DIAMOND CONSTRUCT 2.0
Kynan from Diamond Construct returns to talk about the new record Angel Killer Zero, Emmure, AI in music, and more!
https://www.instagram.com/diamondconstruct/?hl=en
DIVINE SENTENCE
Photo Credit: https://www.greghall.photography/
Q1. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions! For our readers who are not familiar with you, can you talk a little about where you’re from, when you formed, that kind of thing?
We're Divine Sentence, a vegan metalcore band from Zurich, Switzerland. We formed in late 2021 and have been playing shows since the summer of 2022. Our influences come mostly from 90’s Metalcore.
Q2. What got you into heavy music in the first place, and what made you want to start a band and pursue making music in the way that you have?
Franz: Personally, I was introduced to alternative music by my drum teacher, who gave me a burnt Green Day CD when I was 13. I was born into a very musical family, so my parents threw a bunch of instruments at me as a kid and even made me sing in a choir, but I didn't feel at home in their more traditional musical world. The first instrument I really took to was the drum kit, which led to me getting into punk rock and eventually hardcore. I started a bunch of bands before Divine Sentence, starting in 2017, after making some friends in the local hardcore scene.
Basil: I got into hard rock and old punk rock via my parents (I guess), and then from there it was a meandering journey through different guitar driven genres (in the course destroying the family computer with limewire) until I read about The Chariot somewhere and realized that music doesn't really get better than that. I have been playing in bands since I was 15 or 16, when I first saw a local hardcore punk band and learned that it really doesn't take a lot to form a band and write songs. The bands I played in at the time weren't the best probably, but it was a lot of fun and made me learn that I really like playing music with friends.
Sofia: My (back then) best friend kinda got me into this whole thing. She was an emo kid and I wanted to be a supportive friend, you know, check out her interests (I was 13?). Now I realize she wasn’t really that emo, she just liked Black Veil Brides a lot. Well, through Youtube I found my way to 2010’s Metalcore and Deathcore. Suddenly I was going to shows and made connections in the Metal scene. I switched through genres like Beatdown and Djent/Mathcore, but what really stuck was Hardcore. The person that inspired me to even consider being in a band is Jess from Mortality Rate / World of Pleasure. The first time I heard her was on the Judiciary split. She is my inspiration to this day. The sheer power she expresses on stage and her vocals - just blows me away everytime.
So here I am, in a cool band, with cool people, playing cool places and having the time of my life!
Q3. What are some of the biggest influences on your sound?
Franz: We all listen to a lot of different music, and thus pull from a wide range of influences. I'm a punk kid at heart, so I try to let that influence shine through in our sound a little. There are definitely some bands that we can all agree on though. Our single biggest influence is probably xRepentancex, which is also a very important band for me personally, as their music is what convinced me to finally go vegan.
Basil: What Franz says, I guess. Personally and in regards to Divine Sentence, I like the chaotic branches of Metalcore a lot and at the same time, the melodic side of Metalcore (or melodic hardcore?) still lights a spark in my heart.
Sofia: I have to agree with Franz and Basil. There’s something very dramatic about this type of Metalcore, so of course it would go well with the message of veganism. It’s what brought us together after all.
Q4. The Promo is already getting a ton of traction, which is awesome! What can you tell us about the two songs?
The Promo ‘24 marks a step up, both in songwriting and in production quality. The songs had more time to evolve and we worked with someone outside the band for recording the first time. The two songs are quite different in style, but they span the sound of what we want to pursue musically: metallic riffs, melodies, panic chords, breakdowns.
The song “Flames of Justice'' especially stands out, since it’s our second song that isn’t about veganism, but about a topic that is as important to talk about. It serves as a bold declaration, emphasizing the critical necessity to reshape not only political landscapes but also societal perceptions of women. It challenges ingrained norms, encouraging a transformation in how we view and engage with women in the political sphere, questioning the very foundations upon which our political structures are built.
“The Hammer” talks about the necessity of a shift towards veganism in the wider population. While, of course, there needs to be direct action, outreach and "enlightenment" through activism, it is inevitable. In a dialectic sense, a vegan or anti-speciest view of the world will emerge from the struggle between different moral standpoints. Material conditions will make it essential to live like this – and "carnism" will be a relic of the past.
Q5. I read on your Bandcamp it’s the start of something bigger. Obviously I was intrigued. What can you tell us about that, or is it a secret for now?
Well, the release of a promo usually means there's more to come! We're not totally sure yet in what way, shape or form, but we are working on stuff behind the scenes.
Q6. Veganism is a major part of the band’s philosophy. What drew you to veganism and why is it so important to you?
