy
Lee Edwards, it’s the tale of “a celebrity heiress
by day and brutal vigilante by night as she takes
on the underbelly of Gotham City’s high society”.
Jared Leto’s Joker might just have someone more
to worry about… Regardless, it’s great to see
Gerard and DC embracing the grungiest antihero’s
mantra: “Whatever doesn’t kill you simply makes
you stranger…”

WIN! DOWNLOAD AND VIP Asking Alexandria, plus a potential

meet-and-greet with the bands after.To enter,

K! AWARDS TICKETS just email feedback@kerrang.com with the

Boy, have the folks at Zippo whipped up
one hell of a comp for you! The lucky winner
of their Weekend Of Rock package will bag
subject ‘Zippo Weekend Of Rock’ plus your
contact details. Entrants must be over 18.
“THE NEW INSTAGRAM
ICON IS THE WORST
Comp closes on June 2. For full T&Cs, head
to Kerrang.com. GOOD LUCK!

THING THAT’S EVER

two x three-day weekend camping tickets
to Download Festival (June 10 – 12),

HAPPENED TO ME”
plus two VIP tickets to the Kerrang!
Awards on June 9 – which includes
,
special access, the chance to watch full live MARK HOPPUS
sets from A Day To Remember and BLINK-182
KERRANG!9
 ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016

ENTIAL
K!ONFID IP A
ND G
IBB ERI S
H

GOSS
ROCK

FELDMANN

e his look at some old photos from .

WHEN ANDY Black mad
live solo debut in LA on May
3, John Feldmann was there.
rywhere.
Of course he was… he’s eve n took a
eve
Working with everyone.We
V
history and found him the
re, too
What the hell! Have you see
n Feldy’s
? Email us on
toothy grin somewhere odd us know!
feedback@kerrang.com and
let

PANDORA BY RAY ZELL Rayzell.com

10 KERRANG!
 ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016

ANDY BLACK KEEPS HOLD OF THE TOP, BUT BIFFY CLYRO’S

WOLVES OF WINTER ARE HUNTING HIM DOWN. CAN SIMON NEIL, WHAT ATTITUDE IS THAT?

BABYMETAL KARATE-CHOP THEIR WAY UP NEXT WEEK? BIFFY CLYRO
IS IT FAIR TO SAY WOLVES OF
WINTER SEES BIFFY CLYRO
CHANGING DIRECTION?
HIGHEST POSITION
“This has been our band
since we were 15 years
old. In taking a year off,
I tried to contextualise

things, which is always

WEEKS ON CHART

“It’s what flowed out! It’s a dangerous thing to

the most important song do – where you’re trying
ARTIST TITLE LABEL on the record.We sing to figure out how you’ve
1 5 1 ANDY BLACK We Don’t Have To Dance LAVA/REPUBLIC
a lot about sadness and
heartbreak, and I think
ended up where you are.”

I was more conscious DID YOU EVER FEEL LIKE

2 2 2 BIFFY CLYRO Wolves Of Winter 14TH FLOOR that this had an outward YOU’D ENDED UP IN A BAD
aggression rather than PLACE, THEN?

INTERVIEW: JAMES HICKIE

3 5 3 BABYMETAL Karate EARMUSIC looking inwards. I thought, “You live in this bubble
‘Fuck it, I’m going to for so long – and it’s been
4 6 4 SET IT OFF Uncontainable EQUAL VISION
stake my claim to who
we are and what we do,’
a great experience – but
as soon as I feel that it
and that was about us means music is losing its
5 3 5 DEFTONES Prayers/Triangles REPRISE
being teenagers again, and importance, which we’re
remembering that attitude.” not comfortable with.”
6 2 6 MOOSE BLOOD Honey HOPELESS

7 7 3 AGAINST THE CURRENT Running With The Wild Things FUELED BY RAMEN

JANINE SHILSTONE,
karma and the
8 3 8 PVRIS Mirrors RISE
animalistic
VUKOVI qualities of it;
once you’re on
9 4 2 A DAY TO REMEMBER Paranoia ADTR RECORDS
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE its wanted list,
IN THE KERRANG! ROCK there’s no escaping it.”
10 15 1 TWENTY ONE PILOTS Stressed Out FUELED BY RAMEN CHART AGAIN?
“So sweet! Although IF YOU COULD BE ANY
11 1 11 REIGNING DAYS Empire ECCO RECORDINGS we’re never happy – once ANIMAL, WHICH ONE
we’ve achieved one thing, WOULD YOU BE?
12 8 2 PVRIS You And I RISE
we look on to the next.
We want Top 10!”
“It would have to be a
cat! You need to earn
their affection, and
13 3 13 STRANGE BONES God Save The Teen STRANGE BONES
WHAT IS ANIMAL ABOUT? napping all day sounds
“Animal is all about like heaven.”
14 10 7 BLACK PEAKS Glass Built Castles SONY RED

15 3 14 ESCAPE THE FATE Remember Every Scar ELEVEN SEVEN

SEE/HEAR
16 7 12 GHOST TOWN Mean Kids FUELED BY RAMEN
THE OFFICIAL
17 1 17 VUKOVI Animal LAB RECORDS KERRANG!
ROCK CHART!
18 6 6 FORT HOPE That’s The Way The River Flows VIRGIN EMI The Official Kerrang! Rock Chart is made up of
airplay across Kerrang! Radio, Kerrang! TV and
19 6 4 ARCHITECTS A Match Made In Heaven EPITAPH specialist rock stations.The show airs on K! Radio
every Saturday at 10am with Loz Guest, and also on
20 13 3 FALLING IN REVERSE Chemical Prisoner EPITAPH
K! TV Thursdays at 4pm.Tune in and listen up!

12 KERRANG!
 AN

HU NA EM
NO
FI C
GE L EN
UN

T!

THURSDAY, JUNE 9
TROXY,
490 COMMERCIAL ROAD, E1 0HX
£20 + BOOKING FEE FOR AWARDS LIVE GIG ONLY!
£25 + BOOKING FEE FOR AWARDS CEREMONY AND LIVE GIG
WITH AN EXCLUSIVE GOODIE BAG!
GET YOUR TICKETS AT KERRANGTICKETS.CO.UK
Over 18s only.
ID will be re-
quired on entry.

ZOAX
BLOOD
FRESH
’S BR
EAKI
NG B
A NDS
ROCK CHARMING AND REBELLIOUS, THESE PARTY-
ROCKERS AREN’T COMING QUIETLY
WHO ARE THESE CHAPS,
AND WHAT’S WITH ALL
THE GLARING?
This is ZOAX, and the London-
based mob aren’t as serious as they look.
In fact, they’re all about having a good time.
“Dancing shoes are required,” frontman
Adam Carroll warns of the band’s debut
WORDS: JESSICA BRIDGEMAN PHOTO: TIM TRONCKOE
album, released last week. “There’s a lot
of groove.” And then some, we’d say, as
this quintet have spent the last three years
slogging away on some sizeable riffs. Now,
with their first full-length finally launched, it
looks like all their hard work is about to pay
off. “Finally people are getting us in some way,
and it’s incredibly exciting,” Adam says.
WE’RE INTERESTED. SO, WHAT DO
THEY SOUND LIKE EXACTLY?
Fusing complex hooks, huge choruses and
energetic melodies with razor-sharp vocals
and post-rock allure, what ZOAX create
14 KERRANG!
ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016
(L – R): Joe Copcutt (bass), Jonathan Rogers
(drums), Adam Carroll (vocals), Douglas
Wotherspoon (guitar), Sean Weir (guitar)
is a bit like what we’d imagine the result of to refocus and record an entire new album. WHAT YOU
chucking all our System Of A Down records
in a blender with At The Dive-In, circa-2000,
“We created a super-nice vibe and it was just
all about creating,” Adam recalls. “So, even if
NEED TO KNOW
would sound like. “We’re not aiming to be the album didn’t do anything, we’d be able to FOR FANS OF:
on daytime radio, but we do want to make a look back on that as such a nice time.” And System of a Down,
career out of what we’re doing,” Adam says. the larger-than-life singer insists they thought Refused.
“[The new album] is more accessible without long and hard about every note on the HEAR: 2016’s
being a sell-out record.” record, “We have many influences but, for self-titled debut
us, it was about [knowing] what people are album, out now on
Century Media.
SOUNDS PROMISING, GO ON… seeing in ZOAX that we aren’t seeing.”
MORE INFO:
Well, after scrapping two full albums, the Facebook.com/
band regrouped at Adam’s home in Ireland WORD HAS IT THEIR LIVE SHOW IS zoaxbandofficial
CRAZY, TOO?
“I’M WAITING
CHECK OUT:
“I’m waiting for someone to knock me out The video for
some day…” Adam admits, reflecting on his Roses All The Way.
FOR SOMEONE
unpredictable stage habits. ZOAX’s live show DON’T MISS:
is strictly immersive, you see, so expect Adam ZOAX and more
awesome new
TO KNOCK
to be toppling the furniture and engaging
bands on Alex
with the crowd at every opportunity. “I don’t
Baker’s Fresh
want to stand onstage and just bang my head,
ME OUT…”
Blood show on
I want to have fun because I enjoy what I’m Wednesdays at
doing,” he says. “It’s just a fun party!” 10pm on K! Radio.
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 MUNITY
K!OM YO U R PAGE,
YO U R LIFE!

IT’S

PEN-TY ONE PILOTS

This is @georgieRose104’s superb drawing
of twenty one pilots’ grooming ritual –
Tyler just cleaning Josh’s ears for him here.
N’awww!

BOARD TO DEATH
WINNER!
Graphics
“I made a Kerrang! Rock Trivia board game for my
hardes t?!” says @alice grrrl.Who rocks
project.Who rocks
us to a
hardest? YOU DO! This is amazing. Come challenge
to spend
game some time. For now, though, you’ve won £250
at Grindstore (to go along with your guaran teed A*).

DREW & I
“I met PVRIS and gave Lynn this drawing
of her which I did,” says @RiseofLC. Lynn
adopting her hide-and-seek cheating
pose here. Lynn, you’re meant to cover
both eyes, otherwise you know we’re
hiding under the carpet. Again.
YOU GRAVE
“Five years of waiting
patiently to see ETF and I
have the pleasure of meeting
NYD at the same gig!” says
@HeavyMetalBethy.You
waited five years? The
longest we’ve queued is for
nine hours, and that was
PUT THE THUMB DOWN for a toilet at a festival.We
“The Andy Black meeting and signing at HMV was thought it was occupied
amazing!” says @shannon_evans_x.Andy seems to think the whole time.Tu ut it
so, too. Unless he is playing ‘Thumbs Up IfYou Know wasn’t. Magazine
John Feldmann’. Most winners ever, that game has! bladders, you k

N E X T W E E K
GET A PIZZA THIS!
Here’s @BattleshipMatt and As It Is’ Patty WIN!
A ZIPPO
Walters making the person behind them
SUPER-JEALOUS about them having that
pizza. Now we mention it… so are we.

GUITAR
Bumped into Simon Neil at a hair
salon recently? Helped Ash Costello
pull out any teeth (see our feature
on page 40 so that doesn’t sound
as weird as it does – still weird?
Okay…)? If you’ve got proof, w
want to see – share your pics
us, using #Kommunity.Th
winning picture will receive
amazing Zippo Fender guit
worth £400.And soon
SHELF LIFE enough you’ll be
“I was a little confused as to what mag I was shredding more than
picking up today…” @migrainejones informs a sensitive document
us. Dennis the Menace is a huge Andy Black disposal company.
fan, don’t you know!
 CROSSTOWW
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 FEA
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RE

PHOTOS: ANDREW LIPOVSKY, PAUL HARRIES

Great, now Mr Magazine is going to
have to explain to Mrs Magazine why
it’s got someone’s else’s lipstick on it

KERRANG! 19
 across his scalp.“I’m, like, anti-dude.Y’know, a lot of
guys just throw on whatever in the morning, but I need
a lot of time.You gotta look good.”
“We can’t just go around in our pyjamas,” says
guitarist Dan Gow, chipping in.“We have to wear
clothes that go with the image…”
Some gentle ribbing follows, as to the length of time
it takes for each member to get ready in the morning.
Somewhat strangely, they all know exactly how long
each of them takes in the shower (“When you have a
limited amount of water on a bus,” drawls Dan,“you
know how long people take to shower…”).
“Sometimes we go over to Will’s house to do band
things,” continues Chrissy,“because Dan and Will live,
like, a minute away [from each other] and I live an hour
and a half away. So, I would go up for
band practise after high school and
stay for the weekend.Whenever we
would go over,Will would be like,‘I’m
just going in the shower,’ and we’d be
like,‘Yup, this is gonna be an hour and
a half!’ And we’d go to the gas station
and get a drink and chips and stuff…”
Bizarrely, the drummer insists he’s
probably the member of Against The
Current who smells the worst.
Backstage with Slipknot this
isn’t. But here’s the thing; in these
egalitarian times, since the internet
dismantled the traditional star-making
machine, to paraphrase an old punk,
the people get what the people
want.And the people really wanted
Against The Current; all the millions
and millions who have watched their
videos onYouTube. Or the people
who’ve flocked to sell out every UK
date they’ve played.
Born onYouTube, talked about
on Twitter, and if you haven’t seen
Chrissy with dog ears and snout, then
you’re following the wrong people
on Snapchat;Against The Current
are a very modern sort of rock band.
Clean, crisp, sleek, as unashamedly
pop as they are rock, eager to please.
This will be a bad thing to some, and
a good thing to many. Because this is
a sensation the people asked for. No,
scratch that – that the people made.
You join them poised on the brink
of the unknown…
W
“
e’ve worked really hard,”
says Chrissy, stretching
out her legs.“But I think what has brought
us success is that we just stayed really
genuine the entire time.And I think people connect
with that. Even in theYouTube scene, we could’ve done
the typical,‘We’re gonna upload a new cover every
Wednesday and Thursday!’ which is a huge part of
that culture.We started really small and we built up a
really genuine fanbase.We didn’t build it around hype
or anything like that. It was just, like, this is what we do
and that’s it.And we picked up people.There was no
plan, no,‘This is how it has to look and this is how it
has to sound and this is how the fans have to react, and
this, this, this and this.’ It was just us.This is really what
comes natural to us.”
A problem here is that AgainstThe Current are such
a modern kind of rock band that there’s no template for
anything that’s gone before. If you’re Iron Maiden, you
understood a little bit about how touring worked from
Led Zeppelin. If you’re blink-182, you could follow the
blueprint laid down by Green Day. But because Against
The Current are so young (all three members are aged
20) and a band who’ve somehow managed to convert an
audience they built doing covers of their favourite bands
online into an audience who want to hear their music,
there’s really nobody who’s done this, like them, ever.
“We ask ourselves all the time,‘What do we do
now?’” says Chrissy.“Because there is no precedent
for what we’re doing.A lot of the time there are
bands where it’s very clear – you go here, you go
here, you go here, you go here.We’re just trying
to make sense of it.We’re on our second Europe
headliner without having an album out.And even the
upgrade from one to the other has been crazy. Like,
we just played Cologne the other night and we had
one crazy show there the first time, and then it was
doubled the second time six months later, with no
additional releases.What changed? To be honest, we
don’t totally get it…”
“We’ve had advice from the bands we’ve toured
with, sure,” says Dan. “Especially All Time Low and
Rise,Against: (from left) Dan Gow,
Chrissy Costanza and Will Ferri
Good Charlotte. Benji and Joel [Madden] came
down and just sat with us a few days in a row and
just talked to us and gave us life advice. Not really
about what we should be doing, just, like, what any
band should do and what they did…”
“It wasn’t specifics like,‘You need to have three
risers on tour and you need to have two guitar
players and this and that,’” says Chrissy.“It was more
about staying genuine and being true to yourself and
remembering nothing that surrounds the band exists
without the core of the band.Without the music
and where it started from.You have to keep yourself
grounded.That’s the most important thing…”
You said you didn’t understand your success. Do
you at least have an idea why people like your band?
Blank looks.
“Well, I mean, we’re pretty confident in what we
do,” says Will, taking up this most unintentionally
difficult of questions.“Which I think is really
important, you know? We’re really young, so I
think kids can relate to us. But I think the music
is pretty universal, really.We want everyone to
like our music; we’re not writing for just our age
demographic. Like, at our shows we have ages from
eight to, like, 50-something. I think that’s awesome.
Whenever we write a song, I want my mom to like it. I
want my dad to love this song.You know what I mean?”
Depending on your age, you may be reading this,
shaking your head and asking what happened to rock
music frightening your parents. But remember: a very
modern kind of rock band.Why frighten your parents
if you like them? Chrissy smiles.“I love it when my
parents like my music taste, because when I get in the
car and I put on music, they don’t complain about it!
“I sat my whole family down and played them
the album before we came out on this tour,” she
continues.“Because if my mom, my dad and my brother
can all like a song – and I know they’ll be honest with
me – then I know it’s a good universal song.”
And did they like it?
“They liked most of the record
unanimously,” she smiles, proudly.
“Like Will said, we’ve had eight-
year-olds, we had a guy come with
his grandma and she was, I’m not
kidding, front row and centre losing
her mind. She knew every word
and was against the barricade going
nuts. I was like,‘That’s awesome!’
One, that’s the kind of grandparent
I wanna be.And two, it’s just a great
feeling to see an 18-year-old and a
70-year-old right next to each other
loving the same thing…”
What’s your family like, Chrissy?
She smiles.“Oh, your standard
Italian-American family, I guess.
We eat a lot of pasta and stuff. My
brother plays a lot of sports. He’s
really great at football. Like, soccer
football. He’s an awesome football
player and he plays nonstop now.
My dad coaches him. My dad was
a basketball coach and he coached
me whenever I played sport. Like,
I played football for 11 years, 12
years? Something like that.”
How does it feel sitting there,
watching your parents listen to
your record?
Chrissy shifts in her seat.“It’s
definitely weird, especially for me
because I write all the lyrics…”
And they’re pretty honest,
confessional-type lyrics…
“Yeah. Especially with a song like
Outsiders – my parents were like,
‘We don’t want you to feel like
an outsider! Do you feel like an
outsider?’ and I’m like,‘Yeah, but the
whole point of the song is that it’s a good thing, you
know? It’s a positive!’ And so sometimes I just have
to buffer them a little bit with that because they’re
naturally going to worry because they’re parents.”
Do you read the opinions of people online when
you post music on the internet?
“Always the first day, for sure…” drawls Dan (NB:
If henceforth we write ‘says Dan’, we probably mean
‘drawls Dan’. Dan does a lot of drawling).
“There’s always the same people trolling,” says Will.
“YouTube’s a funny place…”
“I feel like if a fan really wants to tell me a true
opinion about our music, they’re gonna tell it to me
on Twitter,” says Chrissy.“That’s where I interact
with fans the most. Not so much on theYouTube
comments, because it’s just so hard to sift through the
nonsense. It’s more of an effort to Tweet someone
directly.A comment feels more anonymous, I think…”
I have to say, even as a man who became a music
journalist because he, maybe needily, wanted people to
know what he thought about this thing that mattered
so much to him – music – I’ve never thought,‘I must
post an opinion onYouTube…’
“I don’t think I’ve ever commented on aYouTube
video,” says Chrissy. “Except maybe on a friend’s to
 THREE OTHER STARS HARNESSING THE WEB’S POWER…

Kids J g y y p g
some fulfilment after the put together As It Is, he was plays host to an array of covers
dissolution of his day job by quite the big deal on YouTube. performed by Tyler Carter,
starting his own YouTube If you want to see him cover that would never get near any
channel. Neato Alkaline Trio 5SOS and MCR, and dress up Issues release. And he’s been
covers and inspiring in a dinosaur Kigu, dolled up to the
mental health you know where nines by glam
advice feature. to look. pal Jeffree Star.

BECAUSE HERE IS
NO PRECEDENT FO
WHAT WE’RE R
DOING”
C H R I S S
Y C O S T A N
ATC rule their biggest UK Z A
show to date, at London’s
KOKO, March 2016
What do you mean, you’re
unhappy with the size of
your dressing room?

