Now! thats what i call new videos 53..

OUR TIME DOWN HERE - SOUTHAMPTON RECORD RELEASE SHOW AT THE JOINERS


THE BRIGGS AT JOINERS

American Steel Exclusive Interview Part 2

WWR: In terms of record labels, do you think they are necessary any more?

Rory: I don't think they are necessary but it all depends on what your trying to do, we've discussed not dealing with labels any more, but we haven't had that time where we want to deal with all the stuff, for us its sort of laziness or convenience you know

John: its sort of just a nice home base for us now, record sales are going down every year, your on a label to make records and to make them available your not always on there to sell records any more some people still do, but it can serve as a nice home base where if someone wants to interview your band they can contact your label, and the label can then contact you its just a nice hub of communications, otherwise we'd have to take many many hours out of our personal lives but some bands do it, like the do-nots from Germany run their own label and do everything themselves, and the band is kind of all they do but we have always valued our sort of other stuff going on.

WWR: sure, also 'normal' people think that a band on fat wreck chords could stand to make a lot of money but don't realise you need to have normal jobs also..

John: Yes, but the only people who understand that are people in other bands or people who do shows, you know we don't just go home and go on vacation in Mexico, we go home and go back to work

Rory: Even the bands who do make a living doing it, the perception is so inflated because the bands who do make a living from it make such a modest living they might as well be school teachers

John: unless your like green day
Rory: yea unless you have a top 40 song your lucky to make a living off of it, so yea we have always worked.

WWR: Some of your lyrics seem very personal, is this the way you feel you can send your message out to other bands and so forth by listening to the records as opposed to bitching on the internet on some forum or blog?

Rory: definitely
John: sure I can see what your getting at, we are one of the more private bands that I can think of. A lot of bands are every other day blog update or video update and all over the internet and reveal every detail of their personal lives and we have a layer of...it sounds hard to say but I think we let our music speak for ourselves and let the music be what we are saying. We reluctantly do the self promotion thing, a lot of bands love it they cant wait to update their Myspace page and that's fine that's great and maybe it would be to our benefit to do that more but none us really enjoy that. We don't set out to be private but we just are a lot more private people than people generally are.

WWR: Are there any songs from the last two albums which have a favourite subject?

Rory: not a favourite subject necessarily but for me its sort of it comes out whether its political or personal I don't really sit and think I am going to write a song about this or this album should be like this I just let it come out, for me my favourite songs on our record are the ones we are playing at the moment because its fun to perform those songs, once they're written they get passed to the venting process before I bring them in to show the band, you know I feel on the newest record that the lyrics are simplistic and sometimes a little too tongue in cheek but im not afraid of being almost silly since I feel we have such a large catalogue that its neither here or there so its never representative of our work in one way we can get away with a little low brow.

WWR: anything in terms of future releases?

Rory: I think FAT are releasing some demo's aren't they?
John: who?
Rory: FAT

John : ow cool, laughs* ha I usually find out what we are doing from the internet, nothing major we haven't done much U.S touring on this record. There might be a few digital releases of old 7 inches that weren't available and maybe an under the influence split with the gaslight anthem where we both cover songs we like.

Huge thanks to American Steel, Ed the Duck & Wiebke at FAT for the interview
American Steel – 'Dear friends and gentle hearts' is Available now on fatwreckchords

Hostage life - Free Album! but yet just broke up.. :(

So the Canadian punk rockers Hostage Life have called it a day but they left a nice free album for download behind you can get that here
and read about why its free below...


CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE
............
You can download our new album, Centre of the Universe, for FREE on September 30th at 12am. You can get it right here on our MySpace page.* Why are we giving the album away for free? Several reasons:
....
1. I steal music. You steal music. We all steal music. That’s how things work these days. Providing you with a free digital download prevents this from happening.
....
2. Pressing CDs hasn’t really helped us financially. We sold quite a few CD copies of Walking Papers but are still in debt to our old record label. The current structure of the music industry is not artist friendly, and we have all but abandoned the notion that we could subsist as a band on album sales alone. Some artists and groups are able to do it, but Hostage Life is not one of them. As a result, it makes more sense to just give the shit away and hope that people will like it enough to come see us live and help us out that way.
....
3. Let’s not bullshit ourselves…any CD we press is eventually going to end up in a landfill where it will take decades, if not centuries to biodegrade (if it ever does). The last thing this planet needs is more disposable Hostage Life merchandise that nobody wants.
....
Considering the above statements, however, it does seem kind of fucked that we will also be offering Centre of the Universe as a 12 inch record. The vinyl version will NOT be available on September 30th, but on that day you will be able to pre-order it from juiceboxdotcom.com. It can be purchased in November. To sweeten the deal, the vinyl version of the album will contain a bonus 7inch which will include 2 previously unreleased tracks – a song called Armageddon Jane, and our cover of Tappa Zukie’s M.P.L.A.
....
Our first scheduled show after the digital release will be in Gainesville, Florida as part of The Fest 8 (Oct.30th – Nov.1st). Stay tuned for our set date, time and venue. Very exciting.
....
I’ll be launching a blog when the album is made available which will contain essays pertaining to each song. Those of you that have a distaste for pseudo-intellectual wanking may wish to avoid it. But while we’re on the topic of pretentious lyricists, I’ll explain the concept behind the album. A couple years ago I was reading the 16th issue of Chris Ware’s brilliant comic, The Acme Novelty Library. In it, the semi-autobiographical character of Mr. Ware explains to the story’s protagonist W.K. Brown (loosely based on the sci-fi writer of the same name) that his depression and sense of disconnection is a result of the westerner’s predilection towards viewing himself as the protagonist. In short, we feel so dissatisfied with our lives because we feel that we are the entire reason that everything around is occurring. If life is one big story, we’re supposed to be the heroes. It’s a pretty arrogant worldview, but one that is indicative of our species as a whole. From Ptolemy’s 2000 year-old geocentric model of the universe** to the three most popular and successful religions of our day, we tend to see ourselves as the centre of everything. We think that we are made in the image of gods, and are thus part of some kind of divine lineage; somehow more than just hominids that learned to spell, drive, and write shitty poetry; somehow separate and superior to the rest of the natural world. We believe, or rather, a great deal of us believe that we are immortal and will be whisked off to paradise when our last synapse fires and our bowels empty into our pants. It is the oldest con we know. We have bought into it for as long as we have been asking questions about ourselves and our world and accepting easy answers. But enough about that. I have rambled for too long.
Sept. 30th.
Have our album.
It is our pleasure.
....
xo
Colin

The Lawrence Arms - Buttsweat and Tears (Fat Wreck 2009) - Released October 26th

It’s been three years since The Lawrence Arms last fave us some fresh material and after 10 years as a band rumours/fears began to emerge that “Oh! Calcutta!” may well be the bands last release. Thankfully we we’re wrong. Recorded in three says, limited to vinyl and digital download the EP boasts artwork and title that the band original planned for an their debut 7”.
Buttsweat and Tears is probably the release of the year for me. As record it flows perfectly, every song as good as the last, a quality rarely seen in an EP. I had fears that this would sound very similar to The Falcon, and wouldn’t have that certain something that previously Lawrence Arms releases do. Again, I was wrong.