Trying to live a vegan life really should be a baseline for every person. Of course living as vegan as possible doesn't automatically make you a good person, but when being able to decide whether to buy/consume animal products or not and still making that decision, you're actively contributing to harm you could really easily avoid contributing to. Obviously there are a lot of other factors at play in our daily life, but in most societies in the 21st Century, there really is no excuse to not at least try. And in opposition to a lot of other discriminatory effects in our world, where individual action doesn't really do a lot (e.g. climate change) partaking in the slaughter of innocent beings really comes down to every single decision.
We know sometimes it's hard to change one's own way of being, but it's never too late to decide to make the switch. It's never too late to go vegan, the future is what matters.
Q7. What’s the heavy music scene like in Switzerland? I know many people who are into this kind of music are likely familiar with Paleface, but are there other bands we should be paying attention to?
Switzerland has a small but dedicated scene. It's cool that Paleface is getting so much attention, proving that bands from our little alpine country can hang with the best and biggest in the world. Even though Switzerland has played a big part in the early development of heavy music (heard of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost?), Swiss bands have rarely gotten the attention they deserve. It looks like this is slowly changing. Some of the best current Swiss bands associated with the scene include Path of Resurgence (RIP), Fever Dreams, Deconvolution, Cage, Cancel, Barock Rain & Glaascats.
Q8. Is there anything else on the horizon for the band or any other things you want to tell our readers about?
We have a lot of cool shows lined up till summer and maybe there will be some touring in fall, who knows. You'll hear from us!
If you want to book us, just reach out via dm on Instagram or email.
Go vegan or go fuck yourself.
VILIFY 2.0
Photo Credit: Andrew Bromley
Deni and Kieran from rising Australian metalcore act Vilify join to talk about their upcoming tour and Fever Dream EP, and much more!
WITH SAILS AHEAD 2.0
Sierra from With Sails Ahead returns to talk about the band’s upcoming release Infinite Void, their tour in support of the record, streaming, record labels, and more!
HELL CAN WAIT
An Interview with Luke from HELL CAN WAIT
Q1. For readers who might not be familiar with you, would you please provide some background on the band—where you’re from, when you formed, etc.?
A1. Hey, I’m Luke Hell Can Wait’s vocalist, graphic designer, booking agent, videographer extraordinaire… We’re a melodic hardcore band from the UK, based somewhere between London and Brighton. We formed during the COVID pandemic, playing our first show in September 2021. Most of us have been in bands on and off for the last 15 years - a few of us took some years out to start families and felt we now had something worth writing about.
Q2. Who are some of the band’s primary influences?
A2. Our influences are very varied, musically we take inspiration from everything we listen to - Comeback Kid, Stick To Your Guns, Killswitch Engage (Alive or Just Breathing era) to Defeater, More Than Life, Landscapes etc. Our drummer Jordan has a guilty pleasure for classical music. In terms of themes and why we do this band we all struggle with various mental health issues and find music such a positive outlet and a release you can’t quite get anywhere else, we write a lot about these aspects in our songs and hope someone’s finds some common ground and something relatable so they can know they’re not alone feeling the way they do.
Q3. What got you into hardcore?
A3. I fell in love with the early 2000s era of melodic hardcore - Verse, Killing The Dream, The Carrier, Modern Life Is War, American Nightmare, The Hope Conspiracy, Carpathian etc. I’d been in a few metalcore band over the years but Hell Can Wait was the first time I’d found a group of musicians wanting to pursue the melodic hardcore genre.
Q4. Melodic hardcore was emerging as one of the dominant types of hardcore when I first was getting into it in the mid- to late-2000s, but it does appear to have been overshadowed by some other styles in the last fifteen years or so. In your experience, is Hell Can Wait more of an outlier in playing this kind of hardcore?
A4. 100%. We wanted to play the music we loved, that nobody seemed to really be doing anymore, the UK scene lost More Than Life, Landscapes and Dead Swans. We wanted to honour that 2000s melodic hardcore scene, pulling on the heartstrings of nostalgia while breathing a modern breath of air into it. We find a lot of people come up to us at shows saying they’ve been waiting years for a band to bring melodic hardcore back into the spotlight and the revival of melodic hardcore has been our mission statement from the beginning.
Q5. What are some of your touring highlights and/or most memorable shows you’ve been a part of?
A5. For a young band we’re incredibly grateful to have had so many cool opportunities to support bands we love in our short career including playing our second ever show supporting Devil Sold His Soul and Landscapes, a couple dates supporting Your Demise, we had the absolute pleasure of playing Leperfest 2022 in Belgium alongside Stick To Your Guns, Knocked Loose, One Step Closer, supporting Atreyu and The Hurt Process in Brighton, Polar and most recently Don’t Try (CAN) and Ignite (US) in London. All in all we’ve played 50+ other shows across the UK since the end of 2021 - we like to keep busy!
Q6. Is there one song you would point to that would be “quintessential Hell Can Wait”?