ME
BUT AT THE ESA
LIK
TIME Y

Z A
Y C O S T A N
C H R I S S

4.9m
VIEW
S S
This cover of the Russian- Just ’cause we’re all rock fans,
German musician-producer’s we can agree that liking Taylor
theme from 2014 sci-fi opus Swift is okay, right? Good.
Divergent is one of ATC’s Because this is a tune. In the
best team-ups with YouTube video, Will Ferri appears to be
colossus Alex Goot. playing a cardboard box.
be like, ‘Yeah, this is awesome!’ back when we were
really heavily into YouTube. I responded to a couple of
comments being like, ‘Thank you,’ but I haven’t done
that in probably, like, two years, so…”
It’s sad that a lot of bands are starting to think it’s
best not to engage in those ways online, because it’s
so easy for innocuous comments to flare into slanging
matches. For all the wonder of endless information at
our fingertips, we live in an age where many are primed
to be offended.
“I don’t think I’ve ever fought with someone online,”
muses Chrissy. “We don’t really get mean tweets – but
I’ll get people who are like, ‘You look so much better
without make-up.’ That pisses me off. Or they’ll say
something like, ‘You don’t need all that make-up,’ and I’m
like, ‘Obviously I don’t need it, but I like it, so I’m gonna
wear it. So, you can fuck yourself…’”
It’s the arrogance that someone feels their opinion of
the way you look matters enough to be shared. It can’t
be progress that anyone has to deal with this
“You don’t wanna rip them a new one, but at the
same time you’re like, ‘This is offensive,’ ” she says, raging.
“Like, this is offending me. It offends me more than
someone telling me I’m ugly. If someone just told me
‘You’re ugly, you have a gross nose,’ or something like
that, I’d be less offended. It’s like, ‘Who are you to tell me
what I should do?’ And also, it’s like, ‘I’ve gotten this far in
life doing it, I think I’m doing alright, man…’”
That said, I’m not sure, say,Vic Fuentes or the twenty
one pilots boys get this. I know for a fact that Lynn
from PVRIS gets this. I think that says something…
Chrissy laughs. “My favourite part is, like, sometimes
the comment will be on Instagram and I’ll click into
the profile and it’s always just some 12-year-old boy. I’ll
turn to my brother and be like, ‘Are you commenting
on girls’ pictures and telling them they should wear less
make-up?’ and he’s like, ‘No, I don’t do that.’ And I’m like,
‘Yeah, why are boys your age doing that? Why aren’t
they going playing soccer or playing outside? Like, don’t
you have a ball to throw at a wall or something?’”
She takes a breath. Shouts at a motorcycle revving its
engine outside the window to “shut the fuck up”…
“The worst is, like, when people are like, ‘I like the
old Chrissy better.’ That drives me up the goddamn
wall! Not a lot gets under my skin. Call me ugly, say
I’m gaining weight, say I’m too small, say whatever you
wanna say – it doesn’t matter. I don’t really care. But
when people are like, ‘Oh, I like the old Chrissy better
than the new Chrissy,’ that makes me crazy…”
Again, the arrogance.Why is it their business?
“I’m like, ‘People grow up!’ I don’t know if you
noticed this, but I started all this when I was, like, 15, 16
years old. If I’m the same person I was when I was 15,
16, I think there’d be an issue…”
Another deep breath.
We should probably change the subject before
someone has an aneurysm.There must be some upside
to being this very modern sort of rock band…
THE SONGS THAT HELPED MAKE
ATC ONLINE SUPERSTARS…
18.5m
VIEW 1.8
VIE m
WS
This song from Adele’s third A team-up with Set It Off that
album, 25, sees ATC furthering sizzles with brilliance. But let’s
their chops with some *puts on be honest, a toothless sea lion
cheesy local radio voice* mid- could bash out a version of
tempo-disco-pop. this and it would rule.
 W
“
e built Against The Current from a very
small starting point,” says the singer, when
asked what she finds positive about her
band existing in the 360, digital age they
do. “We grew it slowly and naturally. Because of that,
I feel like we’re really close to our fans. It’s a tight-knit
community.They’ve grown with us.”
Do you know many fans personally?
“Oh, yeah,” says Will. “We’re lucky we have so many
familiar faces all the time. I can’t imagine that being the
case with all other bands. It’s like, ‘Oh, I know you, this
is your fifth show on the tour.’”
“It’s definitely comforting, too, when you’re touring
so much,” adds Chrissy, “and you’re gone for so long.
I know when we come to this show this guy’s gonna
be there or this girl’s gonna come out to Manchester,
you know? Also, for me personally, I have a lot of these
girl fans that I talk about make-up and stuff with, and I
know what shows they’re gonna come out to and we
always have a nice little chat. And it’s nice because I
don’t have any girls on tour right now.”
Be honest… Sometimes, do you think, ‘I can’t be
doing with meeting fans today…’
“No,” says Will. “But I do worry that I might not act
the way they want me to act. I just don’t see us as the
kinds of people fans would flock to. It’s weird. But it’s
always great to see them. I mean, the fact that they’re
still coming out to the shows is amazing…”
Are there ever times you think, ‘Oh no, this person
is coming today, I can’t deal with them…’?
“There’s only a couple,” says Chrissy, who will later
tell us how she will regularly sneak fans into shows
and aftershows, fans she knows have been there “since
forever”. She continues: “There’s a really small handful
of people that have made me genuinely uncomfortable
over the years. But most of them don’t come to the
shows any more. It was just really weird. But we don’t
even get those any more….”
A very modern kind of rock band. A band trying to
make sense of constant access and perceived intimacy.
A band made by the people, who, in return, think that
means they’re entitled to a view on the make-up usage
of a 20-year-old girl. A band who are making up the
rules as they go along. A band. And a sensation.
The night of this interview, we watch the band at
KOKO, the room an explosion of joy, the band’s gilded
pop-rock sounding sassy and fresh, Chrissy Costanza
a star, and in touching distance of being super. And we
think: these are uncharted waters they’re sailing, yes.
But we think Against The Current will make it.We
think they’ll soar.They are the future you asked for.
IN OUR BONES IS OUT ON MAY 20
VIA FUELED BY RAMEN
For more women writing rock’s
future, turn the page!
17.4m 13 m
VIEW
S VIEW
S
Against The Current hook up
with YouTube big deal Kurt
Hugo Schneider for another
Tay Sway cover. The video
is more fun than gargling
popping candy.
 THIS WEEK’S COVER STAR, CHRISSY COSTANZA,
IS FAR FROM ALONE IN INCREASING ROCK’S
FEMALE REPRESENTATION. WITH MUSIC
FINALLY MOVING ON FROM ITS PATRIARCHAL
PAST, HANNAH EWENS CELEBRATES
20 OTHER WOMEN LEADING THE FUTURE
OF OUR SCENE…
PHOTOS: CHRIS CASEY, ANDY FORD, TOM MARTIN, GETTY, ANTONY ROBERTS, MATT WHITE

T
he conversation surrounding “women in
music” has been evolving in recent years and,
thankfully, progress has been made.A while
ago, you’d have been pushed to find anyone
in the industry who would accept that rock had a
problem with gender representation. Certainly, bands
with any non-male members were few and far between.
The answer? To talk. Plenty of artists have spoken out
against sexism and misogyny in the scene to K!. Now,
however, we’re entering a new phase in which we accept
that rock, just like any structural system, has its faults.
The new chapter is about increasing visibility across the
board. However much you’ve been switched on to that
deafening discussion, you’ll have noticed that, over this
period, brilliant non-male artists have worked their way
up and now are dominating the rock world. Increasingly
they’re filling your ears and the pages of Kerrang! – and
no longer for their gender, but for the radical way they’ve
moved rock forwards. Here are just 20 of the most
important artists changing the game…

LYNN GUNN [Williams] in Paramore, and she was a big

THE GOTHIC AUTEUR WITH
A DARK VISION
There’s a beautiful but dark world out
there, and it’s one completely created in
the mind of Lynn Gunn. From the role
she plays in PVRIS’ music videos from
concept to creation, to the lyrics that
she pours her soul into, to the sleek
look of her band and its artwork, she’s
had a key role in making something truly
unique.And never for a second does
it look anything but seamless. PVRIS’
music defies genre boundaries, yet is
unmistakably the sound of someone
motivation for me.”
HOW DID YOU CONTINUE TO BE
INSPIRED BY FEMALE MUSICIANS?
“I always forget because we’re close now,
but Sierra [Kay] from VersaEmerge was
a massive influence once I was in a band.
We’d open for them at the beginning and
she’d come over after our set and say,
‘Dude, that was so awesome, keep going!’
That was something that carried with me
for a long time. Within the past five or
six years, there’ve been a lot of amazing
women in rock and I’ve had an amazing
time touring with lots of them: Jenna
[McDougall], Tay [Jardine], K. Flay and
Bones, who we just toured with…”

“WE WERE DENIED

trying something very different in a very
honest way.And the legions of fans show
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN
A TOUR BECAUSE
that everyone wants in to Lynn’s world.
OUR SCENE?

WHO INSPIRED YOU TO
PICK UP AN INSTRUMENT?
“My brother. He’s four years
THERE WAS
“Everyone sticks with each other and
women have each other’s backs, which
ALREADY ONE
is awesome. But I would like to see more
openness with touring. We submitted

WOMAN ON IT”
older than me, and I’d steal his guitar for a tour with someone and got denied
when he wasn’t home.We’d jam together because there was already a woman on
when I learned drums and guitar. the tour, or something like that. It was
hen, in middle school, I saw Hayley complete bull.” L Y N N G U N N , P V R I S
24 KERRANG!

KATE GATT
THE DIY PUNK QueenPIN
WITH QUEER POLITICS
For indie PMA power-pop, there’s
nobody better than Personal Best.
Inadvertently, by being queer (a
reclaimed term to suggest sexuality or
gender outside societal ‘norm’), some
of Kate’s songs touch upon this without
being fiercely political.This Is What We
Look Like, for example, is about kissing
as protest.You can give Kate’s work this
reading, yet at its heart is a love song. It’s
this dual existence that sets Kate’s music
ahead of most of her peers.
TAY JARDINE
THE POP-rock VOICE
braving a new world
Tay’s always been obsessed with strong
female vocals – the likes of P!nk and
Alicia Keys, who come classically-
trained. But it’s not just in her delivery
that Tay shows strength – she’s always
opened up and shared a lot, culminating
in We Are The in Crowd’s last album,
Weird Kids, where she wrote about
grief, bad relationships and growing
up. Recently, Tay is
branching off into a new
project, showing both
her diversity and guts
to evolve from pop-
punk’s confines and
stretch her creativity.
Q YOU WRITE SONGS THAT
A TOUCH UPON BEING QUEER
– HOW DO YOU RECONCILE BEING
A POLITICAL PERSON WITH NOT
WANTING TO BE PIGEONHOLED?
“There’s a point where you don’t
know whether you’re supposed to
make those sorts of statements because
you’re a woman or because you’re
queer.You don’t want to feel pressure to
make political statements all the time,
but essentially being a woman onstage
is political in itself. Being out there and
doing it is just as much a statement
as people being out there and giving
very clear political messages about
queerness and identity.”
SHEENA OZZELLA
THE MASTER OF HAPPY-SAD
CONFESSIONAL INDIE-PUNK
Brought up in the male-dominated
Buffalo hardcore scene (“They definitely
empowered me to be just as good as
them,” she says), Sheena honed her
craft simply by watching local bands
and learning their songs. She nailed the
dichotomy of being fun and writing
upbeat indie-rock songs with a sad or
darker message. Many of them touch on
crippling self-confidence
issues, difficulties
of long-distance
relationships or death
of family members.
Hayley Williams is a
massive fan, too.
WHAT STILL NEEDS TO CHANGE?
“I still think there’s very low
expectations of women to play their
instruments or write songs. I don’t
think men have that anxiety, because
they have the space to make noise and
make mistakes. I hope young women
can have the space to fuck up and it be
okay now. It only seems to be women
who are asked about misogyny, too. I’ve
been asked so many times if anything
sexist has ever happened to me and
it’s a boring question – like,‘Yeah, of
course…’ (laughs). Unless people are
willing to take on board what they hear
from these countless stories, then it’s
just going around in circles.”
EVA SPENCE
THE VETERAN SCREAMER OF
THE BRITISH HEAVY SCENE
Growing up with an older brother, Eva
Spence not only joined in his band,
originally on keyboards, but quickly stepped
up to be their leading vocalist. Quiet and
naturally inclined to take a backseat, Eva
built up her confidence.To practice, she
and James Spence would scream in their
parents’ car over loud music to overcome
any shyness.You wouldn’t know it today.
On the stage, Rolo Tomassi – led by a
frontwoman whose creative streak knows
no bounds away from it, she’s also an
entrepreneur with her Night Of The Living
Thread business – are a force to be
reckoned with. Massive respect.
EN SHAPING ROCK
EMMA BLACKERY
THE YOUTUBE STAR WHO’LL
TALK ABOUT ANYTHING
She has 1.1 million subscribers on
YouTube, which translates to a lot of
young people listening to what Emma
Blackery has to say. People fell in love
with her through a
screen for her relatable
approach to the very
problems affecting young
people every single day,
lending her voice to
those in need of it. Now
she’s pushing ahead with
her music career, expect
that personality to be
translated into massive pop-rock track
s.
ASH COSTELLO
THE PATRON SAINT OF
CREEPY GIRLS EVERYWHERE
Ash has always been into the darkness.
Entering into her own head and mining
the feeling of being an outsider that goes
back to her childhood, she came out with
‘hauntedmansioncore’, a genre spin
on Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion
with goth-rock. New Years Day
have since gone on to become the
leaders of the New Grave scene.
She’s a hero for any girl with a
parent not happy with coloured
hair and tattoos. Because what’s
‘normal’, anyway?
KERRANG! 25
 LANDE HEKT
THE PUNK VOICE
FIGHTING LAD CULTURE
Punk rock doesn’t have to be political, but
when it is and does it well, it’s pure fire.
Behind the catchy tunes of Muncie
Girls is a fierce challenge to lad
culture – Respect is about all
the men who see women as
sex objects. Politics is directly
what inspires Lande to
write, and she has said she
writes mostly with teen
girls in mind; her band’s
debut album reads like a
young girl’s bible to traverse
school, boys and life.And it’s
just the beginning.
VODUN
WHITE LUNG
THE FEMINIST PUNK BAND
TAKING NO PRISONERS
Blistering, compelling and never subtle
but always savvy,White Lung have
serious hooks and a serious message to
each of their songs.Whether it’s about
dysmorphia and body image or sexual
assault, every album is a product of its
environment and the conversations the
members are having and want to invite
you into.Vocalist Mish Barber-Way has
been a significant voice when it comes to
feminism in music, and writes confessional
blogs, sex essays and clever columns on
the side. Formative influence Courtney
Love has fallen in love with them for
good reason.
Q HOW DID YOU FALL IN LOVE
A WITH MUSIC?
MISH BARBER-WAY (VOCALS): “Like

THE GODDESS-WORSHIPPING
anyone who plays music, you do it

VOODOO WARRIORS OF ROCK

Vodun isn’t just a band – the word’s the
name of a West African religion that’s
positive at its core and celebratory of
. In
women and female laos, or goddesses
their make-up, slips and tribal gear,Vodun
s’
are sheer female power.The Londoner
heavy metal, psych-rock,Afro and soul
s
concoction has strong feminist undertone
lex
and is devoted to exploring the comp
past ofVodun cosmology as
well as bringing black history
not taught in Western society
to the forefront. On top of all
of that imparted knowledge,
their incredible stickswoman,
Zel Baterista, also spends part
of her time teaching drum
girls!
SKATING PO LY
THE NEW TEEN BREED OF
ANGRY RIOT GRRLS
because you are obsessed and can’t
not do it. Some of us get lucky and
make it a ‘career’ by our own accord.
I grew up in a musical house. No-one
played, but I come from a family of
fans. I didn’t start playing guitar until
I was a teenager, but I always loved
singing and gravitated towards it. My
voice was always a challenge for me. I
never had that voice that all the other
girls had. All I have is my volume.”
DID GENDER PLAY ANY ROLE IN
HOW YOU THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR
FUTURE OR HOW YOU’D GO ABOUT
MAKING A LIFE FROM MUSIC?
“It did once I got hip to the world. But my
perspective has changed in the last few
years. I like being a woman.”
WHO WAS YOUR MUSICAL HERO
GROWING UP?
“ NEVER HAD
“Dinah Washington was a female jazz
vocalist best known as ‘Queen Of The
THE VOICE THE
Blues’. My grandfather showed me her
album Back To The Blues [1963] when

OTHER GIRL
Teen stepsisters Peyton and Kelli I was a teenager and I fell in love with
were raised on a diet of Riot Grrl in her music, her voice, her whole life.

HAD. ALL I HAVE

In my opinion, no-one sings with the
the boring Bible Belt of America, with
same power that Dinah had. She was a
movement originals Babes In

hard-working singer who did not give
Toyland loving the band so a shit what people thought of her. She
much, they took them on had so many men mooch off her success.
tour. Feminism is central to A notorious diva and hard-worker;
many of the band’s songs, amazing style in every aspect of her
yet more so, say the duo, is being. She died in 1963 at the age of 39.
one simple message: anyone I just love everything about her,
especially her music.”
can do anything, as long as
u’re true to yourself.
BECKY
BLOMFIELD
THE CHARITABLE
ACTIVIST-MUSICIAN
Not only does she front one of the
best punk rock bands around, Becky
Blomfield also uses her voice for good.
With Milk Teeth, she writes incredibly
personal songs detailing, among other
things, her battles with depression – in
turn making her an empowering voice
for mental health awareness. She’s also
deeply concerned with other issues,
notably poverty. In fact, her handmade
jewellery store, DORK SQUAD, has
produced ranges in the past with all
proceeds going to her local food bank.
26 KERRANG!
IS MY VOLUME”
M I S H B A R B E R - W A Y , W H I T E L U N G
MELISSA BECCA MACINTYRE
REESE
THE FRONTWOMAN LEADING
THE WOMAN TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF
END GN’R’s BRITISH GIRLS
PROBLEMATIC PAST Before Becca, there hadn’t been a British
Kurt Cobain famously called them “total rock band with a woman in it offering
sexist jerks”, and, well, the case for the crossover potential for
prosection historically doesn’t look great a long, long time. More
for Guns N’ Roses. On It’s So Easy,Axl crucially, though, there
Rose – twice cited by former spouses hadn’t been a presence
for domestic abuse – sang ‘Turn around quite like her, either.
bitch, I got a use for you’, while the A tough-as-nails ball
original Appetite For Destruction sleeve of ferocious energy
depicted a robot rapist and a sexually- onstage, and a whip-
assaulted woman. Nothing, then, could smart, outspoken person
be more out of sorts than Melissa Reese off it, Becca became a
stepping out as the reunited band’s new role model, in more
keyboardist – a signal of rock’s changing ways than one, simply by
tides if ever there was one. being herself.
 EN SHAPING ROCK
HAYLEY WILLIAMS
THE FIRST LADY OF The
POP-PUNK
Such was the enormity of Hayley Revolution
Williams’ impact on rock, for the
decade following her arrival it seemed
that any band with a female singer
CONTINUES...
would lazily be compared to Paramore.
Crucially, however, the degree of her
influence on rock is not just
down to her incredible voice,
lyrics, stage presence or
her band’s global chart- WRESTLING
conquering success. Over Long has the title of the
the years, she’s written many, women’s division of WWE
many powerful (not to mentioned been called the, um,‘Divas
Championship’. After much
extensive) blogs about her life and healthy public outrage and
times in the music a petition or two demanding that
industry, offering real women wrestlers, such as Paige
insight into the boldness (inset), be given better storylines
and determination and more focus on their ability rather
she’s had to have to steer Paramore than their looks, women will no
through the crazy highs and lows of longer be called ‘Divas’ in the future.
their career. The success keeps on Instead, it’s been changed to the
‘Women’s Championship’.
coming: hit records, sold-out tours
and, most recently, she launched her
own hair dye company.Yep, now she BOOKS
can add ‘businesswoman’ to her CV. There are so many insightful, hilarious,
thoughtful memoirs out by female
No wonder she was honoured with musicians now, you won’t find the time
Billboard Women In Music Awards’ to read them all. Kim Gordon’s Girl In
very first Trailblazer Award. After all, it A Band was the headline-making read
is highly likely that an entire generation from last year, and Carrie Brownstein’s
– not just of girls, but also boys – were Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl
inspired to take up playing instruments is similarly gripping for those who
or start singing because of her. worship Sleater-Kinney. For something
closer to home, Viv Albertine’s tale
of growing up in the Brit punk scene

LZZY HALE
and playing in The Slits will make you

SERENA CHERRY
laugh and cry in equal measures. The
follow up to Clothes, Clothes, Clothes.
THE RULER OF ALL Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys.
is out soon.
MODERN HARD ROCK LEADING THE UK’S BEST
POST-HARDCORE BAND
Lzzy signed up for the rock’n’roll lifestyle
aged just 13. And it shows. In 2016, she Typical of Holy Roar, the beloved MAGAZINES
If you’re a guitar player who doesn’t
is now recognised around the world for independent UK label they call home, want to buy Guitar World or Guitar
her ability to command huge crowds Svalbard are heavy as it comes but Review Guide with a woman in a
and for shredding on guitar with the better than the rest. From atmospheric swimsuit on the cover, then She Shreds
best of them. No wonder Halestorm post-rock build-ups to crushing Mag is for you. Last issue
were the first so-called ‘female-fronted’ sections, their music is aggressive and it had Laura Jane Grace
band in history to top the Billboard visceral. But don’t fucking call them a on the cover. Similar is
Hard Rock Albums chart. Oh, and they female-fronted band. As Serena Cherry Tom Tom Magazine for
won a GRAMMY over Iron lays out on Expect Equal Respect, ‘Is 50 female drummers, an
equally beautifully-created
Maiden, Marilyn Manson per cent a minority? Is my credibility quarterly. Both are brilliant
and Lamb Of God. Perhaps an anomaly?’ Gender is not a genre even if you don’t play an
Lzzy’s most explosive and her message is clear in the essay instrument, and want to
quality, however, is her she penned to go along with the track. read about women doing
lyrics. She’s never afraid to Women “should be simply be referred cool shit in music.
explore her sexuality – just to as a musician – nothing else”.
check out Freak Like Me. WEBSITES
First known for being a site for bros

NITA STRAUSS
everywhere,VICE launched a non-
AMALIE LAURA JANE GRACE male-focused site, Broadly, last year.