The EP kicks off with “Spin Shining Shit”, a song that more or less defines the band, gruff fast paced punk rock with a clean break down towards the end. Next up is “The Slowest Drink In The Saddest Bar On The Snowiest Day In The Greatest City”, a song sung solely by Chris which came as a nice surprise as the alternating songs formula was abandoned on their last CD for duel vocals throughout. As all of Chris’ songs this track walks you through a story and is probably the best song on the record.
Side two kicks off with “Them Angels Been Talkin’” which is a wonderful example of how both the singers voices work perfectly together awesomely wrote verses strung together with a fists-in-the-air chorus leaves me thinking that this record couldn’t get any better. The vinyl ends with my favourite track. “The Redness in The West” shows us a new style of song writing that the Lawrence Arms hadn’t really approached before. The song starts off as a folky number with a surprise bar of distortion, and ends as a beautiful slice of Punk Rock.

The digital release of Buttsweat and Tears offers a bonus track that plays in-between tracks 3 & 4. “Demons” sounds more or less how I expect the entire EP to sound, like The Falcon, same vocals and guitar style we’re used to but with added ska. Lyrically this EP is perfect, every word flows and every phrase seems crucial. They don’t use words because they rhyme. All in all a very impressive release from what I consider to be one of the most original and exciting punk rock bands around, but what the fuck do I know?

Review by Paul Edwards

American Steel - Exclusive Interview Part One

AMERICAN STEEL EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – LONDON – Part 1
BY Ricky Bates

So we are here with ..

John: I play bass

Rory : I play guitar and sing

WWR: So you guys have never been to the UK as American steel only as communique why is that?

Rory: we reformed about 2 years ago and before that we never really had the opportunity and were always so busy touring the states, i don't know how much of it wasn't crossing our minds also how viable it was to us, we've been meaning to get here for a long time so when we got offered this tour with all American rejects we were like lets do it! Lets finally get over to England.

WWR: because you came to Germany round 6 months ago but only there?

John: yea it was with the German band the Donots

Rory: we thought about the logistics of definitely doing the UK then but when we broke it all down it worked out the same cost to do the UK from Germany as it would be to do it from the U.S , so lets just to it again later for proper.

WWR: so was the AAR thing planned or?

Rory: yea it came together pretty quickly about a month ago

John: they'd been planning their tour for a long time but hadn't figured who they wanted for support, they do extremely well here and most the shows are sold out before they even announce support since there under no pressure to choose support we only found out about 6 weeks ago that we could!

WWR: so have you been going down well on those shows?

John: yea we are fast and sing loud so kids were moving around a little

WWR: so based on the scene you come from is it not a controversial thing to say we going to tour with AAR?

Rory: yea well we've been on tour with major label bands before so you know,I don't think we've ever got any grief about it, we don't really give a shit about what other bands do, its not like were out killing kittens or something, however bands want to run their careers they can it comes down to personal opportunity's.

John: we wern't going to lose our chance just to come over here , sure some people are like I dont like that band so im not going to go see the support, I understand that I wouldnt usually go to a huge show just to see the support with a shorter set too, it might be harder for them to justify but at the same time we cant really come over here on our own for the first time.
Maybe now we can having done this tour, we couldn't just jump on a plane over here and hoped people showed up.

WWR: so dear friends and gentle hearts, how did this experience differ from all the other albums you've recorded, working with a producer etc?

Rory: no, well we do our own records, the last two at least, our guitar player Ryan kind of owns a recording studio back at home and he records us, so the last two records were pretty similar the way we went about it, its all pretty laid back we have time to be mellow and the songs are always pretty well worked out and things.

WWR: So you have a complete DIY set-up in terms of having complete control of everything that's going on the record, is that good thing to have?

Rory: yea that's the way we want to do it, we were joking with somebody how people misunderstand how bands work , some kid was giving us grief about not being DUI – DIY..

John: laughs

Rory: we are quite DUI my friend! No so we were like dude we record at own studio we do all the stuff ourselves and our guitarist even builds our own amplifiers! Could we do any more? Should we manufacture the CD's as well?

John: vinyl press?

WWR: so do you write before you go into record then?

Rory: yea 90 per cent

John: yea Rory really prolific not prolific in the sense ow I have some riffs but having 20 complete songs, maybe not every part of every song but complete with vocals which I think is really rare, when you see documentaries of bands in the studio there's always some guy sitting there uninspired and unable to write anything and then days stretch into weeks.. our songs are pretty much done when we go into the studio, some bands I think need a producer to get them to finish their songs, which is a completely foreign idea to us! We usually have to many songs and cut a few while were recording but with some bands all they can do is squeeze out 10 or 11 songs for a record.

Rory: Also the chemistry between us all, we've been together so long that when I come in we are just a real tight band as far as putting them together, when were in the rehearsal space before the record l show up with all the songs but its still matter of getting them all together and playing them correctly, we'll do two a day or one a hour we'll do it really fast nowadays.

WWR: Having all the time off from American steel do you feel you had time to reflect on the music scene? Then coming back from communique was it hard to adapt being back as AS?

Rory: no I don't think it was, if anything I think we might be more oblivious now more than ever of what other bands are doing.

WWR: It does feel like that actually when you listen to the music as if you shut out everything else and just become your own band

Rory: hopefully!

WWR: Tours! How have they since you've been back? Do you think having the time off helped build up your fan base?

Rory: I think it did, I don't know what the net result was as far as like numerical value, I think we lost some along the way too but there's definitely people since we've been back saying its so great that your back I got into you a year to two after you stopped playing so there's a lot of that!
Our first tour back we were on the road with the Lawrence arms we just kind of hopped on a bus together and did it it was kind of funny because we were both at the same stage of things where we are very selective about when we tour and very deliberate about how we put our records, were not really pressured to rush by anybody.

John: and then meant we could book our own club shows around the country, that helped both our bands and bands like us, we had nice weather and enough people to justify having a bus, having four bands on one bus so it made sense and was cheaper.

Rory: we were being environmental!

John: yea we were being totally green, hanging things out the windows, HA

WWR: What do you think about the punk rock scene at the moment in terms of who's doing what? Do you think there too much hype behind certain bands which might eventually kill them off?

Rory: I don't know, I think every band should just do what they feel comfortable doing, that doesn't stop me from having my opinion about what their doing I don't really begrudge anyone for changing gears, just do whatever you want to do, I don't think any one band owes it to anyone unless they somehow made a promise to them, which has happened a few times but even then I don't think you owe it to them, people change their minds

John: its not a written promise, ha ha

John: I think if your supporting huge tours that's a lot different then headlining that huge tour, that's when bands have to really put on the brakes sometimes, when they somehow become that band that can suddenly fill a stadium and then its like what do you do? Were obviously not that band but we know a few bands that have gone from playing bars to arenas, you start getting all these different offers.. again were talking from the outside since we aren't that band, we don't have enough of a single sound that people can latch on to and be 'that' band, but a lot of bands we are friends with can fill 1 to 5 thousand person venues, such as alkaline trio or the gaslight anthem and now hot water music.

One of the best live british bands ive ever seen! The Ghost Of A Thousand!

These lads having certainly been making some waves on the punk rock scene in the last year in the UK they have a new video for their new single ' Knees, Toes, Teeth' which is set for release november 2nd! so go grab yourself a copy! You can watch the exclusive video from the guys at Sitcom Soldiers here:
Knees, Toes, Teeth


Be sure to catch them on tour soon with an epic line up at the following places!
EASTPAK ANTIDOTE LIVE DATES (w/ Alexisonfire, Anti-Flag and Four Years Strong) –

7 Oct 2009 JUNCTION: Cambridge
8 Oct 2009 UEA: Norwich
9 Oct 2009 ACADEMY: Oxford
10 Oct 2009 ROCK CITY: Nottingham
11 Oct 2009 ANSON ROOMS: Bristol
13 Oct 2009 CONCORDE 2 Brighton
14 Oct 2009 HMV FORUM: London
16 Oct 2009 ABC:Glasgow
17 Oct 2009 UNIVERSITY: Leeds
18 Oct 2009 ACADEMY: Manchester
20 Oct 2009 ACADEMY: Birmingham
21 Oct 2009 PYRAMID CENTRE:P’mouth

New videos! WTFest & The Steal last ever show!

