Title Fight Live Videos

So we recently had the guys in TITLE FIGHT come to play at the Southampton Joiners, whilst trying to do lights at the same time with one hand i also managed to snap these two videos, i hope you enjoy.
:D

The Next Big Thing?

We are half way through our birthday!

AND its been amazing! we have had two great shows and two great raffles! heres a couple of videos to check out of highlights and such, once again huge thanks to FATWRECKCHORDS & SIDEONEDUMMY for donating to the punkrock raffle we have raised around £30 so far for the disaster in Pakistan, the next show is this weds night at the Soul Cellar in Southampton!
Tickets only £4 on the door! 7.30pm start! :)


PUNK ROCK FRIDAY WITH THE MENZINGERS!


BOMB THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!

Exclusive Chuck Ragan Interview part 1

So This past week we had the pleasure of sharing a drink with gruff punk rock legend, Chuck Ragan. He is currently on tour in europe supporting The Gaslight Anthem so make sure you get out to a show!

CHUCK RAGAN INTERVIEW

WWR : So we are here with the man himself MR Chuck Ragan, how are you today sir?

CR: Very well, thanks for having me!

WWR : il crack straight into the questions/chat

CR: Sure fire away

WWR : So right now your on tour with the gaslight anthem and a few months ago were with frank turner, do you find these shorts of tours beneficial as your playing to a different crowd every night compared to your own shows and in America?

CR : Sure, always. I think that's the case for any artist or band doing support slots, that's the key that's what your trying to do, to have a chance and opportunity to share your music with a audience who have no idea who you are, don't care who you are and just to get out there and have that chance to put your music out there.
Whether they like it or not that is a whole other story, some people care about that some people don't, for me I respect the fact that my musics not for everybody and I have always felt that way, if people get something from it that's wonderful, if they don't that's fine also there's plenty of other artists out there!
We feel really blessed to have the opportunity's we have over here, the UK has always been wonderful for us from hot water music to the solo stuff, we've got a lot of really great friends over here, nowadays we come to different towns and see friends and feel comfortable and familiar, we feel really lucky you know.

WWR : Is this your first time in Southampton? I know you played with hot water music years ago in a youth centre, do you remember that at all?

CR : Ha! yea vaguely, I thought I had played at this venue at some point, it looks really familiar, but im not sure when.

WWR: Would you say its fair to say that you as Chuck Ragan is a follow on from Rumbleseat after that became defunct?

CR : Yea sure, somewhat but I was playing that sort of music before Chris and I ever started Rumbleseat, the stuff that im doing now isn't that far of a stretch from music ive been writing and playing for past 17, 18 years. I just never put as much focus on it as hot water music was always the main focus and not as many people cared ( laughs ).
So this music for me has been something ever since we (hot water music) took our indefinite hiatus some years back, I never stopped writing and one day my wife said hey you should be recording some of this stuff and I said alright! Then sideonedummy wanted to put some records out, so I stopped building houses and put more attention into writing and playing music , but yea ( rumbleseat) is some what similar I've somewhat progressed or least I hope so! Ha if not im doing something wrong ( laughs )




WWR : So your doing this split with Brian ( gaslight anthem ) is it going to be full band or is it back to bare bones for you?

CR : Yea its not even much of a split we are doing a full length record, so far we've just been writing songs on our own and sending them back and forth and singing on each others songs and playing on each others songs, the game plan is to try and record some stuff on this tour we will see what happens and if we are able and have time we will write together which will be wonderful, he is a brilliant brilliant song writer, I love his fire and his energy he's a good fella all round.

WWR : Do you feel you have some years more experience when it comes to writing?

CR : To be honest I don't look at it that way at all, its all relative in time. These boys have been trucking so hard in the past 5, 6 years especially you know they've seen and done more than most bands will ever do in a lifetime.

WWR : Do you think the revival tour will ever come to the UK?

CR : Absolutely! Yeah, we attempted to put one together last year, but we got sidetracked because of all our other schedules. Its been tough because my wife and I basically co ordinate that whole tour and we have a little help from some friends here and there, for the most part my wife and I make the schedule and the decisions but just doing that and the solo stuff and balancing simple everyday home life and now hot water music is doing more stuff, its quite a juggling act.
We've been really excited to bring it over here, im not sure exactly when were going to be doing it but we are planning it for 2011 as far as what month im not sure right now, we are getting ready to lock in the US dates and the Australian dates and once that's locked in we will have a idea, we will do the UK, Europe then Canada then just repeat the cycle

WWR : With Ben Nichols and Tim Barry as well?

CR: Possibly ( smiles ) we will see what happens! I can tell you , you wont be disappointed. A lot of the people that are good friends and artists i've never played with have shown interest in the tour, I mean if its half the tour that it seems like its going to be it will be amazing.

WWR : When you first sat down to record the 'blueprint sessions' did you ever plan to tour worldwide and release as much as you have?

CR : No I didn't, I wasn't thinking about touring at the time. I didn't want to tour at all. I was actually trying to get away from touring and my wife and I were actually planning on starting a custom home building business just on my own as a independent contractor & builder and then the music started doing better and we were able to get out.
Before I was making more money at home with my trade and then I would have to lose money to go play some music which was always fine and then it started getting a little better where we could make ends meet but the last thing I wanted to do was to get back into the machine of it all , the only thing that kind of rectified it for me you could say was that I was doing it solo and my wife and I could make the schedule and we were making our own rules and dictating our life.
It was a completely different feeling than being in a band because hot water music just got to this point where it was wonderful, we had great times and great shows and everything but definitely after a while we had the label and managers and all these people on payroll and all this going on, then you don't dictate your own schedule any more your just a piece of the puzzle.
There's pros and cons to it, its wonderful because you have this big family kind of thing but at the same time personal space disappears, personal agenda disappears, you miss birthdays and funerals and births and anniversary's you name it, its just extremely taxing.
So it was different then when I kicked it off again in my own way, but I had no idea we would have done as much as we have.

WWR : I remember the first time you came over you played by yourself, was there a point you decided to go full band?
No not necessarily I still play by myself quite a bit, tonight its just Jon Gaunt and I. The Cool thing about it in a non selfish way but kind of a selfish way (laughs) is having the control of being able to say i'm going to do this show by myself or get just John or get a whole bunch of people and just go for it. Its just nice to be able to have those options to me it feels more creative and free all round.

Now! thats what i call new videos 53..

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


THE BRIGGS AT JOINERS

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

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

FAKE PROBLEMS! NEW ALBUM & VIDEO

Hello, so recently our good dudes in fake problems have released a new album called 'its great to be alive' trust me its awesome its very rock and roll and available now!
i suggest you buy it from sideonedummy themselves as they have great cd+tshirt packages for very cheap!


heres the new video for the single ' the dream team rumble in the jungle'




thank you.

AOVM TV : IN Short - The Gaslight Anthem

Hello! recently we caught up with the gaslight anthem in london, this is a sneak preview of the interview mixed with a bit of video from the actual show itself.
Do enjoy and comment. thanks!.

www.gaslightanthem.com

www.myspace.com/aovm


AOVM TV : IN Short - THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM from ricky bates on Vimeo.