BRUUN
If you want to read about witchcraft,
horoscopes and feminism, they’ve
rock’s queen of sh
Rattle off a list of rock’s fine red managed to collate all that in one
place. Look out for White Lung’s Mish
TAKING THE guitarists, and you’ll likely nam
st-ever No trans singer outside of Life Of Agony’s Barber-Way, a writer for the platform.
FLAG FROM BLACK from all nations, all backgro
e people Mina Caputo has as openly shared their
METAL BIGOTS styles – and yet that list will
unds and all story as Laura Jane Grace has.When she
Once the identity of the only men. Nita Strauss, how
likely feature came out as transgender in 2012, she DISCUSSION
person behind this Scandinavian black ever, is one proceeded in Against Me!’sTrueTrans Soul Meredith Graves (inset) made her
such woman capable of givin
metal project was revealed to be that of g anyone else Rebel to detail the uncertainty of losing name in Perfect Pussy, one of the
the world over a run for the
a female former model,Amalie had to ir riffs and your family, longing to be seen for your most raucous punk bands about, and
restore the balance. Regular quickly it became obvious that she was
navigate through the crushing blows of ly featured true gender, and the emotional complexity
in the upper ranks of man one of the most eloquent, engaging
sexism from black metal fans – a genre y modern of a life that few people can understand.
Best Guitarist lists, in 2014 voices in feminism today. Music critic
sometimes known for its unresolved the California This act of bravery in a world that is only
native – who also plays in Jessica Hopper, meanwhile, is another
issues with women. She had to shut all-female Iron just starting to open up to trans people to follow as an advocate for gender
Maiden tribute bandThe Iron
down her Facebook because she Maidens didn’t go unnoticed. LJG has equality in the music industry.
– joined the ranks of Having published The First
was getting so many death threats Alice Cooper’s live become not only a punk trans
and abuse, yet refused to name and icon, but has moved the global Collection Of Criticism By A
band.And if Alice’s Living Female Rock Critic,
shame because she didn’t want to give guillotine doesn’t get conversation on trans issues
she’s always got something
sexists and their bands a moment of you, Nita’s shredding forward, helping countless young extraordinary to say.
fame.A defiant force of nature. will leave you in pieces. peopl ccept their identity.
KERRANG! 27
PHOTO: GETTY
 SIMON NEIL
PHOTO: PAUL HARRIES
 ANNIVERSARY EDITION

2006 TO 2016
TEN YEARS AGO, A SMALL FESTIVAL BEGAN
LIFE IN LEEDS SIMPLY AS A WAY OF PUTTING
ON A FALL OUT BOY SHOW. NOW, IT’S
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED EVENTS
IN ROCK’S GLOBAL CALENDAR. KERRANG!
DUSTS OFF THE PHOTO ALBUM (AND WHIPS
UP A BIRTHDAY CAKE) TO RELIVE THE FIRST
DECADE OF SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL…
WORDS: AMIT SHARMA PHOTOS: CHRIS CASEY, PAUL HARRIES, IAN COLLINS, SUZY HARRISON, PA
 The Blackout’s Sean Smith
gets into the ‘hanging out’
vibe of Slam Dunk in 2008

Max Helyer focuses really

hard on YMAS’ 2009
headline performance

MY SLAM
DUNK MEMORIES! After a long, fruitless search

BY GUSTAV WOOD,
YOUNG GUNS
“The first time we played Slam
Dunk was the first time we’d
gone to the festival, in 2009.
We were very much a new
band at that point, still figuring
out what we were doing and
how to do it.We were very
green. The festival was in its
infancy, in a way, and so were
we as a band… And it really
worked. The festivals in 2009
and 2010 were real learning
experiences, especially for us
playing to larger audiences
and mixed crowds, instead of
the usual bars.
“The thing about Slam Dunk
is that it’s a real community-
based festival, where you’re
included in an experience.
in 2010, Gustav Wood
It’s very intimate and you’re finally spotted the loos
guaranteed a great time. Some
of our favourite experiences
have been playing that
festival, and it’s a great place
to see friends.We always
know before we get there
that it’s gonna be a great day,
which takes the pressure off!
It’s well organised, but has
kept its ethos over the years
and grown, which we have
tried to do as a band, too, and
it’s really nice to be invited
back every couple of years.
It’s a reciprocal thing that
benefits everyone involved.
It’s one place that caters for
different styles of music in
rock and heavy rock. There’s
a real broad spectrum, and it
reflects the versatility we have Hey Monday’s Cassadee
in the UK.” Pope kicks off 2009’s event

T
he months have become weeks, the weeks obviously, for most people is a dream situation!”
days, and soon it’ll be a matter of hours ’til The seeds were planted when a Leeds venue owner
the 11th Slam Dunk Festival is underway. approached Ben with the idea of running a pop-punk
Paramore arrive in 2007.
Since its serendipitous beginnings as a one-off club night.As an up-and-coming promoter, Ben had You might have heard of
all-dayer in Leeds, originally conceived to already impressed by selling out shows headlined by his them since…
bring Fall Out Boy to a city that didn’t have walls big biggest heroes, including ska masters Reel Big Fish. It all
enough to contain them on their meteoric rise to made perfect sense.
global domination, the event has become an institution “It wasn’t me that came up with the name,” laughs The only problem being Millennium Square was
in its own right.The very home of the UK pop-punk Ben.“But we called the club night Slam Dunk and it therefore too big.
scene, and so much more besides. Every music festival started from there,The “And so we figured,” Ben says,
will tell you it’s run “by the fans, for the fans”, but Slam
Dunk has remained defiantly grass-roots in ethos, and
Cockpit in Leeds, from
2001.We soon started “I STUMBLED ACROSS “‘Why not put on a big all-day
event with a few more bands,
perhaps there lies the key in its unmitigated success.
“It all started when I played guitar in a Birmingham
branding gigs as ‘Slam
Dunk Presents’ because, YOU ME AT SIX ON and call it Slam Dunk Festival?’”

MYSPACE AND
ska-punk band called Pignut,” begins Ben Ray, Slam back then, there was
Dunk’s head honcho since the very first day.“We the explosion of punk,
got big in the local scene supporting bands like Reel
Big Fish, Capdown – that sort of stuff. Somehow, I
like blink-182, Green
Day and The Offspring.
TOOK A CHANCE!” festival. Inbestthepop-punk-heavy
O B E N
became the organiser for In January 2006, we
gigs and then started doing got quite a big show for us at that point – putting
it for other bands. I actually on Fall Out Boy just as From Under The Cork Tree
studied something completely was blowing up.They obviously wanted to make the
different – I was halfway most of their new popularity, so their agent rang me
through an engineering course to say they were coming back in May, but couldn’t
at Leeds Uni – when I got do Leeds because there wasn’t a venue big enough.
the opportunity to do this I replied,‘Fair enough, but we have the Millennium
hobby as a full-time job.Which, Square, it’s outdoors and about 7,000 in capacity.’
A
nd so began the story
of England’s biggest and
R A YK! review of that
O
inaugural year, writer Ruth Booth
awarded top marks to Thursday for their “pummelling
wall of noise blowing the rest of the bill right off”,
as well praising Fall Out Boy, Hundred Reasons and
Capdown for stellar performances that made it a
day of triumph. Inevitably, when it came to the same
time next year, Slam Dunk was simply something that
needed to happen.
2007 saw the event relocate to Leeds University,
 Dunk spread to three venues

Tonight Alive cut the

opening ribbon on the
main stage in 2013

New Found Glory stop by

for their first Slam Dunk
appearance, headlining in 2010

MY SLAM
DUNK MEMORIES!
BY ALEX
GASKARTH,
Mayday Parade (left)
and Funeral For A Friend tear up ALL TIME LOW
2011 and 2012 respectively… “Slam Dunk is almost
synonymous, with
Warped Tour, as one of
those tried-and-true,
…before Marmozets and
Gallows (below right) take dedicated pop-punk
things up a notch in 2012 festivals. Almost like
a pop-punk summer
camp kinda situation,
because you’ll see all
your friends and peers.
It’s a staple of the scene!
“Our first time at
Slam Dunk, we were
over doing press and
Paramore were playing
[2007]. We just hung
out with all our friends
and watched all the
bands. It was really
good to experience it
like that – really laid-
back, just enjoying the
show. Paramore were
awesome – they’ve
always been super-nice
to us. I think this was
around the time Riot!
was really blowing up.
I saw that set, thinking,
‘Wow, this is going to
be big!’
“Slam Dunk has
always encouraged the
bands to meet, hang
out and stay out for the
night. Other festivals
can be weird, where
people don’t really talk
to each other backstage.
So, it facilitates that
social aspect of it and
gets the bands hanging
out. Because things can
happen, you might meet
a band and really get on
with them, and decide to
go on tour together! You
create these relationships
that turn into tours or
collaborations that the
music world can enjoy
later down the line.
“When we headlined
in 2013, we were running
super-late, either flying
or driving in. Everything
was taking forever!
We got there and I saw
Mallory Knox, who I
had never heard of
before, and they were
killing it as we arrived.
I remember thinking,
‘Wow, that dude [Mikey
Chapman] can sing!’ We
hung that night and shot
the shit. It was such a
cool moment – walking
in all stressed-out and
then seeing Mallory
Knox being awesome!”

headlined by Reel Big Fish, with Paramore
as main support and a bunch of unknowns
from Surrey calling themselves You Me At Six
kicking off proceedings. Considering Ben went from
being their promoter to their manager, not forgetting
that 2008 debut album, which was released via the
now-dormant Slam Dunk record label, you probably
couldn’t find a band closer to the festival director’s
heart.To see them elevate from the bottom of the
bill into main stage headliners has been most riveting
indeed, though they’re just one of Slam Dunk’s many,
many success stories.
“I don’t think it was a conscious decision,” says Ben,
of his reputation as one of the UK’s true champions
of homegrown talent. “On MySpace, I happened to
stumble across a band called You Me At Six. I just
took a chance. From there, a lot of bands started to
spring up: Enter Shikari,We Are The Ocean, Kids In
Glass Houses,The Blackout… Before that point, the
market had been dominated by the U.S., and British
bands didn’t get a look-in. For me, 2008 is when the
UK scene started to flourish. I can’t take credit for just
randomly picking bands that went on to greatness. But
I’m always looking for new bands for Slam Dunk, and
it’s been amazing seeing Kerrang! chip in with the Fresh
Blood Stage recently.”
That’s not to say bands from across the pond haven’t
thrived on its billing, though.
“Slam Dunk was a nice
time for us because it was in the
beginning of when we were first coming over to the
UK on our own and being independent, not opening
for anybody, trying to see if we had our own fanbase,”
recalls Vic Fuentes of Pierce The Veil.“Slam Dunk was
a big affirmation that we actually had some fans over
here.We did a signing – it was our first signing over
here, and having a line, you know, blew our minds. It
blew everyone’s minds! We had Jenna from Tonight
Alive sing with us, we had people climbing in the trees,
I remember we used confetti over there, and we still
have videos from it… It was a super-exciting time.”
Sean Smith, singer of now-defunct Welsh rockers
The Blackout, was only too happy to pull up a pew and
make himself at home, year after year.
“They should have called it Sean Dunk –
they couldn’t bloody get rid of me,” chuckles
the gregarious frontman, before wisecracking,
“but because the sport is so big in Britain,
they opted for something basketball-related!
I must have played it at least three times,
DJed twice and presented for K! TV there.
The festival has produced a lot of good,
young bands – many of which have gone on
to do bigger and bigger things.”
A
fter being awarded 4Ks as one of the highlights
of 2008’s Leeds University bash,You Me At
Six returned the following year as headliners
– ruling the roost at an event now scaling six stages
and catering for more tastes than ever before. It’s that
very diversity that has since allowed fans to go from
watching Thy Art Is Murder to PVRIS and Mariachi El
Bronx all in an afternoon’s work.
While Southampton metalcore bruisers Bury
Tomorrow may be a far cry from the pop-punk
foundation the festival was built on, they nevertheless
remain one of the event’s many rising stars.
“It was 2011 when we first played,” remembers
frontman Dani Winter-Bates, by which point the
festival had added a second date in Hatfield. “We were
mid-way up the bill and actually at a rocky point for
our band – between labels wondering whether to
continue doing this.That was one
of those shows that redefined our
love for it. And they’ve grown that
metal stage to what it is today – it’s
far bigger than it was the first time
we played. A lot of festivals, even the
bigger ones, write off metal and keep
it in the same place.They don’t try
to grow it.We’ve seen other festivals
rise and fall, which is a shame in ways,

Kellin Quinn joins Pierce The Veil
for King For A Day in 2013
While She Sleeps went so hard
in 2015, Loz lost his shirt
2013, and Cancer Bats prove
that Slam Dunk doesn’t even
need to build stages
Mikey Chapman enjoyed
SD14 more than this photo
might suggest. Honest
DUNK MEMORIES!
BY JOSH
FRANCESCHI,
YOU ME AT SIX
“I think Slam Dunk
in 2007 was the first
proper festival we
ever played, and only
the second time we’d
played up north. At that
point it was literally
just only one stage, and
it was strange for us
because it was also the
first time when I looked
around and saw all
these bands that I was
aware of.We were the
unknown entity of the
day, yet it was the first
time that I think we felt
like a real band.
“To come back and
headline two years later
was kinda unheard of!
I mean, what are the
odds that our band, who
faced a lot of scrutiny
In one of its best line-ups ever,You Me
in our early years with At Six, Architects and PVRIS joined
people being like, forces for 2015’s extravaganza
‘What is this noise?!’
would end up where
we are now? And I
don’t think anyone was
expecting Slam Dunk
to still be growing and
growing the way it
has, either.The festival
definitely helped us
by giving us the stage
and an opportunity,
which paved the way
to getting signed by a
major label. And what
I love is that Slam Dunk
has always kept at its
heart how it supports
and wants to propel
young British bands,
like it did us.”

but Slam Dunk have every point covered – they nail it “The best thing about Slam Dunk is we’re an team are meticulously calculating logistics.
every time.” independent festival,” enthuses Ben.“The fans probably “Lower Than Atlantis managed it last year,” admits
That’s not to say the festival hasn’t faced its don’t see a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes. Ben,“but they weren’t headlining, so it was a bit more
challenges.When asked about the toughest situation Thankfully, I’ve got a small team that work hard all-year- stress-free! We’re trying to figure that out at the
he’s had to deal with, real-time and on-site, Ben admits round, and then there’s all the staff who come to work moment. But, all in all, most bands are quite easy to
there was one year where crowd-flow became a major just for the weekend. It’s almost like a family.” work with – we’ve not had any real problems!”
issue, preventing some attendees from being able to And, of course, there are always challenges ahead. For someone with such a high-pressure job, one
see a handful of bands (“It hurt reading comments Right now, with headliners Panic! At The Disco also which can easily see fortunes turn at the drop of a hat,
calling us poorly organised, especially after working performing at Radio 1’s Big Weekend the very same day Ben seems disarmingly relaxed for your typical festival
a year-round to make it as the Midlands leg (introduced director. Even with America’sVans Warped Tour
happen”).Then, of course, is
the health-and-safety aspect “SLAM DUNK in 2013), Ben and his invading British soil for a slice of the pop-punk
party in more recent years, competition is
– swathes of rabid rock fans
surging forward the split-
HELPED OUR something Ben has no qualms with.
“Of course there’s a bit of competition,” he
second those first chords ring BAND AT A admits.“But it’s a very different format than the

ROCKY TIME”
out is always an unpredictable U.S. version.There’s no animosity; I get on with
situation to take responsibility those guys great and there are no real issues.
for. Last year, a fan was O D A N I W I N T E R - B A T E S , It’s at a different time of year and they don’t
injured five songs intoYMAS’ B U R Y T O M O R R O W O bring it over every year anyway. Slam Dunk
5K-rated set in Hatfield, Josh has become the thing I need to focus on. I feel
Franceschi halting the show to respectfully remind it was what the UK scene needed most.”
us “someone’s life is way more important than our We’d be inclined to agree. Let’s hope the weather
little band”. Some 20 minutes later, the boys were holds out for yet another unforgettable series of
back onstage safe in the knowledge that medical summer parties…
supervision was at-hand and there were no serious
Slam Dunk’s diversity comes to the fore
injuries. It really does say a lot about just how much SLAM DUNK 2016 TAKES PLACE MAY
in 2014, as Bury Tomorrow and The All-
Ben and his team have learned along the way. American Rejects (right) share a bill 28 – 30. SEE THE GIG GUIDE FOR INFO
PHOTO: TRIP FONTAINE/DALLE/ICONICPIX
PHOTO: ANDY FORD
 AXL ROSE &
ANGUS YOUNG

PHOTO: GETTY
 to
RVI
TE E

e
N

W
I
Ni
MEET SWMRS, THE BAND FORMERLY KNOWN
AS ‘EMILY’S ARMY’, WHO ARE PULVERISING THEIR
POP-PUNK PAST AND REDEFINING THEIR FUTURE.
FRONTMAN COLE BECKER TELLS JAMES HICKIE HOW…
!