So all the good ones break up and the shit ones stay together so the story goes..
THE STEAL one of the most energetic postive punk rock acts in the modern music world have called it a day.. i was on hand at a very special last show with none other than Paint It Black, heres some footage go buy a Steal record..


Here's a few videos from WTFEST earlier this month in Southampton, enjoy!

WTFest is over until next year!

So our 1st WTFest was a huge success id like to thank every band and single person involved in the whole event it was so much fun!

Heres a few photos from the gigs theyl be video footage to follow!

WTFest! 2 WEEKS TIME! DEAD SWANS TICS ON SALE NOW!

So the mighty WTFest takes over southampton for 5 days starting wednesday september 2nd with The Flatliners, tickets are still available for all show at the joiners webpage
But! to get your hands on a very intimate show with bridge nines's DEAD SWANS , tickets have just been made available limited to 50 tickets in advance and you can grab those right here..

As for the fest itself very limited numbers of especially designed prints from our good friend Johnfold will be available at everyshow see above for the photo.

With a line up boasting some of the greatest punk rock acts the world over be sure not to miss out on anyone including , A WILHELM SCREAM, BROADWAY CALLS , POLAR BEAR CLUB, COBRA SKULLS + MORE..

For more info on the event check the facebook group right here and get involved!

Whats more you can download the free WTFEST comp parts one and two right here and here..
With a tracklisting featuring the majority of bands partaking in the WTFest!

See y'all soon!

NO IDEA RECORDS! More free music! yessss?

No Idea Records and Distro have released the second installment of their Pretend Record series. The absolutely free downloadable comp features some sneak peaks on future No Idea Records releases from the likes of Gatorface, Assholeparade, FIYA, Tubers, and Worn in Red as well as some of the new and upcoming releases from various labels that No Idea Records exclusively distributes.

No Idea Overlord Var had this to say about Pretend Record #2:

“Welcome away from Volume Two of our SUMMERTIME WATERMELON festival of DOWNLOAD MANIA!! Limited edition and first-come, first served (shoes and shirt optional)... Nothing to trade, nothing to sell, in fact it's all a big PRETEND RECORD!! You can't watch it spin, you can't hand number it, you can't auction it. "Well, heck, what CAN you do with it?" You may LISTEN to it. With your ear bones!”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD!

V/A - Pretend Record #2 Track Listing:

GATORFACE "The Cleaner" (From "Wasted Monuments" on NO IDEA)
ASSHOLEPARADE "Big Death" (From "Welcome Fucking Home" on NO IDEA)
THE DOPAMINES "October 24th" (From THE COPYRIGHTS split on IT'S ALIVE)
WORN IN RED "Piled Like Bricks" (From "In the Offing" on NO IDEA)
FIYA "King" (From "Magic Words" on NO IDEA)
THE BANANAS "Radio Action" (From "New Animals" on RECESS)
PSYCHED TO DIE "Conditioned to Fail" (From "Year One" on DIRTNAP)
DEAR LANDLORD "Heartbroken Handshakes" (From "Dream Homes" first-press LP on NO IDEA)
TUBERS "Pale Sunbather" (From "Anachronous" on NO IDEA / BAKERY OUTLET / ECHO CANYON)
HELLO SHITTY PEOPLE "The Doppelganger of Chris Elliott" (From "Hello Shitty People" on 1-2-3-4 GO!)
SHANG-A-LANG "Best Intentions" (From "Sad Magic" on FAST CROWD)
WHISKEY TRENCH "Break Me Down" (From "Television" on KISS OF DEATH)
CITY OF SHIPS "March of the Slaves" (From "Look What God Did to Us" on SOUND STUDY)
STREET EATERS "Useless Eyes" (From "We See Monsters" on BAKERY OUTLET)
P.S. ELIOT "Augustus" (From "Introverted Romance in Our Troubled Minds" on SALINAS)

Crucial Links:
http://www.noidearecords.com
http://www.noidearecords.com/bands/releases/va-pretendrecord2/

FEST 8! The ball is on the roll..

The folks at No Idea Records and Southern Lovin’ PR have announced the confirmation of Snuff for an exclusive U.S. performance during THE FEST 8, October 30th-November 1st in Gainesville, Florida. Singer/Drummer Duncan Redmonds will also be performing acoustic at some point that weekend.

The current line-up of the band is that of the 1997 'Tweet Tweet My Lovely' era - Duncan Redmonds on drums/vocals, Loz Wong on guitar, Lee Erinmez on bass, Dave Redmonds on trombone and Lee 'The Mod' Murphy on hammond.

THE FEST 8 have also confirmed a few more bands alongside Snuff. Solo performaces from Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price of Drag the River, Ben Lovett (Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves/ Heavens, Laura Stevenson and the Cans, Lauris Vidal, Damion Suomi, Ready the Jet, and Ghost Knife. The latter features Ben Snakepit and Chris Pfeffer from J Church with Mike Wiebe of The Riverboar Gamblers/High Tension Wires.

THE FEST 8 previously announced a diverse lineup of 200+ confirmed bands featuring the likes of 7 Seconds, Less Than Jake, Dillinger Four, Youth Brigade, Samiam, Dead to Me, Strike Anywhere, Fleshies, Torche, Radon, Kylesa, Tim Barry, Bomb the Music Industry, A Wilhelm Scream, Drag the River, Lemuria, Off With Their Heads, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, The Methadones, Iron Lung, Coalesce, Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves, Bridge & Tunnel, and special reunions from Gunmoll, King Friday, The Thumbs, The Ghost, Clairmel, and Hair Beard Combo.

THE FEST 8 promises more confirmations in the weeks to come as they finish up going through band applications.
THE FEST 8 have also posted the promotional poster for THE FEST 8 designed by Horsebites/The Black Axe.
FEST 8 weekend passes are $60 in advance and $80 weekend of. Passes get you into all the official showcases (9 stages) over the Halloween Weekend (October 30th, October 31st, and November 1st) in Gainesville, Fl.

You can purchase FEST 8 passes on the official FEST 8 website.

You can also steal a web banner to help spread the word of THE FEST 8 here.

Crucial links:
http://www.thefestfl.com
http://www.noidearecords.com
http://www.southernlovin.com
http://www.myspace.com/snuffbanduk
http://www.thefestfl.com/fest8banner/

Against me! - The Original Cowboy - Review

Against Me! – The Original Cowboy (Fat Wreck – 2009)
First things first, I did lose a lot of faith in this band when I heard New Wave, and even more when I found out they had parted ways with their beloved drummer, Warren Oakes. However I thought maybe, just maybe there was light at the end of the tunnel when I found out Fat Wreck would be releasing the demos from their second full length “The Eternal Cowboy”.

Upon first listening to the record, which is little over 20 minutes long, and features 2 songs that have already been released on a 7” single some years ago I began to feel a little ripped off. The thing that lets this “album” down the most is the fact the track order doesn’t work. The demo versions of the songs aren’t as different or alternative as you’d hope or expect from an officially released demo album. The songs that are different (Unsubstantiated Rumors… and Sink Florida Sink) are the 2 alternative takes that have already been released.