A6. I’d say it would be a song off our yet to be released debut full length as we’ve really found and settled into our own sound writing the new record but if I had to pick one song that people could check out now that would sum up Hell Can Wait - I’d pick Drowning In You, it’s an absolute freight train from start to finish and really captures the relentlessness we strive to portray in our music.
Q7. What’s been the most gratifying and/or exciting part of being in a band?
A7. We love touring, travelling to new places every day, meeting new people, experiencing new things and playing great shows. If we could do this every single day, we would. Everything we do is done in house, we book our own shows and tours currently, we design all our own merch, manage our own socials, film our own videos etc so it’s hugely gratifying when someone comes up to us and shows some recognition for the hard work we put in behind the scenes.
Q8. What does the band have for plans on the horizon—touring, new music, etc.?
A8. So we’re out on a run with DOWNPOUR (ex Lock & Key, We Struck Gold) in a few weeks, they’re a great new band for fans of Stick To Your Guns and The Ghost Inside if we’re playing local to you, come down!
10.04 - The Bread Shed, Manchester
11.04 - Corporation, Sheffield
12.04 - Subside, Birmingham
13.04 - The Fighting Cocks, Kingston
14.04 - Daltons, Brighton
We’ve also recently finished working on our debut full length, the masters are back in and we have a couple videos filmed already - more news on the release soon!
Thanks so much for having me in for a chat - remember hardcore is a community and our community is a safe space - we welcome everyone who shares that ethos and hopefully we can all grow together. If you, like us miss early 2000s melodic hardcore let’s all work together to put it back on the map in the UK scene!
HELLBOUND
Q1. For readers who might not be familiar with you, would you please provide some background on the band—where you’re from, when you formed, etc.?
Hey I’m Jonnie I sing in Hellbound a hardcore band hailing from sunny Glasgow, Scotland and we are part of the Northern Unrest team.
We started this band during the lockdowns somewhere in 2021 I think, I’m kinda the wee bro in the group having age gaps of 3-9 years with the guys and the vibe when this started out was definitely “let’s make your first band” and “let’s do whatever you want” so that’s what we did (sorta).
Q2. Who are some of the band’s primary influences?
Starting out it was a lot of me sending h8000 and 90s eurocore riffs to Owen who was writing old ny style for Despize and I like to think we landed somewhere in the middle on that first demo. After that we kinda cracked our heads together and found common ground on bands like the almighty Integrity, Liar, Ringworm, In Cold Blood, Lesprite du Clan, Ascension, Cold as Life, Before Christ, Counterweight, Indecision.
Production wise we all really align with that dark sound that you find on old school metallic records like the Slayer demos and the countless 90s Euro bands that tried to replicate that style.
Q3. What got you into hardcore?
My big brother played in a few bands starting in 2015 I think and being that I already liked heavy music and was an angry wee guy I fitted right in.
The first few bands my brother put me on to were the metallic classics like Congress, Kickback and Merauder, locally speaking Revolve and Splitknuckle’s Reduced to Ash EP and Ignorance Breeds were constantly being rinsed topped to bottom and got me hooked on metallic hardcore in particular.
Q4. Do you feel like Scottish hardcore, or maybe UK hardcore more generally, is being slept on by the world at large? From here on the other side of the Atlantic in the US, it does seem that way.
I don’t agree at all to be honest, you’ve got so many bands from the UK doing cool stuff such as Mourning and Last Wishes seeming to be away in a different continent every other month and all my boys just got back from Asia.
The UK conglomerate has such good ties to the whole world it seems right now and I think it’s at an all time high, so if your radar isn’t going off I’d say it needs some calibrating hahah.
Q5. Who are some of the great bands on the scene we should be paying attention to?
For the island I’ll just rattle of a list of some of the cool hc going ons:
Impunity
Splitknuckle
Mourning
Ts Warspite
Fate
Last Wishes
Dominate
Dynamite
Malignant Methods
Stiff Meds
Bodyweb [editor’s note: see the hyperlink for my interview with Louis from the band]
Sheffield hardcore
Brighton hardcore
Quality Control
Locally speaking we got:
Test of Patience
Bleaks
Warnin’ Shot
Nothin’ but Enemies
Demonstration of Power
Despize
And lastly but not least Gehazi who I wanna give an intro to just because; they’re a current Glasgow hardcore band formed of old ghc members that I think give a good reflection as to what our scene is sonically/historically
Q6. What are some of your touring highlights and/or most memorable shows you’ve been a part of?
Our record release was a Raw Brigade headline sold out show with a secret Story So Far set which was jokes, we played Concrete Culture in London and the vibes were so good that it made the two weeks written off work after cuz I got so ill on the bus back worth it hahah.
Q7. Is there one song you would point to that would be “quintessential Hellbound”?
If I could mash "Victory Eternal" and "False Glory" into one it would be that but I’ll just go for those two together.