38 KERRANG!
 C
ole Becker’s sense that his some unorthodox methods for enforcing
band, Emily’s Army, wasn’t his preferred creative direction.
SWMRS’ singer-guitarist
the vehicle he and his Cole Becker: guitar in
“He was living at the studio, and when
bandmates wanted it to hand, fringe in mouth we’d come back in, he’d have taken out
be was confirmed when all the instruments that we did and just
they were touring the UK with Rise done synths – so we had to find a middle-
Against and Pennywise in November ground,” says Cole.
2014. Having spent the first four

I
shows “getting booed off the stage”, f you wanted confirmation of the
Pennywise’s guitarist, Fletcher Dragge, diversity of SWMRS’ inspirations, look
tore into Cole and co’s dressing room no further than the fact that on their
and demanded they have a band latest album, this year’s Drive North,
meeting under his hulking supervision. they’ve written songs about Harry Dean
What followed was actually more Stanton and Miley Cyrus – hardly cultural
akin to the battering that the band bedfellows. The former is the grizzled
– completed by Cole’s brother Max veteran actor in such films as Cool Hand
(guitar), Seb Mueller (bass) and Joey Luke, Alien and Paris, Texas – as well as
Armstrong (drums) – are dishing out to the inspiration for opening track Harry
those piñatas to the left, with Fletcher’s Dean. So pleased were the band with
home truths in place of the sticks, and their creation, they sent it on to the man
the Oakland quartet acting as piñatas. himself via Facebook,
“He said, ‘Look, I don’t care what only for him to describe
Cole ignored instructions
anyone says; you guys need to stop to do handstands on a
it as ‘Too loud for [his]
acting like pussies onstage,’” recalls level surface 89-year-old ears’ and,
Cole, his demeanour much calmer than um, promptly shut down
you imagine it was at the time. his account.
Rather than be disheartened by the “The positive take-
words of a man he respected immensely, away that we’re trying
Cole was empowered by them. to put on it is that he’d
“We all came out and were like, heard the best music he
‘Well, he’s right – we need to stop was ever going to hear
wearing shorts, start playing with more so decided there was no
distortion and just go for it.’” point being on Facebook
So, that’s what they did. By the time any more,” jokes Cole.
they released the Miley Cyrus,

A
lthough it sounds like an apocryphal tale,
Emily’s Army really was formed after a
nine-year-old Cole and Joey watched the
Jack Black-fronted film School Of Rock – in the
classroom, of all places.
“It’s kind of like how a lot of people cite the
Ramones as the reason they wanted to start a
band,” says Cole, quite possibility infuriating a
generation of punk fans in the process. “It was the
idea that kids our age could make actual music.”
The band, variously known as The Raining
Souls and The Clocks, settled on the name
Emily’s Army at the suggestion of Cole and Max’s
mother, in honour of his cousin Emily, and to
raise awareness of Cystic Fibrosis – a genetic
disorder mainly affecting the lungs – that she
suffers from.You could therefore say they
were always a band with a message.
The real reason for questioning the
veracity of the School Of Rock story is
because you’d have assumed Joey’s father
might have kick-started an interest in music,
given that he’s Billie Joe Armstrong from
Green Day, and the man who would go on to
produce the band’s first two full-length albums,
Don’t Be A Dick (2011) and Lost At Seventeen
(2013), the boisterous pop-punk of which
suggested that the apple didn’t fall far from the
tree. It wouldn’t stay there, though.
Swim EP in 2014,
it was clear a
dramatic creative
shift had taken place,
culminating in the band being renamed Swimmers
– later styled as SWMRS.The transformation
subsequently gathered pace as the band drew a
line in the sand and ceased playing any material
predating Swim in their live sets.
“I wouldn’t say we were embarrassed, but
we’d become so much more mature
within the space of a year that the music
we’d made as Emily’s Army began to under-
represent us,” says Cole.
This sea change was heralded by the
appointment of Zac Carper from LA
garage-punks FIDLAR, rather than
Billie Joe, as producer. While the
resolutely hands-off Green Day
legend had been, in Cole’s words,
“a dad with nice recording equipment”,
Zac provided them with the opportunity
to explore new musical avenues – a
huge positive for Cole, whose formative musical
inspirations came more from ’90s hip-hop acts like
De La Soul than they did The Damned.
Furthermore, working with Zac provided the
band with the confidence to stand up for their own
ideas, as Zac, a huge fan of electronic music, had
meanwhile, acted as
the inspiration for the
song Miley, after Cole,
a student at the University of
California, Berkeley, was asked to pen an article
about the colourful pop starlet for the college’s
magazine. And, in a move that will surely provide
Cole with a second strike from the punk purists,
his lyrics deem her to be a ‘punk rock queen’ –
with good reason, he says.
“She’s not always the best person to look up
to – I think she’s done a lot of problematic things
that have offended people – but she keeps trying
to reinvent herself and she’s not afraid to show
her scars, which is something you don’t find a lot.”
While Cole’s work and study-load has resulted
in him being so busy that he is forced to multitask
during the course of this interview and have a
wee at the same time, the mutually beneficial
relationship they bring is key to a man who admits
he has “more philosophical influences than musical”.
“If I had to choose between the two, I’d pick
music, as I just want to play that forever. What’s
amazing about school is that it keeps your mind
awake and provides you with a constant stream of
ideas,” says Cole.
Now they’re making the music they love and
have a constant source of inspiration for new
material, SWMRS are heading into deeper water.

Unusual MARIAH CAREY

SONIC YOUTH – MARIAH CAREY AND
TED BUNDY
JANE’S ADDICTION – TED, JUST ADMIT IT…
KEVIN CARTER
MANIC STREET PREACHERS – KEVIN CARTER

INSPIRATIONS
THE ARTHUR DOYLE HAND CREAM Jane’s Addiction never shied away This is a haunting song
The version on 2004’s from dark subject matter. This track for two reasons. Firstly, it’s
Sonic Nurse is called Kim from their 1988 classic Nothing’s about Kevin Carter, the Pulitzer
PHOTOS: LINDSEY BYRNES

Gordon And The Arthur Doyle Hand
Cream (after the band’s bassist),
SWMRS HAVE A TRACK but originally name-checked
ABOUT MILEY CYRUS. HERE Mariah Carey, as it addresses her
ARE SOME OTHER SONGS high-profile breakdown in 2001.
INSPIRED BY UNLIKELY After concerns about legal action,
CULTURAL ICONS… the title was changed.
Shocking isn’t just inspired by Ted Prize-winning photographer
Bundy, the American serial killer who who committed suicide in 1994.
murdered at least 30 people during Secondly, it was written by Richey
the ’70s, it also features a incredibly Edwards, the Manics’ guitarist and
creepy clip from an interview lyricist who disappeared
with him, in which he the year before the track
denies the crimes. was released.

KERRANG! 39

“I was always the girl at the
slumber party who would bring
the Ouija board, and egg on
freaking everyone out. People
really do get freaked out over the
Ouija board. My band won’t touch
them, but I’ve a few, including
one that was passed down to me
that used to be taped down so it
couldn’t be opened, but I opened
it up anyway! The warning on
the front is for a choking hazard,
rather than for demons (laughs)!”
“When we tour, I have to
bring special boxes in our bus
to keep all the Hallowe’en stuff
I pick up to take home. Bob was
picked up in Missouri. I’m very
picky about my skeletons – either
they’re anatomically incorrect,
or I don’t like their facial
expressions, or they don’t
40 KERRANG!
move right. But Bob was perfect, so
he came all the way home with me.
He sits on the foot of my bed now.
I’d love a real skeleton one day. I’ll
work my way up to that…”
“I have a jar of my friends’
teeth. I don’t know how this
obsession started… I got my
wisdom teeth pulled a while back
and asked to keep them, and then
I started asking my friends to
keep any teeth they had pulled, or
whatever.They know me, so I can’t
surprise them with anything any
more! I get bummed out with them
when they don’t keep
them for me! A
fan gave me a
few that he
lost in a car
accident
this one
time, too.”
“House Of 1000 Corpses
[2003] is my favourite horror movie
of all time,hands down. I’m a big
movie person; I’d rather be at
home watching movies than out
partying.House… has everything –
humour, colourful characters… It’s
the perfect horror movie.
“What do I like about horror
movies? I don’t know.They just call
to me, make me feel calm. I can put
on Hellraiser [1987] and work and
relax. A Nightmare On Elm Street
[1984] was the first horror movie
I ever saw. I met Robert Englund
about a year ago, and told him,
‘You’re like my dad, I grew up with
you!’ My grandma did special
effects for horror movies; she
taught me how to make fake
entrails, and there was
a box of severed heads
around the house… It
was all normal to me.”
KERRANG! 41
 THE SONGS THAT
CHARLIE’S CURRENTLY ON TOUR WITH BUSTED. WE’RE REALLY, REALLY HOPING
THAT HE’S IN CHARGE OF THE BUS STEREO. OR MAYBE HE’S DJING BEFORE
THE SHOWS. EVERYONE LIKES MESHUGGAH, RIGHT? RIGHT?
THIS WEEK:CHARLIE SIMPSON, FIGHTSTAR
THE SONG THAT MAKES ME THINK
OF HOME IS…
YOU REMIND ME
OF HOME
Benjamin Gibbard
“He’s the singer of Death Cab For Cutie,
and this one’s an acoustic song that’s really
poignant for me. One of the opening lines
is ‘You remind me of home’, and, yeah, that
makes me think of home.There really is no
hidden subtext there! It takes me back to the
house I grew up in with my family, which is
always a nice place to let my thoughts go to.
It makes me think of a time back in the day
when I played drums and me and my brother
jammed Silverchair covers together!”
FIND IT: HomeVolumeV (2003)
THE SONG THAT MADE ME WANT
TO BE A MUSICIAN WAS…
LOTION
DEFTONES
“My dad was big into music, and I heard a lot
ofVan Morrison and The Beatles growing up,
which had a big effect on me. But this was
the song that changed everything for me. My
friend bought the record,Around The Fur,
and the first song he played me was Lotion
– it just hit me so hard. I was already into
heavier stuff – I liked Sepultura and Machine
Head – but I had never heard heavy music
with such amazing melodies, as well.”
FIND IT: Around The Fur (1997)
THE SONG THAT I WOULD
LIKE TO COVER IS…
YOUTH
DAUGHTER
WORDS: DAN SLESSOR PHOTO: PAUL HARRIES
“This is just a really beautiful song with a
female vocalist. If I cover a heavy song, I like to
strip it back and do it very chilled-out, and if
it’s a quiet, pretty song, I like to make it loud
and extreme. I can easily imagine Fightstar
doing an expansive version of this.We could
keep the verse delicate, but the drums and
guitars could hammer down on the chorus.”
FIND IT: IfYou Leave (2013)
42KERRANG!
MY
THE LAST SONG I LISTENED me, and even though I’ve heard it so many
TO WAS… times, it still provokes that level of emotion.
I’M ON FIRE The whole thing is so minimal and so
heartbreaking, and the video is stunning,
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN too. It’s just perfect.”
“I wouldn’t call myself the biggest
Springsteen fan, but he has definitely written
FIND IT: American IV:The Man
Comes Around (2002)
some amazing songs, and I’ve recently been
THE HARDEST FIGHTSTAR
sifting through his back catalogue looking
SONG TO PLAY IS…
for some potential classics I’ve not heard
yet.This one is an absolute cracker, it’s so SINK WITH
simple and minimal, and it reminds me of
Jackson Browne – who I’m a huge fan of. I
THE SNAKES
FIGHTSTAR
think we could probably do a pretty good
cover of this one, too.We could really build
“This is definitely the hardest thing
it up to an epic conclusion, which would be
I’ve ever written. I wanted to write
very cool.”
something quite fast and really
FIND IT: Born In The U.S.A. (1984)
push myself as a guitarist and
singer. I had been listening to a
THE SONG THAT MAKES ME WANT
lot of Architects, which I think
TO STAGE-DIVE IS…
is what inspired the techier
NEW NOISE riffs. It’s one of my favourites,
REFUSED
but when we get to the point
“I heard this for the first time when I was
in the set where it comes
up, I have to stand still and
on tour with Fightstar back in the day. In concentrate.There’s no
fact, it was actually on the tour bus, and I way I’d get close if I was
remember someone put it on and when jumping around!”
it really kicked in, the back lounge literally FIND IT: Behind
erupted into a total mosh-pit. It’s absolutely The Devil’s Back
brilliant; it’s got so much groove to it and the (2015)
energy it gives off is perfect when it comes
to making you want to go fucking mental!”
FIND IT: The Shape Of Punk To Come
(1998)
THE SONG THAT MAKES ME WANT
TO CRY IS…
HURT
JOHNNY CASH
“Obviously Trent Reznor
[Nine Inch Nails, who
wrote Hurt] came out
with this incredibly-written
song, but the Johnny Cash
version is so powerful that
I’ve been listening to it on a
plane through headphones
and literally been in tears in
my seat. It just grabs hold of
 ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016

A SECRET ABOUT ONE

OF MY SONGS IS…
99
fightstar
“The song 99 is called that
because I was trying to name
the demo, but all the keys on
my keyboard had somehow
broken, apart from the ‘9’.That
was literally the only key I could use, so I just hit
it twice and that was that! It has absolutely no relevance
to the song at all, and I don’t regret it at all. I fucking love
happy accidents – they can often create the best stuff.”
FIND IT: One Day Son,This Will All Be Yours (2007)

THE MOST STUPIDLY HEAVY SONG

EVER WRITTEN IS…
BLEED
MESHUGGAH
“You can’t put this on and not think it’s the
heaviest thing you’ve ever heard; it’s like a
fucking tank charging all over you, and when
you’re in an aggressive mood, throwing it on
is the best idea you’ve ever had. I’ve never
attempted to play it, and I’ve not actually
seen them play live, but I would love to see
them wham this one out.”
FIND IT: ObZen (2008)

THE SONG I WANT TO BE

REMEMBERED FOR IS…
SLEEP WELL TONIGHT
FIGHTSTAR
“Every time I listen to this I always feel so
happy that I wrote it. For me, it defines
Fightstar’s sound – it has every element of
what we do. It’s a funny story how it came
about, actually. I’d left my acoustic guitar by
the radiator, picked it up a few days later

“I’VE CRIED TO
and the heat coming on and off had made
it slip to this mental tuning that made no

JOHNNY CASH
musical sense. But I played the chords and
they sounded awesome.There was just
something so beautiful about it, which adds

ON A PLANE…” to the magic of this song for me.”

FIND IT: Grand Unification (2006)
CHARLIE SIMPSON
THE SONG YOU WOULDN’T EXPECT
TO FIND ON MY IPOD IS…
WRECKING BALL
MILEY CYRUS
“I remember first hearing this and being
blown away by it.The melodies are pretty
much perfectly written and it’s got some
interesting things going on in the production.
However, in my head it sounds better with a
different singer, because I’m not the biggest
fan of her voice.You could do a fucking
unbelievable cover of it with some massive,
heavy guitars!”
FIND IT: Bangerz (2013)

KERRANG! 43
 OF
O M Y
ANAT CKSTAR
A RO
DEZ
FAFLADRRIVAER
DEVI
ES?
G ? B AD. WIV
LKIN WO
SHIT-TA OD. EATING T EAT!
G O G R
A DAY?
PIZZAS
MY FAVOURITE
MEMORY IS…
“Getting my first motorcycle
when I was seven years old. It was
Christmas Day and we were all out
in the desert with a bunch of friends
– we’re a motorcycle family. I took
off and rode straight into a cactus.
Ever since then, I’ve been a biker.”
MY KIND OF
PEOPLE ARE…
“People who live in the light.
People who are givers rather
than takers. People who are
positive rather than negative.
I don’t like negative people, or
takers, or people who talk shit
on other people. If I come into
a room and someone’s talking
shit, I don’t talk to them because I
know they’ll talk shit on me later.”
MY GREATEST
PHOBIA IS…
“Losing my wife. For 18 years I’ve
never been without her. She’s a
great woman, a wonderful mother,
a wonderful best friend. She’s like
a backbone to me. A great woman
will make a great man and a horrible
woman will break a man down so
quick. I’ve been fortunate enough to
find one who builds me up, and she
keeps me going on a daily basis.”
THE BEST TRIP I’VE
EVER BEEN ON WAS…
“About a year ago I went to Japan
for the first time. The culture is so
beautiful, the food is incredible and
the shows were fantastic. I went to
Osaka Castle, accidentally put $100
in the ticket machine and walked
away with $90 still in it. Somebody
found it, looked for me for an hour
in the castle, bowed and gave it
back to me. Anywhere else, that
money would still be missing.”
44 KERRANG!
ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016
THE MOVIE THAT CHANGED
MY LIFE WAS…
“The Godfather [1972].The first time I
watched it, I got a sense of how a man
should do business, and how serious
business can be. Coming from an Italian
family, you watch that and just feel like
you’re learning. Just listen to lines like,
‘Don’t ever tell anyone outside the family
what you’re feeling!’ It teaches you, and I
like anything where I’m learning.”
MY GUILTIEST
PLEASURE IS…
“Food! When I’m on tour I can’t eat
a fuckin’ thing because I’ve gotta go
onstage every night, so I’ve gotta keep
trim. But when I’m home it’s like, ‘Let’s
order pizza at 11 in the morning and
another at four!’ I’m on tour so much,
when I get home all I want to do is
take my family out and eat.”
MY HERO IS…
“My father. He’s had a long life – he
had me, he went to war for the U.S.
in Vietnam and he’s had a long acting
career. He was in one of the most
iconic shows on American TV, Leave
It To Beaver. He’s someone I wasn’t
really raised with, and I didn’t really
know him until my later years, but
once I got to know him I found a
wonderful guy with a great heart
who loves his family, who works
hard and never takes ‘no’ for an
answer. He’s the kind of guy you’d
want as your friend, and I admire
him a great deal.”
THE ONE THING I CAN’T
LIVE WITHOUT IS…
“Marijuana. I’ve suffered from ADD
and ADHD all my life and found that,
as a medicinal aid, it helps me greatly.
It helps me to study, it helps me to
focus, it helps me to sleep. It helps
aches and pains after touring, too.
It brings a calm and a karma to my
life, I feel like it adds a beautiful hippy
element. Has the legalisation in some
states changed my relationship with
it? No, I’ve always smoked it, legal or
“I’VE BEEN A illegal, since I was 15 years old.”
BIKER SINCE I
WAS SEVEN…”
D E Z F A F A R A
MY FIRST PAID
JOB WAS…
“Working on a construction
WORDS: SAM LAW PHOTO: PAUL HARRIES
site with my dad. I come from a
construction family and I started
working at nine years old. At first I’d
just be picking up cans and bottles.
Then I started really cleaning up. My
dad used to say, ‘If it’s not growing
from the ground, pick it up and put
it in a fucking pile!’ When you’re
getting paid $50 at nine years old,
you’re the cool kid!”
COMING JUNE 8

VOLUME 2
AN ALL-STAR
TRIBUTE CD TO

ONLY IN
 R AT I N G S
KKKKK = CLASSIC
KKKK = EXCELLENT
KKK = GOOD
KK = AVERAGE
K = POOR

ANDY
BLACK
PLUS: CREEPER
LEADMILL, SHEFFIELD. 10.05.16
KKKK
MR BIERSACK JILTS THE BRIDES TO PLAY
HIS FIRST SOLO SHOW ON UK SOIL
WORDS: PAUL TRAVERS PHOTOS: PAUL HARRIES
“DIDYOU just say ‘banana hammock’?” laughs
Andy Black.“We need a system so you can shout
things out one at a time. I’m not sure a banana
hammock would go with the whole look, but
maybe I can get a black one made.”
This is Andy Biersack as you’ve never seen him before. Black
Veil Brides are all about forming a close connection with their
fans, but when they play it’s with a sense of total bombast and
larger-than-life rockstar spectacle.Tonight, playing his first UK
show under his solo guise of Andy Black – last week he made
his proper debut in LA, to an audience including blink-182’s
Mark Hoppus and Matt Skiba, 5 Seconds Of Summer and
producer extraordinaire John Feldmann – the feeling is far more
intimate. He laughs and chats with the crowd as he casually
chucks out quirky pop-rock gems from recently-released album
The Shadow Side, and indulges in covers that mean something
to him personally, even if the majority of his audience are initially
unfamiliar with them. He’s still every inch the rockstar up there,
but it’s almost like he’s off-duty and sharing some tunes and
good times with 900 or so close, personal friends.
Friends like Creeper.Andy has been vocal in his support of
their growing cult and a respectable portion of the crowd
seems familiar with the punk-fuelled rush of The Honeymoon
Suite and the gothic melodrama of Misery.The rest are left with
an indelible impression, as the band race through a brilliant set
that’s part-AFI, part-MCR and part a dark magic entirely of their
own making.
Tonight,Andy Black also wears his influences – at least
those that aren’t Kiss or Mötley Crüe –
on his sleeves.There are covers of
Generation X’s DancingWith Myself,
AlkalineTrio’sTimeToWaste and Social
Distortion’s Reach ForThe Sky. Elsewhere,
the brittle Beautiful Pain is dedicated
to late guitar tech Chris Holley, the big
ballad Paint It Black is dedicated to Andy’s
new wife Juliet Simms, and an all-acoustic
run-through of BVB’s Saviour threatens to
bring the roof down.
It’s not as big or brash as a BlackVeil
Brides show, but then it’s not supposed to
be. For Andy Black, this is personal, and for
those present at this first solo show, it was Creeper chose a weird moment
a pleasure to share it with him. to recreate Michelangelo’s The
Creation Of Adam

46 KERRANG!
 Punching yourself in
the goolies: perfect for
reaching those high notes

ANDY BLACK

ASHTON IRWIN
(5 SECONDS OF SUMMER)
CALUM HOOD
(5 SECONDS OF SUMMER)
JOHN FELDMANN
(MEGA-PRODUCER)

MATT SKIBA
(BLINK-182/ALKALINE TRIO)

MARK HOPPUS
(BLINK-182)

LA PHOTO: STHANLEE B. MIRADOR

MEANWHILE, IN LA…
Andy played his first solo show in Los
Angeles on May 3. Just a couple of his
superstar mates turned up…

One-man bands: 2016’s

STAR SHOUT! hottest musical trend

ANDY BLACK
(VOCALS)
DID YOU HAVE ANY
NERVES ABOUT
PLAYING A SOLO GIG?
“I’m not sure ‘nervous’
is the right word, but I
was certainly anxious
in a way, because it’s so
different. There’s things
you get used to with
Black Veil Brides. It’s not
like we go up and do a
choreographed show,
but there are times in
the set when I know this
or that thing is going
to happen. Doing this
is entirely different.
Whether it’s talking to
the audience between
songs or even the order
of the set list, it’s all new
to me, and I was anxious
to get it right.”