Unfortunately all in all, there’s little good to say about this release. It kind of seems a little pointless. So my faith in Against Me! Has not been restored. It’s not a bad album, it’s just an album I’ve already heard before, in better quality, with a better track order.

Review By Paul Edwards

WTFesssssst! Sept 2nd - 6th - Southampton!

So finally we have announced the WTFest! this a is kind of a mini festival celebrating punk rock and DIY culture within our little city of Southampton! We have some amazing acts lined up over the 5 days some paid and some free so there is no excuses for not showing up!

It'll be running at various locations around Southampton, with secret free shows in record stores and people's houses alongside a bunch of proper paid gigs at the Joiners Arms. If you want to know where the secret shows are going to be, start following on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wtfesst. You'll be given about four hours notice, so keep yer iPhone handy, or whatever it is you do with Twitter.

Other tickets for shows are available via the links below:
There's a dual ticket offer going on for Polar Bear Club and the A Wilhelm Scream shows, so you get both shows for just a tenner. You can buy them direct from http://www.joinerslive.co.uk


The line-ups thus far are as follows:

September 2nd – The Joiners
THE FLATLINERS
MIKE TV
OK PILOT
MASH ATTACK

September 3rd – House show
For details keep your eyes on the twitter page..

September 4 – The Joiners
POLAR BEAR CLUB
BROADWAY CALLS
BURN THE FLEET
CALVINBALL
PLUS MORE TBA

September 5 – House Show & Acoustic acts during the day at a location TBA
OUR TIME DOWN HERE
PLUS VERY SPECIAL AMAZING GUESTS TBA

September 6 – The Joiners
A WILHELM SCREAM
YOU ME AND THE ATOM BOMB
PLUS MORE TBA

Exclusive Bayside Interview**

So we recently caught up with dark punk rockers Bayside in London who were over doing a few shows with New Found Glory.. here is a few highlights from our chat with lead vocalist Anthony.

WWR : So you've never done your own headline tour, do you want to?

B: Yea! We want to for sure the UK's always been a place where its taken us a while to gain traction and gain fans and really feeling confident in going to do that, but I definitely feel its getting closer and closer that's for sure

WWR : Why do you think that is?

B: I really don't know, its probably something political and something to do with being from the states and having a label from the states, you we are in a lot more press , magazines and TV and stuff and we are a lot bigger over there, for some reason in Australia we do really well for some reason we just clicked over there, I just don't know what it is over here..
You know when we got big in the states it took a while to get where we are now, it wasn't like a single launched us or anything it feels more real and passionate from the fans. So we are just building up something that's going to be genuine.

WWR : So SHUDDER released last year.. there were some more poppier moments on it I felt?

B: Yea! We wanted to be real simple in a good way, its definitely not a new direction, that's not what we sound like now its something we wanted to try and I feel like to be truly 'punk' doing something simple is almost like taking a stand you know what I mean?

WWR: Do you find that you have a really unique place in punk rock?

B: I mean musically were not the punkest band, we are loped in with NEW FOUND GLORY and ALKALINE TRIO, which is cool because we love those bands, but it think our attitude like lyrically or in interviews is a little more abrasive than bands we are associated with and I think that turns people off a little bit I think people aren't used to it, you know you not going to open Kerrang! And read about somebody in band giving an honest opinion about how something sucks and we do that!

WWR: so there's been some rumours about you guys possibly signing with alkaline trio's new label..?

B: Well we don't really know we have just finished our contract with VICTORY so we are free agents right now which is really exciting we haven't been unsigned for 6 years and it feels really nice, we are starting to write right now for our new record but we don't know who's going to put it out

WWR: Do you have a sound on that record yet?

B: Its going to be kinda like a WALKING WOUNDED sounding album, we want to make the heaviest album we've ever made you know, like with SHUDDER the concept was to make something quick and poppy and catchy and so this one will be more intricate and more solos and more orchestras and heavy!

WWR: Have you felt the impact of the 'digital revolution'?

B: Absolutely, there's good points and band points to it. We have felt the impact of both, the fact that we just played in Paris for the first time ever 2 days ago there were people singing along to our band you just have to thank the internet for that, I know there's not a lot of promotion for our band there , we aren't on TV there we have never been there before so that's the great benefit of it that people are going to hear about your band through the internet
So that's one side of it and so the other side is obviously you sell less records and with selling records then there is less money and its not just money in your pocket but its less money to do things!
There was a time when bands took an entire year to write a record, because they had the money to live of off or be in the studio for as long as they wanted and the equipment, so there's all those things but now its like you can only write for as long as you cant afford to go on tour, so there's an upside and a downside but I think the upside outweighs the downside. I think that anybody anywhere in the world can find a new band everyday is amazing! Its more important then money..

WWR: What bands can you recommend who we may not have heard of?

B: The Menzingers! They are unbelievable, they are on a label from Chicago called Red Scare Records with a whole bunch of awesome bands of that label.. Cobra Skulls and the Sidekicks , you know I feel like its really exciting, I hope you can tell just from me talking about it! Because this underground music thing this whole punk rock thing emo and hardcore has become so mainstream, I think things like fallout boy is great for what they do and they've opened a lot of doors for bands like us to be on MTV or the radio.
But then its all become so mainstream that there is all these copycats like Metro Station and Boys Like Girls so all these really shitty versions of something that was cool, so the whole underground has become so popular that there has to be a new underground developing under it and I think that's happening right now and its so exciting and I am so anxious to keep hearing all these cool bands, there's a lot of great bands about you've just got to look for them.
With Punk We all have taken this ride into the mainstream and have forgot about all this other stuff and so its cool there's a lot of good stuff out there!

Check out the audio below for more from Bayside on song writing, the music industry, touring life and more..

Huge thanks to Rey Rolden & Bayside

Interview By Ross Shroff
Words By Ricky Bates


Bayside's newest record SHUDDER is available now from Victory records

www.myspace.com/bayside
www.myspace.com/wrongwayroundradio

PRF # 2 SUCCESS!

So we had our 2nd PunkRockFriday brought to you by the Wrongwayround collective/crew at UNIT nightclub here in Southampton , UK.
On the bill for the night was A Broken Robot, Dave House & Lemuria from the USA!
All were amazing and some amazing tunes were spun until the early hours of the morning!
Look out for some exclusive Dave House acoustic videos right here soon, in the meantime heres a few clips from Lemuria's set..

Look Kids! Free Music from No Idea Records!

In a practically unfathomable maneuver of selfless generosity and technological wizardry, the No Idea Distro has launched the first in a series of downloadable compilations called the Pretend Record Series. The compilation was launched at approximately 5:07 PM on Friday, June 5, with word spreading faster than a cheetah fleeing from a blazing Kentucky wildfire. By 5:23 PM, the onslaught of bandwidth traffic on the No Idea server forced the entire office to abandon futile attempts at answering emails and proceed directly to Common Grounds’ 2-4-1 Happy Hour.

The compilation features a smorgasbord-sized sampling of new titles distributed proudly and exclusively by the No Idea Distro. Pretend Record features tracks from forthcoming No Idea Records releases such as Dear Landlord’s Dream Homes, No Friends’ S/T, and Speed Is Everything by The Bomb (who count former Naked Raygun singer Jeff Pezzati amongst their ranks), not to mention a handful of formerly vinyl-exclusive tracks from the likes of North Lincoln, Ringers, and Averkiou. The 15-song compilation is rounded out by close friends and closer fiends in the form of Dead Friends, Wormburner, Paul Baribeau & Ginger Alford, Screaming Females, and more, all of whom have piping hot new releases in consumable form available from the No Idea Conglomerate Corporation Empire.