Q8. What does the band have for plans on the horizon—touring, new music, etc.?
We’ve got a Alive and Well Fest in Stockholm next month then we get back and do a short run with the legendary Whispers of BK Thailand who are a personal favourite of mine, then Northern Unfest Round 2 which I’m still scratching my head at that I’m gonna get to see Division of Mind a 20 minute walk from my house, then a short Euro run with the NU team then Outbreak.
ROBERT FITZSIMMONS (LIFE.LAIR.REGRET RECORDS)
Photo Credit: Marcel Cuthbertson
Robert from Life.Lair.Regret Records joins to talk about the label and all things hardcore, especially hardcore from Down Under.
MORGOTH BEATZ
Morgoth Beatz—producer for artists like JuiceWRLD and MGK, guitarist for Winds of Plague and Shav—joins Jacob for this interview on his musical background and what directions he sees music headed.
DEFOCUS
Q1. For readers for whom this is their introduction to Defocus, would you be so kind as to fill them in on your background—where you’re from, when you formed, etc.?
Hey Guys, we are Defocus and we’re from Stuttgart, Germany. Defocus was formed in 2019 but we are making music together for about almost 10 years. The Band consists of 4 Members: Simon (Vocals), Jeff (Guitars), Jonas (Drums), Bambam (Bass). Fun fact, Simon and I (Jeff) first met while I was working in a music store. -Jeff
Q2. Your second album There Is a Place for Me on Earth just dropped and it is sick! I’d like to talk about that for a bit. What was your mindset going in to album number two?
Thank you! At first we didn’t really know what to do on our next project because everyone had different visions for us as a band. After brainstorming for a while we really wanted to push every aspect of our music to the next level and embrace the diverse creative influences. We thought that it wouldn’t be fair if someone is holding back just because it may be something that doesn’t fit into our sound, so we really tried to commit to all ideas and be open minded. -Jeff
Q3. How did the album take shape in terms of writing it? What was the recording process like?
I mean we already had a lot of demos laying around, “crooked mind” for example was first written after we shot the music video for “diverge” from our first record. We really wanted to try a few things out and be more creative with this record, so we just wrote a lot of songs and then decided which ones have potential for our second album. And after that we just made them as perfect as they can be and made them fit together on the album. Regarding the recording process, we really did everything ourselves from home. It’s funny because during the recording process, we were never together in one room, usually it was just one or maybe two of us. For that we have our own discord where we can send all the files to each other. -Jeff
Q4. For people who haven’t heard it yet, what can they expect?
A very heavy album with very emotional lyrics. -Simon
Yes, it’s very heavy with a few twists and surprises here and there. You can expect fast and aggressive songs, and maybe some electronic and hip hop influences. -Jeff
Q5. Are there any tracks you’d identify as highlights or ones you are particularly proud of?
I would say since we experimented a lot, basically all of them are pretty unique but as we all have our own favorites I’d go with “don't let it hurt me”, “watch me bleed” and “hybrid anthem”. -Simon
It changes all the time for me, but right now I’d say “consumed by you” because I love all the production we did on that song and the riff is so much fun to play. -Jeff
Q6. Do you have any plans to tour in support of the record?
We are currently working on that in the background and right now we're focusing on playing a lot of festivals this spring and summer which we are super excited for. -Simon
Q7. Both of your albums have been released through Arising Empire. How did that relationship form?
We’ve known the guys for a very long time to be honest, long before the label even existed. I think we first met them a few years ago when we were playing a show in Stuttgart. We talked a little and instantly knew that we have the same interests. Since then we met up every time there was a local band playing in our Area. After they founded “arising empire” and saw that they had super cool bands on their label, we knew that we had to become part of that. Since then we worked hard to achieve that and the rest is history I guess. -Jeff
Q8. Who are some current artists we should be paying attention to? Who are some past or present who have influenced or shaped your sound?
Definitely go check out Fromjoy, Moodring and Avralize! It's probably hard to tell which bands really had their influences on the defocus sound but those are definitely bands we are obsessed with right now. -Simon
Q9. Any last messages for readers or anything else on the horizon you want to tell us about?
Thank you all for listening to our new record, we are so thankful for the amazing feedback we received so far and hope to see lots of you people very soon! -Simon
nightlife
Q1. For our readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you please provide some background on the band: where you’re from, when and how you formed, etc.
for sure! we’re from baltimore, relatively new as this band (2 years) but we’ve been playing together in different contexts for much longer. hansel wanted to make a band that could hang with the other “heavy pop” bands growing in the scene, then him & julian linked up to work on the songs that’d become the first EP. the mission & vision are always shifting, but we’re still here to bring groove & the funk to the genres of alt & heavy music we love so much.