DID YOU EXPECT THE

AUDIENCE TO BE
SO FAMILIAR WITH
SONGS THAT WERE
ONLY RELEASED A
FEW DAYS AGO?
“With it being the first
show, I didn’t really
know what to expect, but
the crowd were fantastic.
Bearing in mind this was
a project that until very
recently was very much
hypothetical, based on
one song and a ‘Maybe
I can do this’ sort of
feeling, it all feels
pretty incredible.”

KERRANG! 47
 Blood Ceremony: flexible with
the truth when describing
their Subway sandwich
DESERTFEST
VARIOUS VENUES, CAMDEN. 29.04.16 – 01.05.16
THE HEAVIEST OF THE HEAVY AND THE FREAKIEST OF THE
FREAKY GATHER FOR AWESOME THREE-DAY SHINDIG
QWHILE THE bank holiday weekend sees Camden
basking in glorious sunshine, being a doom festival,
all Desertfest’s stages are inside, in the pitch-black
darkness. Between KOKO,The Underworld, the
WORDS: NICK RUSKELL/JAMES HINGLE PHOTOS: IAN COLLINS
Electric Ballroom and The Black Heart, across three
days, over 60 bands crank out some of the heaviest,
freakiest and, in some cases, weirdest sounds the
underground has to offer.
Things get off to a heavy-riffing, hard-boozing
start with the sludge’n’roll of the eternally
likeable GURT (KKKK), while Corby filth lords
RAGING SPEEDHORN (KKKK) are as much
like a pub brawl as they were back in 2000. But an
enjoyable one. However, it’s the double-whammy of
CROWBAR (KKKK) and CORROSION OF
CONFORMITY (KKKKK) that sets things ablaze.
The former crush, with songs like Conquering and
Like Broken Glass hitting like concrete, while CoC
are like having a party where your mates’ band play
Sabbath tunes too fast. It is glorious, and frontman
Pepper Keenan looks like the world’s happiest man
as he riffs.
Saturday finds
slow-mo heaviests
POSEIDON
(KKKK), Leeds
sluggers BONG
CAULDRON
(KKKK)
and America’s
Clearly, it was a
very tiring weekend
for Godflesh
Trouble: apparently we
DO want some trouble
here, as it happens
SAMOTHRACE (KKKK) all vying for ‘heaviest
of the heavy’, but that award goes to CONAN
(KKKKK), who use twice as many amps as “Ladies and gentlemen, all
the way from Hogwarts,
everyone else to play riffs twice as heavy as everyone Electric Wizard…”
else’s. Following that, RUSSIAN CIRCLES (KKK)
are good, but their post-metal feels like water after 18
cans of double-strength energy drink by comparison.
By Sunday, the hangovers are as unholy as some
of the riffs. But, fortunately, there’s salvation in
the form of Christian doom legends TROUBLE
(KKKK), who dole out classic, Sabbathy cuts
like The Tempter that crush skulls with as much
might as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
On a more mellow tip are Canada’s BLOOD
CEREMONY (KKKKK). Armed with some
vintage psych riffs and the world’s hardest-rocking
flute courtesy of frontwoman Alia O’Brien, they’re
a welcome trip to somewhere truly magical.
And smashing that vibe to smithereens are
GODFLESH (KKK), who know how to flatten
any venue with their gargantuan assault of harrowing,
industrial fuzz. But they seem positively nice next to
ELECTRIC WIZARD (KKKKK).The stalwarts
of doom metal are now so frightening that songs like
the hateful Return Trip and a rare airing of Dunwich
would have Beelzebub himself cowering behind his
sofa in complete and utter fear. It’s a doom apocalypse
that can’t be followed, and ends things on a gloriously
heavy note. Hopefully our ears will have stopped
ringing in time for Desertfest 2017…
 ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016

FOXING
PLUS: TTNG
LTJ, probably wishing
they’d booked a gig
in Ska-borough…
DOME, LONDON. 30.04.16

KKKK
ST. LOUIS POST-HARDCORE MOB EXORCISE
THEIR WOES BRILLIANTLY IN LONDON
QWHEN YOU’VE deconstructed your
entire existence, picked apart your most
heart-aching anecdotes and poured them
into an album, playing live is going to be a
heavy affair. Tonight, though, the weight on
the shoulders of St. Louis post-hardcore
heroes Foxing is the result of countless van
breakdowns en route to this penultimate
night of a nine-week tour. Luckily, tour buds
TTNG (formerly This Town Needs Guns) are
on hand to banish any signs of stress with
their resilient brand of math-rock. Singer
Henry Tremain’s soaring vocals surge into
complex riffs, and Chinchilla and If I Sit Still…
show that the Oxford trio may have changed
their name, but it’s lost them no momentum.
Even with their motor woes, Foxing are in
PLUS: TRASH BOAT, LIONIZE
O2 ACADEMY, LEICESTER. 04.05.16
KKKK
SKA HEROES MAKE A PRESENT OF
THE PAST WITH GREATEST HITS SET
Q SKANKING AWAY to the jolly ska of Good Enough,
it’s easy to forget that this is what LessThan Jake have
been doing for two decades.They’re too modest to
make a fuss about it, but releasing a live album (Live At
The Astoria) that was actually recorded 15 years ago
suggests they’re at least taking a step back to marvel
at their achievements.Although they come with much STAR SHOUT! WHY RELEASE AN
less history, openers Lionize distract with their funky,
occasionally soulful gifts, and although Trash Boat have a CHRIS ALBUM RECORDED
15 YEARS AGO NOW?

WORDS: STEVE BEEBEE PHOTO: ANDY GALLAGHER

top gear tonight. Frontman Conor Murphy job following that, their energy sees them through. DEMAKES “That’s the golden
question! We’ve
is fearless as he takes to the stage, equipped Despite a case of kebab-induced food poisoning, (VOCALS, GUITAR)
with melancholic lyricism that cuts even frontman Chris DeMakes then leads Less Than Jake amassed a lot of live
HAVE ALL THE UK recordings over the
deeper in a live setting. Thankfully they know through a ‘best of’ set list that’s been influenced by DATES BEEN AS FUN years, but when we
not to wallow too much in their heavy fan feedback. From front to back, fans jump as if the AS THIS? dug the Astoria tapes
vibes, instead pumping even more energy floor itself is steaming hot, wearing grins that are only “We’re only doing four out we realised it was
into songs like Night Channels and The bested by co-frontman/bassist Roger Lima, while the shows this time, but really good. It was
Magdalene. It’s tense music that also manages band’s ever-honking brass section add the flesh to so far they’ve all been a special time at a
to have a sense of cathartic calm, and The what might otherwise be simplistic fare.With songs great. We came over legendary venue. We
Medic, Inuit and Rory – tonight’s intoxicating like Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts, Less Than to do the Groezrock played to 7,000 people
finale – prove that Foxing are simply one of Jake aren’t asking to be taken seriously. But that, more festival in Belgium, so we over three days and it
the most emotionally-engaging bands in post- than anything, is the charm that will probably sustain thought we’d add some doesn’t get much better
extras. It’s been fun!” than that.”
hardcore today. them for another two decades.
JESSICA BRIDGEMAN

BUTCHER
PLUS: SUMO CYCO
BABIES
O2 ACADEMY3, BIRMINGHAM. 23.04.16

KKK ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON. 03.05.16

LA METAL CREW GET UPSTAGED BY
SUPPORT ACT IN THE MIDLANDS
Q BUTCHER BABIES singer Heidi Shepherd
wears the expression of someone who
wants you dead. Co-frontwoman Carla
Harvey, meanwhile, smiles like she’s just
opened a box to find it contains kittens.
Sadly, there’s no dark and light to their
musical output – it’s retchingly bitter and
scathingly metallic, but with few distinguishing
features. It could have been twice as heavy
and still not impressed as much as openers
Sumo Cyco. All colour and energy, their
punky metal pogos somewhere between
No Doubt and Skindred (they have, in fact,
collaborated with Benji Webbe on new song
Move Mountains, which does exactly that
tonight). All-action frontwoman Sever – like
Harley Quinn in a latex waistcoat – is a
trailblazing talent that no-one with eyes and
ears connected to brain could deny is a star
in the making. After that, the Butcher Babies
experience is like being constantly shouted at
KKKKK
THE GODFATHER OF GRUNGE UNPLUGS FOR A
ROYAL PERFORMANCE IN A ROYAL SETTING
Q THIS IS not Chris Cornell’s first
solo rodeo. He has long, long since
proved that the songs that define his
past can be stripped down and work
unplugged – even if it means comically
sliding right up into the extremities of
his acoustic’s neck to widdle about for
Soundgarden’s Fell On Black Days. But
he’s never done it on this scale before.
And never quite so mesmerically.
Tonight, in the resplendent setting
of the Royal Albert Hall, he plays
25 songs – circumnavigating over a
quarter of a century of classics cuts
from his solo material, Soundgarden,
Audioslave,Temple OfThe Dog, one
James Bond theme and fantastic
that tonight’s as much about
looking forward. BeforeWe
Disappear and Josephine,
from last year’s Higher
Truth solo album, confirm
he’s lost none of his ability
to squeeze ventricles
beyond bursting point.
As such, it’s easy to
understand why everyone
always praises Chris Cornell:
TheVoice or Chris Cornell:
The Songwriter – all of which are
(re)confirmed tonight. But this show
also draws attention to Chris Cornell:
The Entertainer.Tonight he’s not just
the pensive grunge poet many think
WORDS: GEORGE GARNER PHOTO: PAUL HARRIES

for reasons you’re unable to properly fathom.
Commitment to the cause is beyond doubt
– Heidi in particular hurls herself around
as if on springs, her mid-air scissor kicks
miraculously not taking out any of the other
band members. Ultimately, though, when
an expression of rage has no form and no
pay-off, it just walks around in circles like a
pissed-off polar bear in a confined enclosure.
Until Butcher Babies learn to harness their
obvious power, they’ll look impotent next to
bands like Sumo Cyco.
STEVE BEEBEE
covers of Prince,The Beatles, Michael
Jackson, Bob Dylan and more besides.
Look, when you cover Led Zeppelin’s
ThankYou and Jimmy Page is in the
crowd applauding like a mere mortal,
it’s safe to say you’re doing a good job.
In fact, this is phenomenal.Acoustic
versions of Black Hole Sun and I Am
The Highway impress as always, but
it’sTemple OfThe Dog’s Hunger
Strike that offers the unimpeachable
highlight.That said, it should be noted
he is. He’s hilarious. Evidence: after
self-deprecatingly critiquing himself for
only writing “miserable songs”, he tells
a story of how he planned to cover
U2’s uplifting One to compensate.
He then explains how a Google snafu
meant he accidentally started reading
the lyrics to a metal classic of the
same name.And so tonight sees U2’s
chords with the words to Metallica’s
One.And, like absolutely everything Chris Cornell:
else tonight, it sounds incredible. Superunplugged

KERRANG! 49

LONELY
THE BRAVE
THINGS WILL MATTER (HASSLE)
KKKK
CAMBRIDGE ALT.ROCK STARS CONTINUE TO FOLLOW
THEIR OWN PATH ON ALBUM NUMBER TWO
WHEN YOUR stock-in-trade involves
the mixing of emotionally-charged
poetic lyricism with thrusting riff-
fuelled alt.rock anthems and swirling,
textured post-rock soundscapes, there’s no such
thing as a rule book. If there was, Lonely The Brave
would probably have torn it up (then written an
emotionally-charged song about the emotional
impact of tearing up rule books).
This is a band, after all, who were supporting
gravel-throated roots rock legend Bruce
Springsteen before they’d even released their debut
album,The Day’s War.They’re more than capable
of writing anthems that can fill every corner of the
sort of enormodomes commanded by The Boss,
but they also know that not everything has to go
off like a hand grenade.
When they start Things Will Matter with the
chiming minimalism and heartbeat pulse of Wait In
50 KERRANG!
The Car, you’re sort of waiting for it to build and
explode.That’s what most other bands would do
on an opening track, but Lonely The Brave simply
give it space to breathe. As the song exhales for
the final time, they segue artfully into Black Mire
and ratchet up the volume.This is indisputably the
sound of a rock band unleashed, but even when
they’re letting loose there’s still a poetry and grace
to everything they do. ‘What if I said that this ain’t
the one / The slicked back curd of the yellow sun?’
ponders frontman David Jakes over ringing guitars
and pounding drums.
This is a band who’ve been compared to
everyone from Pearl Jam to Biffy Clyro numerous
times.True, there are certainly aspects of their
sound and songwriting that justify it. David may
be so shy he lurks at the back of the stage at
gigs, but his rich, expressive croon has an Eddie
Vedder timbre at times. Likewise, the sing-along
R AT I N G S
KKKKK = CLASSIC
KKKK = EXCELLENT
KKK = GOOD
KK = AVERAGE
K = POOR
hook of What If You Fall In also takes on a shade
of Biffy’s unconventional stadium rock attached
to a slightly awkward time signature.That said,
though, you could add more comparisons: there’s
a hint of Baroness’ cerebral aggression here and
there, not to mention the build-and-release tactics
of Explosions In The Sky (only with added vocals)
when they go fully post-rock on closer Jaws Of Hell.
These are all just elements, however, and when
you combine them into one seamless and almost
surprisingly cohesive whole, Lonely The Brave
sound like themselves and no-one else.That’s a
tricky thing to pull off, but with Things Will Matter,
one of the most distinctive bands to have emerged
in recent years continue to make bold strides into
the unknown.
DOWNLOAD: Radar, Jaws Of Hell.
FOR FANS OF: Biffy Clyro, Pearl Jam.
PAUL TRAVERS

“A LOT OF THE
LYRICS ARE
ABOUT BECOMING
A DAD…”
DAVID JAKES
THE INSIDER
DAVID JAKES
(VOCALS)
WAS IT IMPORTANT
TO KEEP YOUR SOUND
EVOLVING BETWEEN
THE DEBUT AND
THINGS WILL MATTER?
“Most definitely. Some of
the songs off the first record
are so old, I’ve a job even
remembering writing them.
We were still finding our
feet for a lot of it. I think
we all went into the second
album as better musicians,
so I hope it shows. I don’t
think there was any pressure
to follow up the debut.We
were all into the bunch of
songs we had going into
the recording, so we were
quietly confident we could
make a very decent one.We
always said we didn’t want
anything on the album that
comes anywhere near being
called ‘filler’, so I hope we’ve
achieved that.”
IS THERE AN
OVERARCHING
LYRICAL THEME TO
THE ALBUM?
“There’s a lot of stuff on
there about becoming a dad
and having to deal with my
ongoing problems with mind
and body! There’s also a few
songs on there about my
friends. I haven’t got a huge
number of close friends, but
I like writing songs about the
ones I’ve got.”
HOW DID THE
ADDITION OF
SECOND GUITARIST
ROSS SMITHWICK
AFFECT THINGS?
“I remember in the really
early days of him joining, I
asked him if he had any of his
own material he could send
over, so I could have a listen.
I opened them, thinking that
they were going to just be
scratchy recordings of an
acoustic, but there were
layered guitars, drums, bass –
an early version of Radar!”
LACUNA COIL
DELIRIUM (CENTURY MEDIA)
KKKK
ITALY’S GOTH METAL ROYALTY GET EVEN DARKER
ON THEIR RETURN-TO-FORM EIGHTH ALBUM
1 THE HOUSE OF SHAME
Dual male and female
vocals, drilling down-tuned
guitars and the concept of
light versus dark have always
characterised Lacuna Coil. So,
this starts as LC have always
gone on.Alright!
2 BROKEN THINGS
Andrea Ferro’s screamed
vocal is all anguish in another
song that addresses personal
demons.The pay-off is Cristina
Scabbia’s bright chorus.
3 DELIRIUM
Lacuna Coil have
undergone line-up changes
in the build-up to this album,
and perhaps that explains
its focus on internal struggle.
This instantly memorable
tune is one of their easier-to-
digest moments.
4 BLOOD, TEARS, DUST
A welcome burst of
electronics winds up a
predatory beast of a tune,
before Cristina provides a
genuinely stunning hook –
one of the album’s best.
5 DOWNFALL
Just when you think
you’ve got to grips with
this softly-lit power ballad,
in walks Alter Bridge’s multi-
talented Myles Kennedy
(possibly on water) to lay
down a jaw-dropping guitar
solo. Oooooh.
THIS ALBUM IS MOSTLY MADE UP OF…
43%
Dual vocals
27%
Emotion
ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016
TRAC
K
B
TRACY
K
6 TAKE ME HOME
Shards of electronic
noise keep this sparse
arrangement interesting,
Andrea again suggests that we
might all be losing it, before
Cristina turns up to remind
us that things might actually
not be that bad.
7 YOU LOVE ME ’CAUSE
I HATE YOU
The Ferro-Scabbia roles are
reversed on this slow-building
slab of moodiness.
8 GHOST IN THE MIST
The best bit here is the
guitar part in the middle,
which makes a kind of ‘nee-
naw’ cop car noise.
9 MY DEMONS
A song of hatred and
love horribly muddled up, it’s
Delirium’s most emotional
track, and one that should
stand the test the time.
10 CLAUSTROPHOBIA
Almost a partner
piece to My Demons, this has
a shade more optimism. But
isn’t as good.
11 ULTIMA RATIO
This closes things in
a good, if slightly predictable,
manner.While the Italian
veterans aren’t attempting to
reinvent their sound, they’ve
undoubtedly re-energised
themselves, and then some.
WORDS: STEVE BEEBEE
18%
12% New blood
Goth stuff
KERRANG! 51
 KKKK = CLASSIC KKKK = EXCELLENT KKK = GOOD KK = AVERAGE K = POOR