No Idea Distro’s Kaiser Jennifer issued the following dispatch:

“Welcome back to Volume One of our SUMMERTIME WATER MOSH festival of DOWNLOAD MADNESS!! Limited edition and first-come, first served (shoes and shirt optional)... Nothing to trade, nothing to sell, in fact it's all a big PRETEND RECORD!! You can't watch it spin, you can't hand number it, you can't auction it. "Well, heck, what CAN you do with it?" You may LISTEN to it. With your ear bones!”

Track Listing:
1. DEAR LANDLORD "I Live in Hell" (NO IDEA)

2. THE BOMB "Spaceman" (NO IDEA)

3. SOMETHING FIERCE "Teenage Ruins" (DIRTNAP)

4. NORTH LINCOLN "This is Gonna Hurt" (NO IDEA)

5. PINK RAZORS "Geometric Park" (HOUSEPLANT / NO IDEA)

6. RINGERS "Canned Laughter" (1-2-3-4 GO!)

7. AVERKIOU "Wasted and High" (SOUND STUDY)

8. DEAD FRIENDS "Guh Guh" (PLAN-IT-X)

9. WORMBURNER "If Life is a Highway, Then I'm Totally Fucked" (SALINAS)

10. NO FRIENDS "Never Ending Fight" (NO IDEA)

11. HOT NEW MEXICANS "Self Loathing Fool" (FAST CROWD)

12. THE ARRIVALS "I'm Sorry For Saying I'm Sorry" (RECESS)

13. PAUL BARIBEAU and GINGER ALFORD "Thunder Road" (SELF-RELEASE)

14. LANDLORD "Skate Jam" (BAKERY OUTLET / HOUSEPLANT)

15. SCREAMING FEMALES "Buried In The Nude" (DON GIOVANNI)

DOWNLOAD IT HERE!!:
http://www.noidearecords.com/bands/releases/va-pretendrecord.php

New videos From Chillerton, Go Vegas & Chaos Days

Heres a few new videos, the Chillerton one is from the recent punk n bowl 2 event in london, which was a fun filled day with an amazing line up!
The other two are from a recent charity gig at the Students Union here in Southampton..

PunkRockFriday - Virgins & The Cut Ups

So we had our 1st PRF this friday just gone..it went off with a bang and fun times were had all round!

I'd like to send a huge thanks to everyone that came and the bands that played and also the labels who have supported us by sending us some great stuff to giveaway to people..( sideonedummy, adeline & no idea/ Kiss of death records..)



The next one is june 12th also at UNIT Club in southampton with Dave House , Lemuria & A Broken Robot playing.... this is sure to try top the 1st one so get down there!

Heres Some photos from the night..

cheers

NEW BRUISES UK TOUR!

If you dont know these guys i suggest you hit them up now and start learning some songs they are over for a rare UK tour in a few weeks!

Tampa, FL’s coffee-punk trolls New Bruises have emerged from hibernation and are preparing for the first steps in what they hope to be a very active year. Next week they’ll hit the fair shores of Europe for a three-week adventure throughout Germany, France, Netherlands, and the UK.

5/21 - Berlin, Germany @ Lokal
5/22 - Freiberg, Germany @ EAC
5/23 - Giessen, Germany @ AK44
5/24 - Wurzburg, Germany @ Immerhin
5/25 - Arezzo, Italy @ The Factory
5/26 - Vicenza, Italy @ Sabotagebar w/ Off With Their Heads
5/27 - Tubingen, Germany @ Epple Haus
5/28 - Heilbronn, Germany @ Mobilat
5/29 - Mannheim, Germany @ Juz
5/30 - Paris, France @ Le Pixe
5/31 - Kingston, England @ The Peel (K FEST 09!)
6/1 - Portsmouth, England @ The Fawcett Inn
6/2 - Exeter, England @ The Cavern
6/3 - Swansea, Wales @ Bar Sigma
6/4 - Birmingham, England @ The Island Bar
6/5 - Sheffield, England @ The Stockroom
6/6 - Leeds, England @ The Packhorse (afternoon show!)
6/6 - Manchester, England @ The Retro Bar (evening show!)
6/7 - Sunderland, England @ The White Room (afternoon BBQ show!)
6/8 - Dundee, Scotland @ Drouthy Neebors
6/9 - Hull, England @ The Lamp
6/10 - Cambridge, England @ The Portland Arms
6/11 - Southampton, England @ The King Alfred
6/12 - Arnhem, Netherlands @ Willemeen

To coincide with the European tour, they’ll be releasing a split 7” with Offshore Radio (Sunderland, UK, featuring members of The Dauntless Elite and The Mercury League). They split comes care of Germany’s Yo-Yo Records and features the artistic stylings of Richard Minino, better known as Horsebites Design.

New Bruises are also proud to announce the addition of Chris Murray on bass, formerly of The Gray AM.

Future plans include appearances at San Diego’s Awesome Fast 2 and Gainesville’s The Fest 8, as well as a soon-to-be-released split 7” with Houston’s O Pioneers as part of Vinyl Collective’s “Under The Influence” series, with New Bruises covering “Nu Bruises” by Superchunk and O Pioneers covering “American Hearts” by Piebald.

CRUCIAL LINKS:
http://www.myspace.com/newbruises
http://www.yoyorecords.de/
http://www.horsebitesdesign.com/
http://northparkawesomefast.com/
http://www.thefestfl.com
http://www.southernlovin.com
http://www.kissofdeathrecords.com

NOFX , Snuff & Flatliners Photos

So last week we were in london for the 2nd night of London shows for NOFX , Snuff, The Flatliners & Pour Habit.

We managed to catch interviews with both flatliners & pour habit which will be up soon but for now check out these photos from our photographer Ben Walker..



Cheers!

Senses Fail Interview

Senses Fail Interview
Portsmouth Wedge – 19/4/09
Hannah Mahony for WWR
Key : H = Hannah, B = Buddy, JB = Jason Black