Q2. Who are some of your primary influences?
it’s hard to narrow down, each member has different sides they bring to the table at different times. for hansel, it’s a lot of r&b and music with experimental production mixed with the heaviest shit you’ve ever heard. julian brings a more eclectic background in reggae, funk, soul, and so much more with him, in addition to also digging tech-djent and other progressive stuff. isaiah’s a drumhead through & through, and fucks with a lot of instrumental/experimental hiphop and jazz fusion stuff with killer rhythms on top of deathcore & the more progressive sides of metal.
all of us can kinda come back from whatever tangents we’ve gone on musically and center around heavy, groovy guitar stuff as a group pretty naturally.
Q3. What made you want to pursue making music?
it’s different for all of us, but we’re all connected by a desire to see more shit like what happens in our minds out there in the music we love. that’ll always start with us making stuff to begin with, but hopefully it’ll end with a bunch of different bands & artists pushing the boundaries of guitar music to its groovy ends.
Q4. How did your addition to some dates for the Issues farewell tour come about and what’s the experience been like? Tell us about the world’s first RnB mosh pit!
honestly it was kinda a few years coming! back in 2020 hansel posted a video of him singing an issues song that got some traction on twitter, including from issues themselves. we’ve communicated back & forth over the years since for this or that, be it to write together or to talk about their music with others or whatever. they’ve always been super supportive of what we’re doing and we’ve always tried to be as open as we could about their influence, legacy, & importance. eventually they hit us to see if we were around and while it still blew our minds, it also made sense & we were so grateful they saw that.
playing the shows was kinda crazy. it was our first experience with a lot of things, including even basic logistics of getting to & from the shows, let alone being backstage & navigating the show days themselves. it all kinda flew by once it was time for the shows, but it was completely surreal the whole time. WAY more people knew about us & our music than we expected, and the crowds were so supportive both times. honestly, it goes to show the kind of community issues was building with their music for the past decade plus that they were able to pull this whole thing off so gracefully, our part included.
the rnb pits were absolutely crazy to watch. we’re sure they weren’t actually the “first” of their kind, but looking in even just for a second you could tell the vibes were a little different than your normal moshpit. everyone was still bumping & throwing limbs, but there was clearly an emphasis on everyone having a good time – the same vibe that was in the crowd the whole night, tbh.
Q5. Tell us about your most recent single “face2face.”
it’s been a long time coming! we spent a lot of 2023 talking with industry folks and seeing what we could make come of it. that meant trying a bunch of different things and languishing over demos for way too long…kinda like we’re doing now, except we weren’t sure what we wanted to make as a next move. the industry stuff fizzled out, & we ended up staring ourselves in the face again & wondering what the goal here was.
“face2face” kinda came to be finished first out of these new songs, and it definitely captures a lot of the ideas we’ve been trying to work through – the exploit of repackaged nostalgia, updating old ideas & continuing things others started, that kinda thing. we want to do more than just say “hey remember when” when we throw it back, and already face2face itself has started showing the connections between what we do now, what r&b groups like TLC or Boyz II Men used to do, and what other artists around the music world are doing – k-pop already had its y2k era, for example. we love music so much & it’s fun to make these connections in realtime & learn more about it as we go.
Q6. If you were to highlight one song as “quintessential Nightlife,” what would it be and why?
probably new low! we had our whole lives to write that song, you know? there’s so much context & energy that went into making that one song that it only gets better with time to us. it shows more of us to us every year & feels like it’ll be one of those songs that might just last forever, be that in our scene or whatever.
Q7. Dream lineup: what artists would you most want to share the stage with that you have not had the opportunity to?
oh man. in the heavy world, we’ve fucked with & respected bring me the horizon for years individually so that would be a dream. other bands that are killing it with their own unique sounds also inspire us so that’d be sick – bands like bad omens, sleep token, static dress, the home team, they’d all be sick to play with.
getting more creative, groovy mfs like anderson .paak or thundercat are def at the top of the list. artists who push the envelope like charli xcx or rina sawayama would be so cool too, & k-pop groups like stray kids or (g)i-dle would go crazy.
dreaming completely, give it d’angelo, miss lauryn hill, or the roots too.
Q8. What’s on the horizon for Nightlife?
more music! if a single bigger body of work shows itself to us while we’re making these songs we’ll work toward it for sure, but for now we just want to keep experimenting & seeing how many sounds we can fuck with that we wanna. so singles on singles on singles, if we can keep our shit on!
we’re also going on our first full US tour in june, so that’ll be a gamechanger for the band for sure. hopefully it’ll mark the start of a bunch of playing out for us.
ABSTRACT SEKAI
Q1. Would you please provide some background on yourself for readers who may not be familiar with you—where you’re from, when you started making music, your sound, etc.?