KVELERTAK
NAME4IGER !RMY ARE BACK6sssn IS THE
sound of a band full of the quiet confidence SAOSIN
needed to take their time with all things, ALONG THE SHADOW (EPITAPH)
NATTESFERD (ROADRUNNER) including getting to the point. It all moves
along at a slow-burning pace, rather than KK
KKKK the usual cocky swagger, and frontman Nick FIRST NEW MUSIC IN SEVEN YEARS FROM
SCANDO METAL NUTCASES GET SLIGHTLY 13’s croon coats each song like molasses, SECOND-TIER POST-HARDCORE CREW
MORE SENSIBLE ON THIRD ALBUM LYRIC OF and it takes until eighth track Devil Lurks Q IN THEIR mid-’00s
QRENOWNED FOR
their far-beyond-driven
THE WEEK On The Road for them to actually unleash
anything that quickens the pulse. Much
heyday, Newport
Beach’s Saosin were
‘There’s an
live performances, echo pulling of the rest wallows in retro rock’n’roll not exactly the most
Norwegian crew out the meaning nostalgia without offering anything new, like riveting band in the
Kvelertak have taken a / Rescuing a a rockabilly admiring his artfully-crafted quiff cluttered post-hardcore
slightly more considered nightmare from in the mirror for just a bit too long. scene. Back with their
approach to their latest a dream’. And DOWNLOAD: Devil Lurks On The Road. first release since 2009’s In Search Of Solid
that’s how the
work. It doesn’t mean this riot-bringing metal FOR FANS OF: Alkaline Trio,The Cramps, Ground – and reunited with original vocalist
new blink track
band who previously gave every impression of opens – with a Rocket From The Crypt. Anthony Green (Circa Survive) – they don’t
having just escaped from a zoo are suddenly tacit admission ALISTAIR LAWRENCE make much more of an impression this
practising sobriety. God knows what Berserkr that they aid time, either.That opener The Silver String
is about, but it probably isn’t flower-arranging,
put it that way.This still rocks – but it also
Freddy Krueger
in making a ANTI-CLONE is somewhat plodding and predictable isn’t
the best start, and unfortunately these are
soothes and hypnotises in ways that fans might getaway from THE ROOT OF MAN (PHD) two words that can be applied with far too
not be expecting.After a frantic, grinding start, teenagers’ much frequency.They have their moments,
the title-track and 1985 have a metronomic dreams when
things get a bit
KKKK though – the urgent-yet-ethereal chorus of
poetry in their genes, while the nine-minute hairy.We’re on LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FROM THE Ideology Is Theft is effortlessly affecting, and
Heksebrann actually blossoms into proper to you, blink. MURDER CAPITAL OF THE UK… METAL the jangling Second Guesses is really quite
melody.While it’s conceivable that, in its less BAND: Q HAVE YOU ever gorgeous. But even these are pretty hard to
feral moments, Nattesferd will disappoint blink-182 been to Boston in recall once all is said and done.
some, it’s a bold, transitional statement from a SONG: Lincolnshire? It’s quite DOWNLOAD: Second Guesses.
band that’s still reaching for their best. Bored To Death a nice place, surrounded FOR FANS OF: Circa Survive,Thrice.
DOWNLOAD: Svartmesse. ALBUM: by farmland, seems DAN SLESSOR
California
FOR FANS OF: Mastodon, Gojira. quiet, not a lot to do.
STEVE BEEBEE Apparently it’s the
murder capital of the UK.We know this CABIN BOY
OCEAN GROVE
BLACK LABEL (SUBLIME VOL.) (UNFD)
because it’s one of the first things residents
Anti-Clone – stars of our recent New
Wave Of Weird feature (K!1615) – mention.
JUMPED SHIP
PATHWAYS (SELF-RELEASE)
How’s that for setting the tone? After
KKK spotting them in their masks, that is.And KK
MULTIFACETED MELBOURNE METAL CREW SLEEVE OF it’s no surprise that when The Root Of TIME FOR SOME IDENTIKIT ELECTRO-METAL-
WELCOME YOU TO THEIR (ODD) WORLD
QTHEY’RE A confusing
THE WEEK Man’s first proper track, Deracinated,
lurches into view, it does so on the back of
SNORE-CORE FROM THE MIDLANDS
QWHEN A record’s
Was there ever a
bunch, Ocean Grove. On more gloriously a stupidly heavy, nu-metal-tinged riff, bleak opening lyric is
the one hand, they’ve rock’n’roll sight atmosphere and disturbing vocals.At first ‘Everybody’s going to
released a manifesto than Lemmy glance, there are a few obvious-looking die’, you can be fairly
alongside this EP, in which snarling full-pelt signposts – most obviously to Slipknot, both assured this is not
they describe themselves into a mic? No. in a visual sense and in the heavy grooves ground-breaking stuff.
as an “artistic collective” There is no that pulse through songs like A Sight For In fact, Leicestershire’s
better idea for
and raise points about social behaviour and a sleeve for
Sewn Eyes – but there’s also a sense of Cabin Boy Jumped Ship may well find work
the consumption of culture. And on the other, Motörhead’s genuinely sick weirdness to them that’s all ensuring said ground remains distinctly
they not only have a song called Lights On forthcoming Anti-Clone’s own. It makes them intriguing, unspoiled, for you’re more likely to find a
Kind Of Lover, but have filmed themselves Clean Your fascinating, but still not the sort of people unicorn on their tour bus than an original
acting the giddy goat in its video. Musically, Clock live album you’re sure you’d actually like to meet, idea on Pathways. All the requisite parts
we’re on more familiar ground; what the than the late judging by the way they rage here.Although that make them sound ‘now’ are there
manifesto refers to as “odd world music”(???) frontman doing we’re sure they’re really nice.They hide it – the atmospheric electronics, juddering
largely fits into the baggy strides of nu-metal, what he did very well, mind. breakdowns, petulant, toys-out-the-
best, and doing
albeit with space for the odd deathcore vocal it better than
DOWNLOAD: Deracinated,A Sight pram screaming and sing-along choruses.
or progressive flourish. A Limp Bizkit who anyone else. For Sewn Eyes. These choruses are their strongest suit,
want to make, not Break Stuff? A Slipknot FOR FANS OF: Slipknot, Meshuggah, particularly on The New World Order, but
who think People=Awesome? Told you they King 810, Mudvayne. the heavy use of so much horrid vocoder
were confusing. NICK RUSKELL on the same track is absolutely unforgivable.
DOWNLOAD: Cold Skin.
FOR FANS OF: Slipknot, Deftones. AT THIS summer’s of fun. Singer Dee

TWISTED
OLLY THOMAS Bloodstock festival, Snider is the sort of
Twisted Sister will play tireless, cheerleading

TIGER ARMY VIDEO OF

THE WEEK SISTER
their final UK show, as
part of a farewell tour
frontman who could
make a broken-down
7ttto
(LUNATONE/RISE) following the tragic car spring into life
AUTOPSY, death of drummer A.J. through sheer shouting
KK PRESS TO MECO
Not a real
Pero last year. And if and refusal to take no
NOT ENOUGH (STAND-UP) BASS IN YOUR autopsy, but a
you’ve seen Twisted for an answer. How did
FACE FROM NOW-MELLOW QUIFF-PUNKS trippy, digital
Sister live, you’ll know he get like that? Well,
QNINE YEARS since one. Which is why their retirement other than being a
their last album, and actually even will be so deeply felt – really, really hard bloke
even longer since they weirder than they are, quite simply, from New York state, in
played the ’50s-tastic seeing a corpse one of the best, most the early days, TS had
getting cut up uplifting, last-party- to fight for everything
West Coast punk
would have on-Earth rock’n’roll they had. They couldn’t
anchored by an upright
been. Sort of. bands in the history get a record deal for
bass that made their

52 KERRANG!
 K!LASSIC ALBUM ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016

There are already far too many bands doing

N TH the same thing, and mostly doing it better.
Ministry
O

E DOWNLOAD: Replace The Hate.

FOR FANS OF: Issues, Miss May I.

PSALM 69
DAN SLESSOR

S (Sire, 1992)
TERE
DESTRUCTION
O

HOW THE WORLD’S CRAZIEST BAND MADE THE WORLD’S

UNDER ATTACK (NUCLEAR BLAST) MOST OBNOXIOUS ALBUM. AND SOLD A SHITLOAD OF IT…
KKK THERE HAS never been more own thing. It was insane, though. But I got
VETERAN TEUTONIC THRASH , of an obnoxious, more of a off on the chaos of working like that.”
WINDMILL AND SHRED THE . AGAIN migraine, more of a pain-in-
QEVERY THRASH band the-arse band than Ministry. HOW DID IT FEEL TO HAVE BANDS LIKE
in history privately resents Led by Al Jourgensen – a man who looked NINE INCH NAILS AND FEAR FACTORY
Destruction for nicking like a satanic cowboy, and has rightfully SAYING WHAT A BIG INFLUENCE
that moniker before been crowned Ultimate Rockstar Test PSALM 69 WAS ON THEM?
1 VIMIC –
SIMPLE
SKELETONS
they had the chance to
take it, but having been
champion for his ability to be at the centre
of whatever trouble is going down with a
“You know, [NIN mastermind] Trent Reznor
started out as our roadie. So, we threw
Welcome back, destroying for 14 albums, huge grin on his face – they were everything firecrackers at him and scared the shit outta
Joey Jordison! it’s safe to say they’ve earned it.That’s not to that your parents feared and more.And him ’til he quit the tour. That’s a true story,
Nice new band say they’ve refreshed and revitalised the well that’s before they got to the harsh, demonic, man! I’d get 1,000 firecrackers and we’d
you’ve got there,
from which all thrashers drink, but if you’re industrial noise Ministry created. Nowhere chuck them into his bunk on the bus to get
man. It’s heavy –
and it’s awesome. expecting reinvention you’re clearly not was it more vulgar and hateful than on the his ass up.And then, a few months later, he
headbanging hard enough.The title-track says multimillion selling Psalm 69:The Way To was on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
it all, really, and makes for gloriously raucous Succeed And The Way To Suck Eggs. I saw that and said to the guys, ‘Ain’t that
2 ISSUES –
BLUE WALL
Another new
listening, while blasting the likes of Dethroned
from a tank could get an enemy to surrender
Signed to a major label and given a
$750,000 advance, heroin addict Al blew
the kid we used to terrorise?’”

Issues tune! sharpish. Probably.With Marcel ‘Schmier’ most of the money on drugs, then asked YOU GOT THE ALBUM TITLE FROM
This is smoother Schirmer still howling his heart out and Mike the label for more. Unsurprisingly, the CHAPTER 69 OF ALEISTER CROWLEY’S
than spreadable Sifringer shredding like a madman, don’t be atmosphere was not great.Al and the THE BOOK OF LIES. WAS HE SOMEONE
butter that’s just
had a shave.
surprised if album 15 is not too far off. band’s other creative lynchpin, bassist Paul YOU LOOKED UP TO?
DOWNLOAD: Under Attack. Barker, actively hated one another to the “He had the right frame of mind, though
FOR FANS OF: Slayer, Bonded By Blood. point where they couldn’t work together he weren’t no genius. Sure, he fucked some
3 RED HOT
CHILI
PEPPERS
DAN SLESSOR in the studio, and Al claims to have gone
in daily and simply undone everything his
chick on top of a pyramid, but he hasn’t
done anything I haven’t done. If anything,
– DARK
NECESSITIES
Is RHCP’s
EMP!RE
OUR SIMPLE TRUTHS (SELF-RELEASE)
bandmate had been working on.
But what actually came out of all this
unpleasantness is a masterpiece that added
I’d teach him shit, you know? I’ve hung out
with people that make Crowley look like
kindergarten. But the guy was cool for
comeback a layer of industrial sharpness to the ’90s his time and completely overlooked, I’ll
single about all
the essentials
KK metal explosion, and confirmed just how give him that. Good versus evil should be
for a power IT’S TWO STEPS FORWARD E STEP much of a twisted genius Al was.As he inherent in every human being. He’d play
cut? Torches, BACK FOR SOUTH WEST RO releases the debut of his new band, Surgical up the evil part, and at least during the
candles? No, but QSOME BANDS take Meth Machine, he looks back at how he Victorian age that was a huge ‘fuck you’ to
it’s still good. a little time to mature. made a monster… society. Gotta give the guy credit for that!”
Emp!re have spent the last
4
MESS
REAL
FRIENDS –
four years slowly trying
to hone their sound, into
WHAT WAS IT ACTUALLY LIKE IN THE
STUDIO, WORKING ON THE ALBUM?
HOW DO YOU FEEL LOOKING BACK
AT THE ALBUM TODAY?
something bolder and AL JOURGENSEN (VOCALS, MOST “I guess it was okay for its time.There are
Not that much
of a mess at all,
more complex, although, INSTRUMENTS):“It was like a bunch of a couple of songs I really dig on there, but
actually. More of sadly, it still isn’t quite landing here.While Sights animals being let loose.We spent a lot it’s not the best one to me.To be honest,

WORDS: AMIT SHARMA

a solid pop-punk has all the math-riff markings of peers like of money on drugs, but I was still able to what I like most tends to be the shit I’m
gold nugget. Arcane Roots, it’s tracks like Sparrows which work. I much prefer the studio to playing working on right now.”
lean a little too heavily on the band’s influences live, I was in my element, even with crazy

5 GORGUTS –
PLEIADES’
DUST
(chiefly Coheed And Cambria) that let this
down.When it’s good, though, there’s some
shit going on everywhere. Barker and I
never saw one another – he’d work in Kerrang! Radio play
uniqueness about Our Simple Truths that the day and be all good, and I’d come in it all at 10pm, May 19!
Ready for mind-
suggests Emp!re still have something worth at night, fuck with his shit, and just do my
bending prog-
death-metal? building on.They just need to bring it out more.
Yes? Here’s 33 DOWNLOAD: Sights.
minutes of it. FOR FANS OF: Arcane Roots, Biffy Clyro.
JESSICA BRIDGEMAN

six years, despite these signing them. But,

five huge, tough blokes with a little help from
in womens’ clothes Lemmy and finally a
and make-up selling sprinkling of good
3,000 tickets a night, luck, they succeeded
six nights a week, and in signing to Atlantic

“WE THREW
rocking every one of (in your face, suits),
those faces. WE ARE and releasing Stay

FIRECRACKERS
TWISTED F**KING Hungry, an album
SISTER (KKKK) – now that sold five million
getting a UK release miss opportunities copies and was crucial

AT TRENT
WORDS: NICK RUSKELL

and available on with labels, or else in defining metal in

Netflix – is the story of be the subject of such the ’80s. Watch this,

REZNOR…”
their struggle to even scorn that the head of then realise why you
get off the blocks. Of a Atlantic threatened to have to see them this
terrible spate of bad fire the next person summer. You’ll regret
luck that saw them who suggested it if you don’t.
AL JOURGENSEN

KERRANG! 53
 MU$T
HAV£S
ALL THE BEST GEAR FROM THE FOUR
CORNERS OF PLANET ROCK AND BEYOND!
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It’s officially summer, and the Kerrang! office is melting/cursing our Our Editor James has been on a real
parent companies’ pathetic air-con. This frankly ridiculous paddling pool White Zombie kick recently. He’s
is just what you (and we) need. put this in Klobber in the vague hope
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We love New Girl. And we
love Christmas parties. We
reckon if we got one of these
we’d pay for ours by June.
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We wish there was a BABYMETAL
comic book. We also wish we could
eat sushi all day, every day, but we
tried that and pooed ourselves.
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Since the dawn of food, salt and

Coming to the Kerrang! Awards 2016?
Wear this shirt. Warning: if your nipples
become possessed, it’s not our fault.
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Do you have around £4,000 going spare? There is nothing

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garden. Sure, you don’t know you need it yet, but trust us, you When we saw Zootopia, and Officer Excited about the return of Bill & Ted? Are you dying for a coffee? So is this
do. It will solve all of your problems. Hopps’ carrot pen Dictaphone, we Pah.We’re Team Death all day long. mug. That doesn’t really work. But
£3,495 Lifesize-models.co.uk immediately wanted one… Price TBC you know what we’re trying to do!
£8.66 Amazon.co.uk Americanclassicsonline.com £9.99 Etsy.com

54 KERRANG!
 1620 MAY 21, 2016

From the pen of the brilliant Jeff
Lemire, with beautiful art from
Dustin Nguyen, comes our new
favourite comic series.
$7.99 (£5.53) Imagecomics.com
C HE
Thanks to this yellow beauty
MERCH STORE!
PIERCE THE VEIL’S NEW ALBUM IS FINALLY OUT! CELEBRATE
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too! L8RZ, wind.
£20.90 Zippo.co.uk If Pierce The Veil were Prone to Misadventures? This shirt kinda reminds us of
a sports team they’d Then the compass necklace ’90s girly game Dream Phone.
probably have a hat like in this album bundle should Is it Vic, Tony, Mike or Jaime that
this. Luckily they’re not, help you find your way. wants to take you on a date to
because the quartet don’t look P.S. We’re more excited the downtown diner? We know
like they’d be very good at by that viewfinder than who it is, but we’re not telling…
itself. har har.
23.13) $20 (£13.85)
erchnow.com Ptvmerch.com

Why not catch a mouse then
force it to wear The Hound’s
helmet? Note to RSPCA: this
was just an idea, not an order.
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Here are some things that Andy B
likes: smoking, and the colour purp
the two, we prefer purple.You don
smelly hands from colours.
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If there’s something strange in your games cupboard, who ya gonna

call? No idea, to be honest. But we reckon this Ghostbusters board
game looks like a whole load of fun.
Price TBC Cryptozoic.com

Look like you’ve been rolling
around in freshly-cut grass with
this tie-dye shirt. It’s so grasslike
it actually just brought on our
Pretend you’re Chewbacca (without the nits) with this satsuma-coloured hayfever, and we’re not even lying.
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£24.95 Disneystore.co.uk $20 (£13.85)
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If you remember to take a fiver
for some chips.
$15 (£10.38) Ptvmerch.com

KERRANG! 55
 ’T MISS
DON ISSUES
FUN FACT: THIS IS ISSUES’ FIRST-EVER UK HEADLINE TOUR! ANOTHER FUN FACT:
THEY’RE ALSO READY TO BLOW YOU AWAY WITH THEIR BRAND-NEW ALBUM...
WELCOME BACK! YOU MUST
BE REALLY EXCITED TO FINALLY
HAVE SOME NEW SONGS TO
PLAY ONCE YOU HIT THE UK!
MICHAEL BOHN (VOCALS): “Definitely!
We’ve really only just finished the self-titled
touring cycle after almost two years, so it’ll be
good to break out some new songs for you
guys. We’ve also never done an Issues headliner
in the UK before, so that’s really exciting, too.”
GIVEN THAT THIS IS YOUR FIRST HEADLINER,
WILL YOU BE BRINGING PYRO AND
CONFETTI CANNONS WITH YOU?
“We’ve joked about wanting to do a pirate ship
WORDS: DAN SLESSOR PHOTO: GRIZZLEE MARTIN
set – we’d have cannons onstage and totally
embrace the theme! We’ve always got crazy ideas
– we’ve done a Pokémon theme, and when we
last toured the States we had a dive bar theme.”
YOU’RE BRINGING HACKTIVIST AND
ASTROID BOYS ON THIS TOUR, ARE YOU
LOOKING FORWARD TO WATCHING THEM?
“Oh yeah! Our tour manager is from the UK
and he turned us on to Astroid Boys, and
they’re something different – we don’t want a
bill of straight-up heavy bands. And, of course,
we’re all big fans of Hacktivist, they’re insane!”
56 KERRANG!
HAVE YOU EVER HAD AN OPENING BAND
MAKE YOU THINK, “AH SHIT – WE HAVE TO
FOLLOW THAT!?”
“If there’s one band that does that, it’s letlive.!
You watch that band and your jaw drops – we’d
be standing side-stage while they’d be playing
and it’d be like, ‘Um, okay, so we have to kill it?’
(laughs). And that was every single night – they
don’t do bad shows! But it almost gives you a
boost, too, to be as insane as them.”
“WE WANT TO
HAVE A ‘PIRATE
SHIP’ STAGE SET”
MICHAEL BOHN
SPEAKING OF EXCITING THINGS, AFTER
TAKING AGES TO MAKE YOUR NEW
ALBUM, HEADSPACE, IT’S COMING
OUT THIS WEEK – PSYCHED FOR PEOPLE
TO HEAR IT?
“Before we released The Realest and Coma, I
was super-nervous. I didn’t know what to think
and I didn’t know how people were going to
take it, especially with the singing, as I sing on
almost every song. But the response to those
two songs has been incredible, so I’m definitely
a lot more confident now.”
SO, WILL WE BE SEEING THAT NEW SENSE
OF CONFIDENCE ONSTAGE AT YOUR SLAM
DUNK APPEARANCES, TOO?
“We’re really excited for it, this will be our first
time and we’ve heard nothing but good things.
We’ll definitely be out there trying to make as
many new fans as possible.”
AND HAVE YOU PICKED UP ANY NEW FANS
SINCE POSTING YOUR HILARIOUS ‘UBER
DRIVER FROM HELL’ VIDEO ON YOUTUBE?
“Yeah, and there have been a lot of people
saying, ‘I wish this was my Uber driver!’ I’m
actually following it up with a series of videos –
the next one is ‘Lyft Driver From Hell’, because
I got fired from my Uber job and had to go
drive for them instead (laughs)!”
DATES: Cardiff Y Plas May 24, London Camden
KOKO 25, O2 Ritz Manchester 26, Glasgow Garage
27, Southampton Engine Rooms 31. Support:
Hacktivist, Astroid Boys.