B: I’m having a great time
H: Despite being hungover?
B: Yes.
H: And wanting to cry?
B: I just wanna cry because I get like mentally retarded when I get hungover, and I just wanna be normal again (laughs).
JB: Are you really crying?
B: No. Because I was shoving my computer into my (pushes his apple mac into his head). Ok.
H: Ok. So, how are you?
B: Good.
H: You’ve only just arrived in the UK and you played Norwich last night, how was that?
B: Was good. It was um, weird. The show was good, but the kids were a little strange. They didn’t look like they had a good time.
H: No? Why?
B: I dunno!
H: Were they young kids or...
B: No they were medium kids. It was fun though it was fine, it was a good show, we hadn’t played there in 6 years are there was about 307 kids there so I was excited about that?
H: How do you think this tour will measure up to your past tours here?
B: We’ve done one other headlining tour here and it was really good, only it was really short it was only like 5 days. This one so far has been really good I mean tonight’s show is almost sold out, so that’s cool, that make’s me happy.
H: What’s your favourite city to perform in in the UK?
B: I don’t know, for some reason I really like Bristol. I don’t know why, I don’t know what it is. I kind of like the city.
H: I’ve never been there.
B: It’s a port town, there’s a lot of sailors and occasionally there’s Somali pirates. Who kidnap Americans and take them on their boat and the US Navy sails blow out their brains.
H: And then the captain gives himself up?
B: Yup!
H: Cool. But surely Portsmouth is a sailing town?
B: Yeah but I don’t see as many sailors around here.
H: Yeah that true.
B: Right?
H: You don’t many typical sailors.. What was playing Groezrock like?
B: It was.. we showed up and played so it felt like I was on acid or something, but it was fun. Yeah we had a great crowd and there was a bunch of our friends we hadn’t seen in a while so that was fun. The beer garden was ... interesting, it was good, I had a great time. I like that festival a lot.
H: Did you get to see many bands you liked?
B: I watched Thursday and they were awesome and that’s about it, I wasn’t really in the band watching mood. Just cos we just showed up that day and I was out of it.
H: You’re recording process is different from other bands, you record demos and then you go into the studio and..
B: Pretty much change the demos a little bit and then just record it, we come prepared into the studio because it works better.
H: Do you think you improve when you get into the studio, or from when you do the recordings first?
B: I’d say the demos first because you know what you’re doing and you write the song and it makes sense, you have more time to prepare. So that when you go to record it in the studio you just bang it out and it’s easier I think. It works better, it’s smoother.
H: And what was the recording process like for the new album, was it all smooth sailing?
B: No. It was intense ‘cos we didn’t do demos, we decided to right everything in the studios for the most part and that was a mess. . which turned out good, but was really stressful and I don’t wanna ever do it that way again.
H: How long did you spend in the studio?
B: 2 months.
H: Did you go in with any ideas?
B: Yeah, we had mainly 5 songs and everything we wrote in the studio was just intense.
H: What’s your opinion on the current state of the music scene?
B: You know it’s weird. There’s a lot of bands that suck, there’s a lot of bands that are good and there are a lot of people that like the bands that suck and unfortunately those people that like the bands that suck spend money on them to go to their shows so they become more popular therefore taking more fans that would come to our shows away from us which makes me diss them back and upset. But that’s a selfish view of the music industry from my point of view, there’s a lot of good shit though and there’s a lot of bad shit but that’s the way it’s always been.
H: Do you think that with the economic crisis is affecting the quality of music out at the moment?
B: I don’t know if it’s affecting the quality but it’s definitely affecting the amount of kids who go to shows because they just don’t have the money to blow.
H: Have you noticed a decline in people not being able to go to shows?
B: Yeah. Definitely.
H: Obviously you have that statement you made about Brokencyde. What do you think it is that attracts kids to Brokencyde if they’re so awful? Do you think the current generation of kids have lost a ]sense of good music because there’s nothing on there?
B: I think that’s one thing and I think two, it’s really easy to listen to, you don’t have to think about it. It’s just background, it’s just... i think.. honestly, I have no idea why people would listen to them. I don’t know, I couldn’t give you a legitimate reason why people would like them, I can’t.
H: How do you think Heath’s changed since he’s joined the band?
B: Ask Heath!
H: How do you think you’ve changed?
Heath: Uhh I dunno. How I’ve changed personally? Since when?
H: You joined.
B: Oh. I think I’m pretty much the same dude. Fun at parties?
H: More fun at parties?
Heath: Probably
B: You don’t party as much but when you do you go for it.
Heath: I go for it. I’ve always been kind of the dude. I don’t think I’ve changed much.
B: No I don’t think he drinks as much but when he does he drinks A LOT.
H: Do you see yourselves getting any bigger or smaller in the next foreseeable three years?
B: Um, I dunno. I mean if we had put out a shitty record then we’ll definitely get smaller. If we write a really really good record I think we could potentially get bigger, but probably won’t. I don’t really for see that in the future. I’d have to, do you have a magic 8 ball? Just (does a 8 ball shaking movement). I don’t know what mine would say. I mean it all depends on the record you put out, if it sucks it sucks and people don’t like you.
H: You’re pretty much packed up until August, other than taking a good rest afterwards, what you see yourselves doing?
B: I’ll probably go home and do jujitsu, its gunna be awesome because I haven’t been able to do jujitsu in almost two and a half months.
H: How long have you been doing that for?
B: Going on a year and a half, two years.
H: Are you gunna record anything new or go touring for a while?
B: We’re probably gunna go home and not talk to other until warped tour because we’ve all been around each other for two and half months.
JB: I’m not talking to you guys.
B: I’m gunna go to the beach, I’m gunna do jujitsu, I’m gunna work and my step fathers law office and my step brother’s gunna be home so I’m gunna see him. I’m pretty much just gunna hang out and wait until we go on warped tour.
H: Are you looking forward to Warped tour?
B: Yeah it’ll be fun, it’ll be fun.
H: Have you had a listen to the bands supporting you tonight?
B: No I have not, I have not listened to them.

Thanks to Senses Fail & Ian Cheek
www.myspace.com/sensesfail
www.sensesfail.com

SHOOK ONES!

So This past sunday our promotion here in Southampton WrongwayRound Promotions put on another amazing showcase with Shook Ones from Seattle, USA. Also on the bill was Red tape Parade from Germany who were ace! As well as Chillerton, Our Time Down here and Immortal youth..

Heres a clip from the show...

Return from Groezrock 09'

So we are back from the best festival in the land the mighty Groezrock, we had a jolly time catching some of the best punk rock bands which currently reside on our small planet.
Whilst out in belgium we managed to catch chats with CATCH 22, THE LIVING END, RISE AGAINST, THE VANDALS & THIS IS A STANDOFF.

To check out more info on the festival and pictures hit up http://www.groezrock.be

These will be appearing in some form over the coming weeks and months via this blog and our printed zine.
We would like to thank Groezrock for having us and cant wait for next year..

Wrongwayround Punk Zine issue one

Is now out of print.. but due to technology you can now view this in full colour..

Open publication - Free publishing - More wrongwayround

ERM AWESOME...

Polar Bear Club Update

Hello! so after the success of the show a few weeks ago we have an update for everyone!

theres some news on the new album from Polar Bear Club, a video and some epic photos we you all to see!



1st off heres what Jimmy from PBC had to say about the new album which will be out on bridge nine records sometime in 09'!



Jimmy : Yes! Its mostly written , we spent January writing it so were going home after this tour and then then we go out with Have Heart and then record in April, and so yea its mostly done but we gotta go home and tidy things up in our short time off, its interesting... its polar bear club definitely but there's some songs that are kind of like... I always thought polar bear club the music was kind of like this grey area between punk and hardcore and indie or whatever.

I always thought the songs were kind of in the middle and there is definitely songs like that on there, you know where its not knowing what style or what genre it is, but there's a couple songs where the hardcore songs are more hardcore and the punk rock songs get more punk rock, but there's still that grey iffy area, with some songs leaning on the outside, but its cool im really excited about it actually we've been working really hard on it, I just want to get those songs out there you know! Just it takes so long for the whole process to come together, I'm ready for people to know the songs!



Photos by Ben Walker...





Video By Ricky Bates

Polar Bear Club Preview

Groezrock 2009! April 17th + 18th

So we are exactly a month away from the legendary groezrock festival in meerhout belguim, the line up is complete and the beer is ready to flow!
this will be our 5th year in attendence of such a great festival.
You can find all the details you need at www.groezrock.be concerning tickets and times..

or head straight to this link for a downloadable schedule..
http://www.groezrock.be/public/

Our latest issue of wrongwayroundpunk zine has a full review plus more on last years edition, to get your hands on the mag head over to the right for links to follow...