First of all, thank you for having me Jacob, I appreciate you giving me the platform to allow me to introduce myself and my sound to those less familiar with my exploits, and with that said I go by the name Abstract Sekai, a rapper / producer from a small mining town called Chingola in Zambia. The name basically translates to Abstract World, and is really what I’ve built my sound on, abstract, non-concrete ideas, so I also can’t really say I can pin down my sound to a specific genre. If I could try and explain it I’d say some kind of atmospheric, electronic, trip hop fusion, lol. I am relatively new to music making, my memory doesn’t go as far back as most, actually I only picked up a DAW about 6 years ago with no prior background to any form of music making. The journey itself has been surreal and every day is an experience to learn and grow.
Q2. What got you into music and what made you want to pursue making it?
I guess the environment I grew up in defined me, I come from a family of avid music listeners, literally everyone who helped raise me left a bit of an imprint of their musical tastes, My Mom was a huge 90s RnB and Hip-Hop fan, my Dad leaned more towards the reggae side of things and my first taste of soul was from my Grandpa, so I’d say family got me into music. Funny enough none of them pursued actually making it, for me that came from the curiosity of how my favorite songs were made.
Q3. Who are some of your primary influences?
A lot of my production influence stems from Dj Krush, he’s someone who’s ability to craft their own unique sound amazes me. Lyrical I’d say The Iapetus Records roster, the likes of Yugen Blakrok and Hymphatic Thabs and their general approach to Rap, listening to them and being a Sci-fi fanatic myself made me feel more in my element with my choice of words. Honorable mentions to Method Man, MF Doom and Kool Keith.
Q4. Is there an over-arching vision for or a headspace you try to evoke with your music?
I wouldn’t say there is, I’m very unintentional with my music and at the end of it all it comes down to whether I really like what I’ve made or not.
Q5. Talk to us a little about your writing process and what goes in to crafting your songs.
Well, a whole lot of reading, a whole lot of Sci-fi movies and a whole lot of patience, lol. There’s a lot of association with what I read and watch with what I experience on a daily basis, I speak out through these vague associations so sometimes building that bridge to connect a scene from my favorite read or watch to a real life event takes some time. The information I take in comes to me at different paces and so does the inspiration. I don’t like to force myself, I let most of it come naturally so I’m admittedly a slow writer to some extent.
Q6. How would you say your sound has evolved from the beginning until now?
It’s hard to say, it’s more of a feeling, I feel I’m a whole lot more experimental with my sound than I was in the beginning and I’d say that has set me apart from what others around me and where I’m from are doing. I see that deviation as grow and the greater gab the better I guess.
Q7. Who are some of your favorite contemporary artists?
These will come as a bit of a shock to most, I’d say Metric and Florence & The Machine because I’m a huge fan of the song writing abilities of Emily Haines and Florence Welch, Solange, The 1975 as well…I could go on.
Q8. What are some of your future plans or things we should be looking out for from you in the future?
Well more music for sure, I’ve been in my lab experimenting over the last year or so, definitely more music.
HERO IN ERROR
Jacob is joined by guitarists Gary and Rob from Irish metalcore legends Hero In Error for a conversation on the band's past and their return with new music and new shows!
PROFILER
Mike from the excellent UK nü djentcore band Profiler joins for a chat about their new record (released February 16th via SharpTone Records), their upcoming tour with Vended, the vanguard of the scene, and more!
Profiler Links:
POETICAL NADZ
In this video interview, I sat down with West Midlands-based rapper Poetical Nadz, and we talked about her influences, her creative process, the Grammys, and more!
You can check out Poetical Nadz’s music at: https://poeticalnadz.bandcamp.com/.
SHUNAJI
Photo Credit: Vera Marmelo
In this inaugural video interview for The Angels’ Share, I had the opportunity to chat with the exceptionally talented Shunaji about her background, her creative process, life as a DIY artist, and much more!
Biography:
Shunaji is a music producer, rapper and vocalist hailing from Rome and currently based in London. Her musical style blends jazz-influenced hip-hop with funk, soul and psychedelic rock flavours.
Shunaji’s releases have been acclaimed within independent music scenes in the UK and abroad, as she pushes the boundaries of mainstream music.
She is the recipient of multiple awards including the PRS Woman Make Music fund, Help Musicians' Do It Differently and MOBO awards, and Sound and Music's Interpreting Isolation.
Shunaji has performed internationally and across the UK, including festivals like Glastonbury Festival, Love Supreme, Montreux Jazz Festival and We Out Here.Socials
Photo Credit: Vera Marmelo
FATAL MOVE
Answered by Thomas Luyten
Q1. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions! For our readers who are not familiar with you, can you talk a little about where you’re from, when you formed, that kind of thing?
The original line up was formed in 2009 by a group of friends living in Merksem; a city next to Antwerp, Belgium. After some line up changes in the first years we only had one change; I took over the bass in 2018.