YOUR WEEK!
KERRANG! DAY MAY 18
BATH Emp!re,We Are Carnivores (Moles Club)
BIRMINGHAM Landscapes, Capsize, Giants
(Rainbow Courtyard)
BRIGHTON Andy Black, Creeper (All
Saint’s Church)
EXETER Lonely The Brave (Cavern)
MANCHESTER Blind Guardian (O2 Ritz
Manchester)
NORTHAMPTON The Damned (Roadmender)
NOTTINGHAM The Summer Set,The
LaFontaines, SYKES (Rescue Rooms)
SWANSEA As It Is,With Confidence, Jule
Vera (Scene)
THURSDAY MAY 19
BIRMINGHAM Magnum (O2 Institute
Birmingham)
CARLISLE As It Is,With Confidence, Jule
Vera (Brickyard)
DERBY Fort Hope (Venue)
DUBLIN Blind Guardian (Academy)
EDINBURGH When We Were Wolves,
Values (Opium)
GUILDFORD Press to MECO (Boileroom)
LONDON Band Of Skulls, Johnny Lloyd
(Electric Ballroom, Camden)
MANCHESTER Landscapes, Capsize, Giants
(Star & Garter)
RIDER OF THE WEEK
BAND: Simple Plan
Looking at this rider, it would
seem Simple Plan are warming up
for the Olympics in Rio this year.
Representing Canada in ping pong.
48 bottles of 500ml non-carb
water, at room temperature
1 brand-new Vitamix juice
onated
30 small hand towels
r, every day
Clean towels – no used towe
from last night’s Motionle
ls
ss In
White show, please
A proper trail-mix with exac
t was the last
amount of cashews, raisins, equal
almonds
and gold nuggets – please
remove all
coconut shavings
5 puppies to play with befo
re and
after the show
1 Crest toothpaste (no Colg
Dove soap bars (no other ate!)
brand than
Dove – important!)
1 small jar of Nutella
5 embroidered silk robes
with the
band’s last names
1 electric golf cart
1 ping pong table with four
competition-level paddles
10 competition-level ping
pong balls
Only 3 Star balls (very imp
ortant
we take ping pong seriously –
) talked me into going.
Assorted deli meats/cold
cuts
Assorted vegetables – NO
EGGPLANT!
Assorted whole, uncut fruit
– NEWCASTLE Magnum (O2 Academy)
NO PAPAYA!
Montreal newspapers – but
only the
sports section
All 27 seasons of The Simp
sons
on DVD
1 floral arrangement to be
disp
in band’s dressing room (abs layed
olute
no carnations or daisies, plea ly
1 framed photograph of Can se)
ada’s
Prime Minister, Justin Trud
eau
1 Canadian flag
A Starbucks Espresso Mac
1 vinyl turntable with a sele
hine
ction of
greatest hits albums from
ABBA and Slayer
Elton John,
PORTSMOUTH Andy Black, Creeper
(Pyramids Centre)
PORTSMOUTH The Summer Set,The
LaFontaines, SYKES (Wedgewood Rooms)
PRESTON Wheatus (Ferret)
READING Dorje (Sub 89)
SWANSEA Emp!re (Scene)
SWANSEA Fort Hope (Sin City)
FRIDAY MAY 20
BRISTOL coldrain,Wage War, Counting
Days (Thekla)
DONCASTER Allusondrugs (Vintage
Rockbar)
GLASGOW When We Were Wolves,Values
(Attic)
HOLMFIRTH Magnum (Picturedome)
LEAMINGTON SPA Dorje (Zephyr
Lounge)
LEEDS Manic Street Preachers, Editors
(First Direct Arena)
LONDON Andy Black, Creeper (KOKO,
Camden)
LONDON Funeral For A Friend,Raging
Speedhorn, ZOAX (O2 Forum Kentish Town)
LONDON Emp!re (Upstairs @ Garage,
Islington)
LONDON Landscapes, Capsize (Boston
Music Room,Tufnell Park)
NEWCASTLE As It Is,With Confidence, Jule
Vera (O2 Academy2 Newcastle)
SWANSEA Fort Hope (Sin City)
SATURDAY MAY 21
ABERDEEN As It Is,With Confidence, Jule
Vera (Tunnels)
ALDERSHOT Witchsorrow, Gorilla, Alzir
(West End Centre)
BRIDGEND Fort Hope (Hobos)
BRIDGWATER Emp!re,We Are Carnivores
(Cobblestones)
DUNDEE When We Were Wolves,Values
(Room At The Top)
GLASGOW Manic Street Preachers,
Editors (SSE Hydro)
GUILDFORD God Damn (Boileroom)
LONDON coldrain,Wage War, Counting
Days (Borderline)
LONDON Funeral For A Friend, Creeper,
ZOAX (O2 Forum Kentish Town)
LONDON Rolo Tomassi, Hang The Bastard,
Departures, Slabdragger (Holy Roar X @
Various venues)
MANCHESTER Magnum (Academy 2)
NEWPORT Dorje (Le Pub)
NOTTINGHAM Blind Guardian (Rock City)
SUNDAY MAY 22
ABERDEEN When We Were Wolves,Values
(Downstairs)
CANNOCK Dorje (Station)
GLASGOW As It Is,With Confidence, Jule
Vera (King Tuts)
LONDON Blind Guardian (O2 Forum
Kentish Town)
MANCHESTER coldrain,Wage Wars,
Counting Days (Sound Control)
OXFORD God Damn (Cellar)
MONDAY MAY 23
DERBY InMe, Press to MECO (Venue)
NEWCASTLE Mortiis (Cluny)
NEWCASTLE SWMRS (Think Tank?)
NORWICH Lonely The Brave (Open)
SHEFFIELD As It Is,With Confidence, Jule
Vera (Leadmill)
ST ALBANS Fort Hope (Horn)
TUESDAY MAY 24
BATH The Computers (Moles Club)
BRIGHTON Fort Hope (Patterns)
CAN’T GET TO A GIG?
THEN HERE’S SOME OTHER STUFF
TO KEEP YOUR EYES/EARS BUSY
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
–THE EVOLUTION
KERRANG! TV –
MAY 21, 10AM
From dancing at funerals to
joining The Black Parade, and
not forgetting the fabulous life
of the Killjoys, MCR have done
it all. Watch them evolve like
Charmander into Charizard…
CARDIFF Issues, Hacktivist, Astroid Boys
(Y Plas)
CHESTER InMe, Press to MECO, Orca
(Live Rooms)
LONDON The Answer (100 Club)
LIVERPOOL We Came As Romans, Miss
MY FIRST GIG
WHO: ALICE COOP
ER, FLORIDA STATE
FAIRGROUNDS, TA
MPA, 1971
THE W.A.S.P. LEGEND WAS ST
UNG BY TH
OF THE GODFATHER OF SHOC E SHEER BRILLIANCE
K ROCK…
BLACKIE
LAWLESS,
W.A.S.P.
“This show
performance
on the Love It To
Death tour, and
I couldn’t eat or
sleep for three days after attending
it. I had never seen anything like it,
and everything they did after that
got bigger, but nothing equalled
it. They played for 35 minutes and
I didn’t want 36, I got everything I
needed. Thing is, I actually wasn’t
even really a fan before the show.
I’d heard the song I’m Eighteen
and basically some friends
“It was the
psychological
approach they took
to the audience that
made the show so
riveting. They had the
ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016
LESS THAN JAKE
FIREBALL TOUR
INTERVIEW
KERRANG.COM
Like skanking, Hawaiian shirts
and the sound of trumpets in your
punk? Well, Less Than Jake have
announced a HUGE UK tour and
they’ve exclusively told us all about
it. Better get those imaginary pogo
sticks at the ready, people!
#KLASSICKERRANG
– IRON MAIDEN
KERRANG! TV –
MAY 19, 4:30PM
This is the perfect opportunity for
you to dust off your old red tunic,
get your Union flag down from the
attic and climb around the lounge
like a monkey! God only knows
what the hell you’re going to do for
an Eddie but, quite frankly, that’s
your problem, not ours.
May I (Arts Club Loft)
MANCHESTER As It Is,With Confidence,
Jule Vera (Deaf Institute)
NOTTINGHAM coldrain,Wage War,
Counting Days (Rock City)
READING Lonely The Brave (Sub 89)
electric chair onstage, but the show
hadn’t progressed to that really big,
over-the-top thing that came later.
Really, it was pretty minuscule,
because they didn’t have a lot of
money, and, like I said, it was far
more a psychological thing than
bombastic or flashy.
“Alice himself was in some ways
minimalistic but larger than life at
the same time. At the start of the
show he came out on his knees,
banging on a cowbell, which
looked very ritualistic. From there
it just grew and grew, and by the
climax, the stage was in total chaos.
Most people at the end of a show
are rowdy and making noise, but
when this was over you could have
heard a pin drop. If you remember
the first time you saw
Apocalypse Now or Jaws,
it had that kind of effect.
Witnessing it was a true
life-altering experience.”
WORDS: JAMES HICKIE
KERRANG! 57
 HULL
THE EUROPEAN CITY
OF CULTURE PROVIDING
ROCK BY THE BUCKETLOAD…
SAM ARUNDELL
(GUITAR), THE COLOUR LINE
(PROMOTER), O’RILEYS
WHAT WAS THE MUSIC SCENE
LIKE GROWING UP?
“It was up and down. I remember
being 13 or 14, playing and
attending shows for the first
time, and back then mixed-billed
shows used to be the norm. Every
single show was packed. In 2008, a
disastrous festival ruined the music
scene for a long time, to the point
where bands didn’t come here. Even
so, people involved in the actual
scene itself stayed passionate and
have worked solidly for eight years
to bring it back to where it was.”
HOW IS THE MUSIC SCENE
DOING IN 2016?
“It’s absolutely thriving.The bands
are incredibly supportive of each
other and the regular promoters
are doing an amazing job of
consistently bringing high-quality
music to the city. One group
of promoters in particular that
deserve some recognition are the
Hull Noise Collective – they do
a brilliant job of hosting intense
rehearsal room shows across the
city that are starting to pick up a
large following. I can’t remember a
time when Hull was this great for
rock and metal shows.”
AS A PROMOTER, DO YOU
FEEL HULL IS A GREAT CITY FOR
BANDS TO PLAY NOW?
“Absolutely. Bands from across the
country who have played Hull all
look for repeat bookings after they
first play here because they love it
so much. I think Hull’s European
City Of Culture status has pushed
Hull into the limelight on a popular
music level. It also helps that bands
like Black Tongue and Sworn
Amongst have really made the
world’s rock and metal fans pay
attention to the city.”
No entry? How are we
supposed to get in?
58 KERRANG!
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE
TOWN’S KEY VENUES, AND
WHAT MAKES THEM SO GREAT?
“I actually co-run O’Rileys, a
500-capacity multi-entertainment
venue, which is where the majority
of metal and rock shows happen in
Hull – as well as slowly developing
into a popular socialising area
for local musicians, too.Another
high-capacity venue is The Welly
Club that hosts anything from 300
to 900-capacity shows of all genres.
For the smaller intimate venues
we have The Adelphi, Polar
Bear, and Fruit, which can all host
anything from acoustic pop all the
way to heavy metal.”
ARE THERE ANY BANDS FROM
THE LOCAL AREA THAT YOU
COULD RECOMMEND?
“This is a difficult one, as there are
so many great ones! My own band,
The Colour Line, of course, as
well as Liberatae Mae, Mastiff,
Sworn Amongst, Dividium,
Remenitions, Sex Injuries,
Three Day Millionaires and
Abandon The Night.The brand-
new bands coming out of the
area like Earthbreaker and The
Escape Artist are already making
a solid name for themselves within
the area.”
WHAT IS THE BEST SHOW
YOU’VE EVER PLAYED IN HULL?
“Our recent EP launch show was
absolutely insane.We only expected
a few people to turn up and pay on
the door, but we ended up playing
to an absolutely rammed room.
That was fun.Another fantastic
show was when we supported
Funeral For A Friend at The
Welly Club a couple of years
ago to a sold-out crowd in our
hometown – it was surreal!”
Here’s a venue where you can
have O’Riley good time at…
BOOKING NOW
2000TREES
Line-up:TwinAtlantic,Refused,Moose Blood,WSTR,
While She Sleeps,Palm Reader,Neck Deep,The King
Blues,The Bronx,Basement,LonelyThe Brave,HECK,
Mallory Knox,The Xcerts,Arcane Roots, Counterfeit,
Dinosaur Pile-Up, Creeper, ZOAX, Reigning Days,
Dave McPherson, SikTh, Jamie Lenman and more!
Cheltenham Upcote Farm July 7 – 9.
3 DOORS DOWN
O2 Academy Bristol November 2, O2 Academy
Birmingham 3, Manchester Academy 5, London
Eventim Apollo 6.
AC/DC
London Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Stadium
June 4, Manchester Etihad Stadium 9.
ALICE COOPER
Stone Free Festival @ London O2 Arena June 18 – 19.
ALL THEM WITCHES
Bristol Thekla October 2, Manchester Deaf Institute
3, London Scala 4, Brighton Haunt 6, Leeds Brudenell
Social Club 7, Glasgow Classic Grand 8, Nottingham
Bodega 9.
AMERICAN IDIOT: THE MUSICAL
Sunderland Empire May 25 – 28, Glasgow King’s
Theatre May 31 – June 4.
ARCH ENEMY
Norwich Waterfront August 21, Sheffield Corporation
22, Cardiff TramShed 23, Southampton Engine Rooms
24. Support: Soilwork.
ARCHITECTS
Brighton Concorde 2 May 27 – 28. Support:
Counting Days.
BAND OF SKULLS
Leeds Stylus October 20, Manchester Albert Hall
21, Newcastle Northumbria University 22,London
Camden Roundhouse 26, Southampton Engine
Rooms November 17.
BEACH SLANG
Tunbridge Wells Forum June 7, London Camden
Dingwalls 8, Birmingham Sunflower Lounge 9,
Edinburgh Electric Circus 10, Liverpool Studio2 11,
Manchester Deaf Institute 12, Nottingham Bodega
13, Cardiff Globe 14, Cambridge Portland Arms 15.
Support:Weaves, Muncie Girls (except Manchester).
BEING AS AN OCEAN
Plymouth Hub June 21, Bridgend Hobos 22,Kingston
Fighting Cocks 23.
BESTIVAL
Line-up: Creeper, Fatherson, K.Flay, Milk Teeth,Moose
Blood, PrettyVicious, PUP. Isle Of Wight Robin Hill
Country Park September 8 – 11.
BIFFY CLYRO
Glasgow Bellahouston Park August 27. Support: Fall
Out Boy,Wolf Alice, Cage The Elephant.
BLOODSTOCK FESTIVAL
Line-up: Slayer, Mastodon,Twisted Sister,Venom,
Behemoth, DragonForce, Paradise Lost, Rotting Christ,
Anthrax, Gojira, Satyricon, Fear Factory, Symphony X,
Acid Reign, Metal Allegiance, Stuck Mojo, Goatwhore.
Corrosion Of Conformity, Unearth, Ghost Bath,Evil
Scarecrow,Witchsorrow,Akercocke, Desert Storm
and more! Derbyshire Catton Park August 11 – 14.
BLUES PILLS
Wolverhampton Slade Rooms November 1,Glasgow
Classic Grand 2, Manchester Club Academy 5,
London Camden KOKO 6, Bristol Marble Factory 8.
BRING ME THE HORIZON
London O2 Arena October 31, Bournemouth BIC
November 1, Nottingham Arena 2, Birmingham
Barclaycard Arena 4, London O2 Arena 5, Sheffield
Arena 6, Manchester Arena 8, Glasgow SSE Hydro 9.
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
Newport Centre November 24, O2 Academy
Newcastle 27, O2 Academy Glasgow 30, Manchester
Academy December 3, O2 Academy Birmingham 6,
London O2 Academy Brixton 9. Support: Killswitch
Engage, Cane Hill.
BURY TOMORROW
Southampton Engine Rooms June 4. Support:
Every Time I Die, Landscapes.
BUTSERFEST
Line-up: Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, FVK, Creeper,
WSTR, Crooks,Ashestoangels and more! Petersfield
Queen Elizabeth Country Park September 10.
CAMDEN ROCKS
Line-up:SikTh,Young Guns,WeAreThe Ocean,
GingerWildheart,InMe,Norma Jean,The Godfathers,
Evil Scarecrow,NewYears Day,TheVirginmarys,The
Qemists, Queen Kwong, Forever Never,As Lions,The
DirtyYouth, SHVPES, Black Foxxes, Lounge Kittens,
Press To MECO, BloodYouth, Scholars,Ashestoangels,
Samoans, Counting Days,The Ghost Riders In The
Sky, Bad Sign, Creeper, Glen Matlock, Reigning Days,
Sonic Boom Six, Heck, Zebrahead, Black Spiders,Yuck,
Reckless Love,The Algorithm, Fort Hope, Palm Reader,
Wars, Fizzy Blood,Vodun, Oxygen Thief. Camden
various venues June 4.
COLDRAIN
Southampton Engine Rooms 26, Reading Sub 89 27.
Support: Counting Days,Wage Wars.
DAMNATION FESTIVAL
Line-up: Enslaved, Nails, Ne Obliviscaris, Full Of
Hell, Oceans Of Slumber. Leeds University Union
November 5.
DECADE
Manchester Sound Control May 31, Bath Moles June
1, Bristol Exchange 3, Leeds Key Club 4, Birmingham
Rainbow 5. Support: Cheap Meat (except Bath).
DEFTONES
London SSE Arena Wembley June 3.
DON BROCO
Manchester Gorilla July 24 – 25, Glasgow Oran Mor
26 – 27, Newcastle Riverside 29 – 30, O2 Institute
Birmingham 31 – August 1, Leeds Key Club 3 – 4,
Bedford Esquires 5 – 6, London O2 Islington Academy
8 – 9, Southampton Engine Rooms 10 – 11, Norwich
Open 13 – 14, Bristol Marble Factory 15 – 16.
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
Line-up: Rammstein, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Korn,
Megadeth, Disturbed, Nightwish, Deftones,The Amity
Affliction, Counting Days, Gutterdämmerung, Havok,
Killswitch Engage, Skillet,Twin Atlantic, Sixx:A.M., Fort
Hope,Architects,Atreyu, Beartooth, Black Foxxes,
Dead!, Down, Milk Teeth, Neck Deep, Rival Sons,
Skindred,TesseracT, Lawnmower Deth,Attila, Billy
Talent, Breaking Benjamin, Delain, Don Broco, Frank
Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Ghost, Gojira, Halestorm,
Ho99o9, Saxon, Shinedown,Tremonti,All Time Low,
Buck & Evans, DevilYou Know, Glassjaw, Napalm
Death, Pennywise,The Raven Age, Royal Republic,
Scattering Ashes, Scorpion Child,The Shrine,The
Temperance Movement,Weirds,The Wildhearts,
Avatar,WWE NXT, Juliette & The Licks, Raging
Speedhorn,The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For
Nothing, Inglorious, Raveneye, Puppy, From Ashes
To New, Skinny Lister,The Amorettes, In Search Of
Sun, Man The Mighty,Wearing Scars,The Wild Lies,
BABYMETAL. Donington Park June 10 – 12.
ESCAPE THE FATE
BristolThekla June 8,Southampton Engine Rooms 9,
NorwichWaterfront 10.
EVAROSE
London Garage (Upstairs) July 8, Oxford Bullingdon 9.
EVERY TIME I DIE
London Borderline May 31, London Camden
Underworld June 1, London Tufnell Park Dome 2,
London Old Blue Last 3.
EXPIRE
Cardiff Bunker June 13, Leeds Temple Of Boom
14, Glasgow Audio 15, Birmingham Rainbow 16,
London Boston Music Rooms 17. Support: Cross
Me, Renounced.
THE FALL OF TROY
Nottingham Rescue Rooms September 9, Leeds Key
Club 10, Glasgow Cathouse 11, Newcastle Think Tank?
13, London Scala 14, Bristol Fleece 15, Manchester
Sound Control 16, Birmingham Asylum 17. Support:
Tiny Moving Parts.
FATHERSON
London Scala June 2, O2 ABC Glasgow 4. Support:
The Xcerts.