Broadway Calls - Interview

Rick: First question. Tour of the UK, I know you guys have been here before for Give It A Name and stuff like that, how have the reactions been this time round?

BC: Uh It’s been good, I mean the last time we were touring with pop bands and this time we are too but it’s a little more our style so it’s a better crowd for us.
BC: There’s a few kids coming out that came before, but I mean Alkaline Trio, Cobra Starship, like the same kids, like even if they did like us they’re not guna pay, what £20 just to come see us. There have been a few kids that actually came out from the last tour.

R: You did a headline show at the Peel was that good?

Yeah that was the best show we did so far, that was the best in the UK so far, as far as atmosphere goes

R: Is it still beneficial for you guys to tour over here and not just for finance but also to get your names known?

Yeah I mean the tours that we’re doing, we’ve never done a tour that big in the states besides the Warped Tour, I mean this is like 1,000 kids every night, at least.

R: This venue is weird because it looks like it fits a lot more than it does when its only 1700 people. So give us a brief history about your band and why you formed?

Well we were in a hardcore band together called Countdown To Life, well we’ve been playing together since we were like 14 but then our first touring band was Countdown To Life and we started that when we were like 18, 19 and we did that for a few years but then our bass player and singer didn’t wanna tour any more and we had band payments to make and we still wanted to tour but we didn’t wanna start another band that sounded like that so we went this route because this is our favourite kind of music anyway. So we did that and we’ve been doing it since it kinda took over, it was supposed to be like, we were going to tour with this band when Countdown couldn’t but this kinda took over.

R: So labels, you guys have just signed to Side One Dummy, do you have a certain amount of releases that you have to bring out?

BC: It’s one with a few options. I mean pretty much if everyone’s happy we’ll keep producing them.

R: Side One Dummy has been snapping up a lot lately, obviously they have Gaslight and stuff like that. But Gaslight clearly aren’t guna stay on there for their next release they’ll go straight to a….

BC: Oh they will, they’re really happy with Side One, I mean they’ve had majors coming after them before Side One.

R: They’ve also just been announced to support Bruce Springsteen in Hyde Park. That’s just mental really.

BC: Is that like a big festival?

R: No it’s just Bruce Springsteen’s own show.

BC: Really?

R: Yeah it’s massive over here he plays like once every 5 years so he can do stuff like that. I think The Hold Steady are on there too so it should be pretty cool.

R. how much difference do you think labels actually make these days in terms of whether you were on Side One Dummy or Fat Wreck or Universal, how much do you really think it’s going to open up? Like will it make much difference from what you were on before?

BC: Yeah like just one example, Flogging Molly paved the way to get bands on Letterman and Conan, which Gaslight just did both of those so from that aspect like the press side they already have the connections with everyone like Rolling Stone and that so we’re guna get good press whether kids pick up on it, so that’s just one way.
BC: And some people, I guess like if a label is being really consistent with good releases then you’re guna wanna check on their new bands anyway, so like some kids might check us out just because we’re signed to Side One or just because we are on the same label as Gaslight or something like that.

R: Do you feel like it’s going to open up for a lot more tours, because like Kevin Lyman owns a part of it doesn’t he?

BC: Yeah, I mean we already did Warped Tour so that’s how we met up with Side One in the first place but yeah its going to open up a lot, everyone loves the guys at Side One, like they’re really good dudes.

R: I think they’ve kind of overtaken Fat Wreck in terms of bigness now…

BC: Yeah and quality and everything about it, I mean Fat scaled down

R: They closed down their European office last year and now it’s a pain in the arse to get anything

…..

R: Right music and lyrics: What really influences you to write, because within your self-titled there’s a lot of positivity within the lyrics and it seems like you’re proud of where you’re from and you sing about it. Does where you’re from influence it a lot?

BC: Yeah there was on the last record for sure. It’s cool for the North-West for our style of music, there isn’t much of it, there’s The Thermals, they’re a good pop band from Portland but I mean there’s not a lot of pop-punk so it’s kind of cool to represent the North-West of the United States when we’re out travelling around because there’s a lot of indie rock and stuff from Portland, like Sub-Pop Records is from the area and it’s huge.

R: So do you feel that’s a definite influence where you’re from or is it deeper stuff that you tend to write about?

BC: Well it’s weird, like that record I guess when I go back and listen to it there are some positive things on the record, like Back To Oregon is my favourite love song written but there is also some dark stuff on that record but it’s just kind of towards the end of the songs it’s kinda about pulling through that so, that record is all about touring basically and like making new friends and missing friends at home and that’s what that record was all about and this next one I’m trying to write from other people’s points of view.

R: Ethics of punk rock: do you guys make your own t-shirts and stuff? Do you think it’s important to do things like that every now and again to stay grounded?

BC: Yeah there are a lot of bands we meet who don’t even know what their t-shirt design is guna be but I just think it’s important we still have every say in it like people will get a management company and let them take over and let their ideas go but we still, we know what’s going on with our band.

R: It’s definitely cheaper to produce.

BC: People are lazy too and I think it’s important for bands to keep doing things for themselves. And we’re really lucky because our management and booking agency both give us a lot of freedom, like we don’t have to book every show through our agent, she gets us big stuff and then we still do basement tours in the States. In the States 30 or 40% of our shows are in a basement or something like not in a club but yeah our booking agent let us book our own tours.

R: Your new release on Side One Dummy, have you started writing it or is it recorded, what’s going on?

BC: It’s like half written, this is like the first time we’ve ever done it where we’re writing more songs than what’s planning to be on the record, we’re just writing a tonne of stuff so we have like 12 songs and probably only half maybe will make it onto there and as soon as we get home we will keep writing until we get into the studio.
BC: We’re working with Bill Stevenson.

R: Oh awesome. Everyone’s working with him at the moment, A Wilhelm Scream etc. It’s either Bill Stevenson or Ted Hutt that everybody’s working with.

BC: That’s actually who Side One wanted to go with. We were going to do it with the same guy that did the last record but then Side One said they wanted a big name on it and said who’s your dream and we were like Bill Stevenson.

R: What are your plans when you get home because on your tour dates you play this show then two Koko dates and then it’s dead is that recording time?

BC: We’re supposed to go in March 10th that’s like if we feel we’re ready to go in. If not we might be recording in August because we want to work with Bill Stevenson and he has like A Wilhelm Scream, Alkaline Trio, Flobots all right after us so he’s booked up until August. After that we have some tour ideas that aren’t confirmed but it’ll keep us busy towards July.

R: You need to go on one of those mega tours they seem to do in America but never over here like Alkaline Trio, Rise Against, Bayside, we never get tours like that.

BC: Yeah that tour was a big deal. We would love to be part of something like that.

R: Do you think if you had like a lot more resources, for example, Linkin Park or even New Found Glory I know on Warped Tour they have a huge bus with a studio in the back of it, do you think you would end up recording 40 tracks over that summer?

BC: We might say that but I think once we got to it like we would probably record maybe 2 or 3. It’s hard to focus when we’re on the road like the plan, like Side One didn’t want us to do this tour but we can’t say no to Alkaline Trio.

R: Why did they not want you to do this tour?

BC: They wanted us to focus on the record. And we were like oh we’ll go over, we’ll write songs whilst we’re in Europe but…We’ve only been here once before so we were like, we need to get over there with a band we actually like.
…..
R: Dream tours and favourite records?