Merksem is a small city with a big community. A lot of people here played in metal or hardcore bands. And those who didn’t play an instrument would still come to the local shows. Most of us kind of knows each other through previous bands or shows.
Q2. What got you into hardcore in the first place, and what made you to want to start a band and pursue making music in the way that you have?
For me (Thomas) it was the love for loud and heavy music. I started playing bass and guitar in punkrock bands when I was 15, got into metalcore and hardcore at a later age. Playing in bands, and I’m sure everyone from Fatal Move agrees on this, it’s just so valuable. I mean it’s a bunch of friends agreeing on seeing each other regularly to start playing and writing songs. Everyone contributes to the band in his/her own way. You get to go to new places and meet new people. You learn to organize a small business, to network, to party, to control your boundaries, to become a better musician, … It’s freedom also. Because there’s no rules or playbook for this thing. There’s no teachers, mentors, manuals, at most some parents that agree on helping you out haha. It’s all DIY. You get out of it what you put into it. Playing bigger shows and becoming more successful is awesome and incredibly rewarding – but not the final destination. It’s really cliché but the journey is what makes playing in a band so rewarding.
Q3. What are some of the biggest influences on Fatal Move’s sound?
The sound has evolved quite a bit throughout the years but I think we can all agree on bands such as Terror, Nasty, Paleface, Get The Shot, Lionheart, Comeback Kid, No Turning Back, Trapped Under Ice …
Q4. The second single from your upcoming EP “F.U.G.A.Z.I.” was recently released. I absolutely love the line “Freedom is not a reward”! Can you tell us a little about the song—the sound, the meaning, etc.?
The single is also the title track of our new EP. F.U.G.A.Z.I is a military slang that stands for ‘Fuck Up Got Ambushed Zipped In’. The meaning behind this word is a fucked up situation or ‘damaged beyond repair’. Our guitarist came up with that title and we all instantly agreed.
F.U.G.A.Z.I. is a warning; It’s about trust, about cracks in the democracy. Which may just be cracks, but where is the line with incipient polarization? Do we trust our politicians or do we take matters in our own hands? What happens when they begin to impose their will and personal agenda on people? Whether they think they are doing it for justifiable reasons, and whether they are really justified, it is still a scary thing when there is no room for debate or negotiation in a democracy. Should we trust governments blindly when history has proven over and over again that this was not always the right move?
F.U.GA.Z.I. is way more politically inspired than Somewhere Between Life And Death. The world has always been and will always be a sh*tshow and this EP is our way to process all of this. The first victim in every conflict is always the truth and that’s almost always the starting point for every war or form of extremism. It’s so f*cked up because mankind has always been and still is our own worst enemy. We could all live in peace but instead we chose to destroy each other for whatever reason. Whatever, that’s a whole other conversation.
Q5. When does the EP come out in full and what else can we expect?
The release is for May and this EP is our heaviest – yet most progressive to date. There’s singing in there, a legendary guitar solo from a guest, we experimented with a whole bunch of guitar effects… We took our time during the spring/summer to record everything DIY with the help of our friends Max Everaert and Tim ‘Penny Beats’. All of this in private locations in Merksem, which made everything really more laid back. Most riffs and structures come from our guitarist Kenny who did a really good job writing most of these songs.
Artwork (yet to be released) is done by Chuck Anderson from the states, who has worked for Drain, End It, the Chicago Bulls, PBR, … We’re really happy with how this turned out and can’t wait to share it.
Q6. What are some of the best shows/tours you’ve played and are there some coming up you are excited about?
Too many to list up… Graspop 2023 was of course the biggest and craziest show we have ever played (and the best, everyone was on f*cking fire that day). Dour Festival was another dream come true, really crazy to be part of that festival. For me, Extreme Fest 2022 was my favorite. Imagine playing a big festival with a personal vibe in the south of France, with some of your best friends, surrounded by nature, with a lake nearby, and an amazing afterparty with all bands and volunteers at the end. Headlining and almost selling out Trix Club with Mark My Way, Mindwar and Surge Of Fury last year was also amazing. Seeing so many friends, families and colleagues support us is so great. Another one that comes to mind is playing Elfer Club in Frankfurt AM in the winter of 2019 (shout to Laura Diehm). The show was great and we got to do karaoke with that whole German crew afterwards. That was a wild night. Or that one show in Luzern in Switzerland where we got free drinks in every bar in the same street and ended up sleeping in our van while it was freezing outside…
Q7. Who are some other bands or artists in the scene we should be paying attention to?
For me Mindwar is the biggest band in BE HC at this time, Becoming AD is the most promising rising band (they just released a killer EP) and Primal Truth wrote some of the sickest riffs ever (hope they play shows again soon). Antwerp legends Eightball and our friends from the south Do Or Die are the real deal. Strayed is also a really good beatdown band from Wallonia.