FIDLAR
London Brixton Electric July 12.
FIZZY BLOOD / ALLUSONDRUGS
Kingston Fighting Cocks June 6, Birmingham Sunflower
Lounge 7, Newport Le Pub 8, Cheltenham Frog &
Fiddle 9, Liverpool Magnet 10.
FORT FEST
Line-up: Lonely The Brave, InMe,The DirtyYouth,
The Treatment, Grumble Bee, Bad Touch, Eva Plays
Dead, Cheap Meat and more. Bedfordshire
Thurleigh September 2 – 4.
FORT HOPE
Plymouth Underground May 25.
FROM SORROW TO SERENITY
Bridlington Londesborough May 27, Edinburgh Opium
28, Derby Hairy Dog 29, Plymouth Underground 31,
Birmingham Rainbow June 1, Brighton Sticky Mike’s 2,
Bristol Hatchet 3. Support: No Sins Evades His Gaze.
GLASTONBURY
Line-Up: Muse, Bring Me The Horizon, ZZ Top,Wolf
Alice and more. Somerset Worthy Farm June 24 – 26.
HANDS LIKE HOUSES
Manchester Academy III May 25, Leeds Key Club
26, Glasgow Cathouse 27, Newcastle Uni SU 28,
Liverpool Arts Centre Loft 29, Nottingham Bodega 30,
O2 Institute2 Birmingham 31, Southampton Joiners
June 1, Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach 2, London O2Academy
Islington 3, Bristol Exchange 4. Support: I The Mighty,
Dead!,The GospelYouth.
ICED EARTH
London Brixton Electric December 6. Support:
Ensiferum, Kataklysm, Unearth.
IGGY POP & JOSH HOMME
London Royal Albert Hall May 18.
I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN
Glasgow Cathouse August 22, Birmingham Rainbow
23, Plymouth Hub 24, London Camden Dingwalls 25,
Southampton Social 26. Support:The Browning, Feed
Her To The Sharks, Empires Fade,To Kill Achilles.
ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL
Line-up: Queen + Adam Lambert, Stereophonics,
Twin Atlantic, Sixx:A.M. and more. Seaclose Park,
Newport June 9 – 12.
ISSUES
London Camden KOKO May 25, O2 Manchester
Ritz 26, Glasgow Garage 27, Southampton Engine
Rooms 31. Support: Hacktivist,Astroid Boys.
KATATONIA
London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire October 21.
KERRANG! AWARDS 2016
Line-up:Asking Alexandria. London Troxy June 9.
KILLING JOKE
London O2 Academy Brixton November 4.
LANDSCAPES
Birmingham Rainbow May18, Manchester StarAnd
Garter 19, London Boston Music Rooms 20.Support:
Capsize, Giants.
LONELY THE BRAVE
Exeter Cavern May 18, Cambridge Corn Exchange
20, Norwich Open 23, Reading Sub89 24, Newcastle
Riverside 27.
MEMPHIS MAY FIRE
London Camden Electric Ballroom May 31.Support:
We Came As Romans, Miss May I, Cane Hill.
METAL BREW
Line-up:Venom Inc, Diamond Head, Divine Chaos,
Incredible Hog,Witchsorrow, Groan, Desert Storm,
Dysteria, Landskap. London Barnet Rugby Football
Club July 30.
MINISTRY
Cardiff TramShed August 16, O2 ABC Glasgow 17,
O2 Institute Birmingham 18, O2 Ritz Manchester
19, London O2 Forum Kentish Town. Support:
DevilDriver.
MOOSE BLOOD
O2 Institute2 Birmingham October 3, Glasgow
Garage 4, O2 Academy2 Sheffield 5, CardiffY Plas 6,
London Camden KOKO, Manchester Academy2 8.
MUNICIPAL WASTE
Glasgow Cathouse June 13, Newcastle ThinkTank?
14, Leeds Brudenell Social Club 15, London Camden
Underworld 16, Manchester Sound Control 17.
NAILS
Glasgow Cathouse November 4, Bristol Fleece 6,
London Camden Underworld 7. Support: Full Of Hell.
NAPOLEON
Liverpool Arts Club Loft June 21,Worcester Marr’s
Bar 23, Exeter Cavern 24, Brighton Sticky Mikes 25,
JUST ANNOUNCED
APOCALYPTICA
Manchester Bridgewater Hall February 27,
Edinburgh Queens Hall 28, London Royal
Festival Hall March 1.
BASEMENT
Newcastle Riverside July 12, Carlisle Brickyard
13, Cardiff Globe 14,Wolverhampton
Slade Rooms 15, Southend Chinnery’s 18,
Brighton Haunt 19,Tunbridge Wells Forum
20, Southampton 1865 21, Plymouth Hub 22.
Support: Dinosaur Pile-Up,The Sun Days.
BILLY TALENT
Norwich UEA October 12, O2 Academy
Bristol 13, Manchester Academy 15, O2 ABC
Glasgow 16, O2 Academy Newcastle 17, O2
Institute Birmingham 19, O2 Academy Leeds
20, Nottingham Rock City 22, London Camden
Roundhouse 23, Cardiff Tramshed 24, O2
Guildhall Southampton 26.
THE BOUNCING SOULS
Huddersfield Parish August 2, Glasgow
Stereo 3, Bristol Exchange 5, London Camden
Underworld 6, Kingston Fighting Cocks 7.
Support: Pear.
Basingstoke Sanctuary 26,BournemouthAnvilAugust
1,Southampton Joiners 2,MargateWest Coast Bar
3,London O2Academy2 Islington 4,Northampton
Black Prince 5,DoncasterVintage Rock Bar 6,Leeds
Key Club 7, Newcastle Central 8, Edinburgh Opium 9,
Glasgow Classic Grand 10, Manchester Rebellion 11,
Cheltenham Frog & Fiddle 12, Bristol Hatchet Inn 13,
Plymouth Underground 14.
NORMA JEAN
Plymouth Junction May 31, Bournemouth Anvil
June 1, Chester Live Rooms 2, O2 Academy Leicester
3, Brighton Sticky Mikes 5, Liverpool Arts Club 7,
Swansea Scene 8, Belfast Empire 10, DublinVoodoo 11.
NORMANDIE
London Boston Music Rooms July 18, Cardiff Fuel
19, Manchester Retro Bar 20, Newcastle Head Of
Steam 21, Nuneaton Queens Hall 22, Cheltenham
Frog & Fiddle 23, Southampton Joiners 24. Support:
Future Talk.
OCEANS ATE ALASKA
Birmingham Rainbow June 1, Cardiff Bunker 2,
Northampton Black Prince 3, Newcastle Central 4,
Edinburgh Opium 5, Manchester Rebellion 6,Leeds
Key Club. Support: Fathoms, Loathe.
THE OFFSPRING / BAD RELIGION
O2 Academy Birmingham June 19, O2 Academy
Glasgow 20, London Eventim Apollo 22. Support:
Templeton Pek.
PANIC! AT THE DISCO
O2 Apollo Manchester November 17, Cardiff
Motorpoint Arena 18, London Alexandra Palace
19 – 20.
PETROL GIRLS
Cardiff Gwdihw June 7, Bristol Exchange 8,Worcester
Fly Bar 9, Plymouth Juntion 10, Brighton Prince Albert
11, Norwich Owl Sanctuary 12, Glasgow Bar Bloc 14,
Newcastle Trillians 15, Huddersfield Parish 16,London
DIY Space 17, Liverpool Social Centre 18, Manchester
Sound Control 19.
DANCE GAVIN DANCE
O2 Academy2 Oxford November 3, Brighton
Haunt 4, O2 Institute3 Birmingham 5,
Southampton Engine Rooms 6, Nottingham
Rescue Rooms 8, O2 Academy2 Newcastle 9,
Manchester Sound Control 10, Glasgow Garage
11, Leeds Key Club 12, Cardiff Globe 14, Bristol
Fleece 15, London Camden Underworld 16.
DEAD KENNEDYS
O2 Academy Oxford October 12, London O2
Academy Islington 13 – 14.
FIREBALL – FUELLING THE FIRE TOUR
Line-up: Less Than Jake,The Skints, Mariachi El
Bronx, Kemuri (3 – 6),The Bennies (8 – 11).
O2 Academy Bristol October 3, O2 Academy
Sheffield 4, O2 Academy Birmingham 5, London
O2 Academy Brixton 6, O2 Academy Newcastle
8, O2 Academy Glasgow 9, O2 Ritz Manchester
10, O2 Academy Bournemouth 11.
KERRANG! AWARDS 2016
Latest addition: A Day To Remember.
KREATOR
Manchester Academy February 28, Dublin Vicar
PIERCE THE VEIL
Cardiff Great Hall November 25,O2Academy
Birmingham 26,London O2Academy Brixton
27,Nottingham Rock City 29,O2Academy
Newcastle 30, Glasgow Barrowland December
1, Manchester Academy 2, Belfast Mandela Hall 4,
Dublin Academy 5 – 6.
PUSCIFER
Manchester Bridgewater Hall May 30, London
Camden Roundhouse 31.
RAGING SPEEDHORN
Colchester Arts Centre July 15, Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
16, Liverpool Arts Club Loft 17, O2 ABC2 Glasgow
18, Leeds Key Club 19, O2 Academy3 Birmingham
20, Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms 21, Oxford
Wheatsheaf 22, London Camden Underworld 23.
Support: Stoneghost, By Any Means.
READING & LEEDS FESTIVAL
Line-up: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Biffy Clyro,Fall Out
Boy, twenty one pilots, Crossfaith, Eagles Of Death
Metal, Lower Than Atlantis,Asking Alexandria,Five
Finger Death Punch, Sleeping With Sirens, State
Champs, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes,Creeper,
Mastodon, Good Charlotte, Beach Slang, State
Champs, Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls,Tonight
Alive,Thrice, Hacktivist, Nothing More, Citizen,
Superheaven, FVK, SWMRS,Nothing But Thieves,
Coheed & Cambria, Skindred, Dillinger Escape Plan,
Kvelertak, Milk Teeth, HECK, Dead!, Big Spring,The
King Blues, Modern Baseball, ROAM,Waterparks,
Brian Fallon and more! Reading Richfield Avenue and
Leeds Bramham Park August 26 – 28.
REAL FRIENDS
Kingston Hippodrome May 27.
ROB ZOMBIE
London O2 Forum Kentish Town October 17.
RORY INDIANA
Leicester Pi Bar June 17, Southampton Alex 19,
Plymouth Underground 20, Cheltenham Frog & Fiddle
ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016
MOTION CITY
SOUNDTRACK
O2 Ritz Manchester August 17, O2
Birmingham Institute2 18, London
Camden KOKO 19.
Street March 1, London O2 Forum Kentish
Town 2. Support: Sepultura, Soilwork, Aborted.
NASTY
Manchester Sound Control October 23,
Glasgow G2 24, Birmingham Rainbow 25, London
Camden Underworld 26. Support:Aversions
Crown, Malevolence,Vitja, Sand.
TERRORVISION
Glasgow Garage November 22,Wolverhampton
Wulfrun Hall 23, O2 Ritz Manchester 25,
Southampton Engine Rooms 26, London
Camden KOKO 27, Norwich Waterfront 28,
Cardiff TramShed 29.
THRICE
London Electric Ballroom August 25.
UGLY KID JOE
Glasgow Garage October 1, Newcastle
PHOTO: GETTY
Riverside 2, Manchester Academy3 3, O2
Academy2 Sheffield 4, Norwich Waterfront 6,
Nottingham Rescue Rooms 7, Southampton
Engine Rooms 9, Bristol Thekla 10, London O2
Academy Islington 12.
21,TunbridgeWells Forum 30.
SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL
Line-up:Panic!AtThe Disco,Of Mice & Men,
New Found Glory, Mallory Knox, FourYear Strong,
The Starting Line, SetYour Goals, Every Time I
Die, Issues, Memphis May Fire, Zebrahead, Capdown,
Real Friends, Miss May I,We Came As Romans,
Yellowcard, Mayday Parade, Shikari Sound System,
The Story So Far,The King Blues, Cancer Bats,The
Amity Affliction, Northlane, Moose Blood, Norma
Jean, Hacktivist, Hit The Lights, Gnarwolves, Chunk!
No, Captain Chunk!, ROAM,Young Guns, coldrain,As
It Is,Trash Boat,WSTR, King Prawn, [spunge], Heart
Of A Coward,Astroid Boys,The One Hundred,The
Qemists,The Beat,The JB Conspiracy, Rob Lynch,
Bryce Avary solo,Away Days, Grumble Bee, Greywind,
Elder Brother, Seafoal, Bethan Leadley, Lianne Kaye.
Slam Dunk North – Leeds City Centre May 28, Slam
Dunk Midlands – Birmingham NEC 29, Slam Dunk
South – Hatfield University Of Hertfordshire 30.
SLEEP
London O2 Forum Kentish Town July 6.
THE SMITH STREET BAND
London Camden Underworld July 9, Kingston
Fighting Cocks 10, Norwich Owl Sanctuary
12, Nottingham Bodega 13, Glasgow Audio 14,
Manchester Soup Kitchen 15, Dublin Fibber Magees
16, Brighton Prince Albert 17. Support:Apologies, I
Have None,Woahnows.
THE STRUTS
London Camden Dingwalls July 5, Bristol Thekla 6,
DerbyVenue 7.
TECH-FEST
Line-up: Protest The Hero, Between The Buried And
Me and more. Newark Showground July 7 – 11.
Y NOT FESTIVAL
Line-up:The Hives, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Neck Deep,
Creeper, Moose Blood, Lonely T he Brave, Gnarwolves,
HECK, Queen Kwong, Reigning Days and more.
KERRANG! 59
 ARCHITECTS
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 NEXT WEEK ON SALE MAY 25

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 THE ULTIMATE
ROCKSTAR TEST
TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN
NIGHTWISH
HE’S MATES WITH RICHARD DAWKINS AND OBSESSED
WITH SCROOGE McDUCK. THIS SHOULD BE GOOD…
ON ROCK’N’ROLL…
WHAT’S THE MOST STUPID
THING YOU’VE EVER DONE
FOR A DARE?
“It wasn’t a dare exactly, but I’ve sung in front of
30,000 people at Wacken Open Air, and I was
terrified. Singing is not my cup of tea. I’ve never
taken lessons and I don’t really have the talent for it,
but because of the circumstances, I sang on the first
Nightwish album [1997’s Angels Fall First] and I had
to carry that burden for a few years.”
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN GENUINE FEAR
FOR YOUR LIFE?
“Once, when we came back from tour, I was driving
my car back from the airport and I fell asleep. I was
on a motorway, doing 100 kilometres per hour, so it
was a very close call.That was the scariest moment
of my life. Luckily I had a friend with me and he was
able to pull the wheel so that we avoided crashing.”
WHAT’S BEEN YOUR WEIRDEST-EVER
FAN ENCOUNTER?
“About seven years ago there was a Russian girl
who had sold everything she owned and packed
all her belongings into three big suitcases. She just
showed up at my parents’ house, saying,‘I’m going
to come here and be with Tuomas for the rest
of my life.’ That took a little taking care of, but
she was serious about it. She had actually sold
everything and taken a train from Russia
to my hometown.”
Quite some dedication, carrying three
suitcases.That extra arm could probably
come in handy, maybe…
FAILURES AND
F’UPS…
HAVE YOU EVER WRITTEN A
SONG YOU’VE DISOWNED
AFTERWARDS?
“No. I can look back on some of
my songs – especially the lyrics
“ONE FAN GOT
– and laugh at them now, but
I’d never disown them because
A TRAIN FROM
they’re all honest. Some of the
songs on the first album have
lyrics that I wouldn’t write
now, but that’s who I was 20
years ago.” RUSSIA, SAYING
HAVE YOU EVER HAD A
SPINAL TAP MOMENT
ONSTAGE?
“So many, but one of the COMING TO LIVE
most embarrassing was
in Marseille in 2001, when
suddenly this massive disco
beat started to play during a
song.We had to
stop playing
and try to find
the source of
this really annoying
techno sound. It took five
ISSUE 1620 MAY 21, 2016
biologist] Richard Dawkins showed up and
did a voice-over part with us onstage. I’m
not usually easily star-struck but I’m a huge
fan of his writing, so it was amazing to
have him involved in our last album [2015’s
Endless Forms Most Beautiful].”
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN MOBBED ON
THE STREET?
“We get recognised on the street, especially in
Finland.We’re tabloid material if something big
happens, but I think the media has treated us fairly
well. I live in a small community of 39,000 people.
I’ve lived here all my life and everyone knows me,
so they don’t pay that much attention.”
Let’s just forget about the Russian superfan who wanted
minutes before I realised I had pushed the ‘Demo’ to come and live with you, then, shall we?
button on my keyboard.The sound guy walked
onstage, pressed one button and left again, leaving ON THE HYPOTHETICAL…
me extremely embarrassed.” IF YOU COULD GO THROUGH A PORTAL
Oddly, we don’t think Napalm Death have ever TO ANY FICTIONAL FANTASY LAND,
had this problem.Ask them for tips, maybe? WHERE WOULD YOU GO?
“Duckburg! What was going through my
LIFESTYLES OF THE head when I decided to write an album
RICH AND FAMOUS… about Scrooge McDuck [2014’s Music
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU Inspired By The Life And Times Of
WERE STAR-STRUCK? Scrooge]? Well, when you’re an artist you
“It was during ourWembley Arena show write about things that truly inspire you.
last year when [writer and evolutionary They get inside your system and you feel
the urge to get them out somehow.
It’s one of my favourite book series.
Whenever I read them, my head was
always filled with music.”
WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE FOREVER?
“No, absolutely not. I love life, but the idea of
infinity sounds really tiresome. I wouldn’t mind
living for maybe 300 years, to see where the world
is going and whether and how mankind survives.
I want to live long and see new innovations, but
certainly not forever.That’s a terrible thought.”
That’s a motivational poster right there: ‘Living Forever –
Terrible’. Copyright that now,Tuomas
SPIRITUAL HEADMELTER…
WILL SCIENCE EVER PROVE OR DISPROVE
THE EXISTENCE OF GOD?
“I think the burden of proof is on the people
who believe in God, because extraordinary
claims require extraordinary evidence. My
answer would be that I don’t know, but
I think it is a scientific question. Science
and God are not two separate things.”
Deep.We were hoping you’d say more
about Scrooge McDuck, to be honest…
SCORE
70%
NOT A GREAT SCORE, BUT AS ONE
OF EUROPE’S BIGGEST METAL STARS,
TUOMAS IS STILL COOL AS DUCK
THE LEADERBOARD
1
2
AL JOURGENSEN MINISTRY
ALICE COOPER
100%
99%
THEY WERE 3
4
BEN BRUCE ASKING ALEXANDRIA
GENE SIMMONS KISS
98%
93%
5
6
CHAD NICEFIELD WILSON
MORTIIS
92%
90%
WITH ME”
7 BERT McCRACKEN THE USED 86%
8 BRENDON URIE PANIC! AT THE DISCO 85%
9 BRIAN MOLKO PLACEBO 84%
TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN 10 DERYCK WHIBLEY SUM 41 83%
11 JOHAN HEGG AMON AMARTH 76%
WORDS: PAUL TRAVERS
12 DENIS STOFF ASKING ALEXANDRIA 73%
13 TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN NIGHTWISH 70%
14 CHRIS ROBERTSON BLACK STONE CHERRY 52%
 THE STADIUM, QUEEN ELIZABETH
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