BC: We’re almost on our dream tour, like this is definitely a dream come true to tour with Alkaline Trio. Like we’ve loved them for years and they’re awesome guys and their crew is awesome. Dream tour like the new Green Day album is coming out so maybe a Green Day show.

R: You guys make a lot of videos don’t you? You’ve just done one for Back To Oregon.

BC: Yeah a friend made one for Suffer The Kids a long time ago. I don’t think we’re happy with any of them, I’m personally not happy with them, like the one for Call It Off was supposed to be a normal show but when we got there it was too much. We could have had a friend bring a couple of hand cameras and we could have done a better video I think.

R: Do you get involved in the creative process?

BC: We made sure it was there and they kept trying to move it but it was a town that we loved and love all the kids there and we made sure it was there and it was our idea to do a performance but when it came down to it they had some lights and smoke, it was really lame. We had as much say as we could but it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to. Back To Oregon we hated that as well.

R: Is that because they link literally everything you say with the video?

BC: Yeah the process of that one was horrible. Like the guys came up they didn’t have anything planned out, we changed locations like 3 times and they wanted us to do acting like really cheesy parts, they wanted us to have these girls come up with an 8 by 10 of some famous dude that might look like Ty or something and they ask him to sign it and then they find out it’s not him.
BC: And it’s total like, the dudes from San Diego and wanted us to be Blink 182 and we were like we’re not that kinda band. We might sound like Blink but we’re not guna talk about poop and wieners, hopefully the next videos will be much better. We have a friend in Portland that I want to work with so we’ll hopefully try that.

R: Do you think it’s important to do a video when it’s mostly for the internet now, because MTV never shows anything.

BC: I mean like if it was like 1994-95 when we had a shot to be on MTV like Green Day but now it’s nothing. But over here compared to the States there’s a lot more videos on TV.
BC: Just the other day we saw that new Glassvegas video and it was awesome and super creepy and end of the world stuff happening and it was like this is rad and you don’t see this happening in the states, it would maybe be on at 3 in the morning maybe.

R: The last question is a big question. Where do you think the music industry is going with everyone downloading everything for free, bands only make money off of merch, Paramore are doing a 360 deal, where do you think it’s going, what’s going to happen? It’s coming to a crucial point with iTunes saying its DRM-free so you can share all your music so surely they’re making it worse.

BC: It sucks, making records certainly isn’t getting any cheaper. So like to not be able to re-coup with record sales is lame because that’s the only way bands can make money. This is the only way we’ve ever made any money is from touring and selling merch and so that’s fine with me and I can’t be a hypocrite I steal music, I download music.
BC: It’s too bad that the industry let technology overpass it, like it didn’t know what to do it didn’t know the internet was going to ruin it but at the same time I think it’s cool because it’s easier to find music, the economy sucks anyway kids can’t buy records so as long as they keep coming to shows it’s fine with me.
BC: It seems to really only affect the major labels like their bands but they don’t need $500,000 to do a record they need like $20,000. That’s their fault they made that happen spending $300,000 on a video. It’s not downloading it’s giving away all this money and now they have to take it out of touring sales, which is really shitty like you said that’s the only way they’re going to make money. Paramore are probably spending I don’t know how much on a record and videos and I doubt they’re going to recoup no matter how much they sell so like they’re making it from touring as well.

R: Within that question there are kinda like two tail ends of punk rock at the moment. You’ve got Warped Tour and Fest in Florida. So with Fest you’ve got Var who’s doing this stuff with No Idea, he’s doing it all completely independently and all these bands completely respect that they all go to Florida for 3 or 4 days and everyone has a really great time. Nobody gets paid an immense amount, kids go there and it’s never going to be bigger than it is because they can’t because of the size of the venues. And so then there’s Warped Tour and all the sponsorship and all of that.

BC: We did both but the Fest was the best weekend. Warped Tour is really hard and it’s like a tough call because it can be fun at night time to like hang out with people and meet new friends and we met all the Side One guys because of Warped Tour but like, there was The Bronx, Against Me!, The Briggs there were good bands on there but like the Fest was exactly what we want, it’s perfect, it’s just perfect.
BC: I think Warped Tour is like an introduction tour, it’s like a big con and then the Fest is for people that love this band. They’re just separate things, they’re both good.

R: I went to Fest 6 and I was absolutely amazed by how welcoming everybody was. It’s like one big family thing.

BC: Warped Tour the people behind it are the best people but they’re getting in shitty bands that pay the bills and you have to do that else Warped Tour wouldn’t exist but I’m sure some of the people would love the Fest as well, they’re just old punk rock people. And you can tell like, if you’re behind the scenes the punk bands are the ones that get the most respect from people that are putting on the Warped Tour they get favoured for sure, like Pennywise, The Bronx. Like everyone was friends, it’s like a lot of cliques on the warped tour, all the pop kids hang out, all the Christian guys hang out.

BC: We started going in 1997, I think it started in 1996. I mean like we saw The Descendents, Blink 182, it was awesome, I’ve gone pretty much every year unless we’re on tour and then this last summer was the first time we’ve ever played it. We never even did like local stages we just went every year, it can be rad but this last year there wasn’t as many good bands as I would’ve liked but this coming year there are loads of good bands, Less Than Jake, NoFX, Bad Religion.

R: Are you with agreement with Brendan that it’s shutting down small clubs in America because the Warped Tour takes away shows from their towns?

BC: Kind of, but it seems like if they’re going to continue in the way they’re going it’s not even going to affect punk rock because it’s not a punk tour. I mean it could affect small clubs but I doubt it if bands steer clear of it or don’t get invited to play.
BC: I think he had a good point, I think there’s always going to be a surviving underground scene if there’s a Warped Tour or not. Like Fest could be a successful tour if they grabbed a handful of bands and did it but it’s perfect the way it is, but I’m glad it’s not a tour actually.

Interview by Ricky Bates
Photos by Ben Walker
Words by Rosie Allen

www.myspace.com/broadwaycalls
www.sideonedummyrecords.com


Huge thanks to : BROADWAY CALLS, CHUCK DALEY & LIZ SWAIN @ ADELINE

The Loved Ones - Distractions _ Review

The Loved Ones - Distractions- FatWreckChords

For me, The Loved Ones have been one of the best bands in punk rock over the past few years. After a great debut album of pop punk rock gems in 'Keep Your Heart', the band mixed it up a bit with a hint of country influence on the outstanding 'Build and Burn'. 'Distractions' is a 6 song EP which is half original material and half covers, to buy over the fans until the next full length due later in the year.

The first 3 songs on this release are all belters, and have the big catchy choruses and energy which The Loved Ones are known for, 'Spy Diddley' being a Keep Your Heart outtake is particularly fast and in your face, but with a great sense of melody. To be honest, I dont really know the cover songs so not really sure whether they are good interpretations, but if you're a fan of The Boss (Johnny 99), Billy Bragg (Lovers Town Revisited), or Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros (Coma Girl), you may well love these covers, as The Loved Ones add their special twist to the songs and give this release something a little bit different.

These covers are all generally a little more chilled out than the originals, and
whereas i'd like to have heard an EP full of original material, Distractions shows a great mix of The Loved Ones trademark sound and some of their influences.


John Allen

Yo its the motherHubbing Steal!

So recently we had a show with The Steal here at wrongwayround promotions, BRIGHT GREY was their last album which came out a little while ago, i assure you its one of the best hardcore albums in a whole while....
go check them out here
www.myspace.com/thesteal

I cut together this today from the show also, enjoy. rick.