From FR: Affenpinshers (Useless Pride Records) is a fresh wind of inspiring hardcore riffs, our bro’s in Beyond The Styx are ripping it every show and Alea Jacta Est (UP Records) is always solid in everything they do. I was very impressed by Headbussa from Paris when they supported Jesus Piece and I’m happy for them that they get to support Knocked Loose on tour.
In other genres I’m stoked about Campus playing shows again, can’t wait to see them live.
Q8. Is there anything else on the horizon for the band or any other things you want to tell our readers about?
Right now we’re focusing on our release and we’ll see from there. We have a bunch of cool shows planned already in BE and FR, we’re playing Alcatraz Festival and playing a very cool festival in Denmark in September.
Master an instrument, start a band with your friends and embark on one of the greatest adventures of your life. You won’t regret it. Namaste
PENI PARKER
Photographer credit @adeleshotme
Q1. For readers who may not be familiar with you, could you please provide some background on who you are, where you’re from, what got you into music, etc.?
I’m PENI PARKER, an alt rock artist from Gadigal land NSW. I really enjoy blending my favourite sub-genres, stealing elements from pop rock, punk and emo. My work is heavily inspired by pop culture and politics, growing up I always had a lot to say & enjoyed using music as a tool to get my anger out.
Q2. This is a fun question I asked Ebonie from Metal & Coffee and I’m curious as to what your answer will be: Ignoring the obvious logistical issues with how you’d actually listen to them, for the sake of the exercise, if you were stranded on a desert island and could only have five albums with you, what would they be and why?
+ My chemical romance - Danger Days,
but would love to bring along every MCR album.
+ The Pretty Reckless- Light me up
+ Stray Kids - Rockstar
+ One ok rock - 35xxxv
+ Avril Lavigne - let go
Think that’s the perfect combination of emotions to deal with being deserted on an island, So hard to pick though, tomorrow I’d probably say the Used discography and Nova twins.
Q3. Tell us about the new single!
The next single Curse is actually my first collaboration, Bunny is a talented Japanese producer/writer & hit me up to do an anime inspired track. He’s very much inspired by BMTH, Enter Shikari, Poppy so it’s a bit heavier than my normal songs. Curse it’s out 28th of February, i can’t wait for everyone to hear it, I’ve had so much fun creating lots of dorky AMV edits for it.
Q4. How would you say your sound has evolved from the beginning to now? Are there other sonic directions you’re planning on exploring or is it more a “take it as it comes” sort of thing?
Think I’ve just matured & found what works for my voice instead of fighting it. I always wanted to sound thrashy & punk but my voice just doesn’t suit that, so I started exploring different sub-genres to find something that makes more sense for me & found a happy balance.
In the future I’m definitely taking it as comes sonically and just letting it evolve, I would love to try some more girly pop tracks but also some heavier ones.. i like the duality there haha
Q5. How does your album art and aesthetic intersect with your band name? It feels like entering into your own comic book universe.
Yeaa that’s the intention, each body of work will come with a comic to dive into the world a little more. I’ve always loved comics & anime so wanted to incorporate that, with my own spin. The project is very alter ego like, and I try create a safe space where the crowd can escape & turn up as whatever version of themselves that they want to be that night. Try new looks or even names in a non-judgemental supportive space 🍓
Q6. Are there any over-arching themes you explore with your music, and how does the music communicate them?
I tend to base most of my work around what makes me angry or sad, so a-lot of political themes & life events. I’m terrible at writing positive uplifting songs but it’s definitely something I want to try more.
Q7. Who are some other artists we should be paying attention to?
I actually sent a recommendation list to my friend the other day which included
From AUS, Grenade Jumper & Redhook
From the UK, Bex & Crashface
From Japan, CVLTE & Paledusk
From Korea, Dreamcatcher & Rolling Quartz
Q8. What are some of the most memorable shows you’ve played or tours you’ve been on?
Playing with Enter Shikari and Against the Current last year was incredible, both bands are such seasoned pros.. was inspiring for sure.
Supporting WAAX was actually my favourite crowd by far though, they were so welcoming and just gave me so much energy back which made my heart explode!!
Q9. What is the most rewarding part of making music? What is the most challenging?
I love when people connect with a song or a visual that I create & get inspired in their own way. I’ve had gorgeous humans create their outfit around a song or a dance routine.. that’s so badass!
The costttt is the most challenging.. As an independent artist I haate missing opportunities when cost is the only barrier. I’d love to be dropping songs regularly and say yes to each tour but it’s just me funding the project so I just have to be patient & realistic sometimes.. much to my disappointment haha trying to match up a working class wage with big dreams!
Q10. So what’s on the horizon for Peni Parker?
Fingers crossed for more shows, more music, more collaborations & more comics!
Photographer credit @adeleshotme