Aren Drift Interview

Nov8

For those who may not know who you are, introduce yourselves quickly.

Radka Nemcova – Vocals, Rhythm Guitar

Matt Plumley – Lead Guitar

Dominic Cahillane – Drums

Theo Corcoran – Bass

Describe your sound in as few words as possible.

RN: Progressive rock, international vibes, heavy melodic riffs, contralto vocals, cinematic sound.

DC: Vibrations

MP: Female fronted prog rock

TC: I’d say our sound is best described as heavy progressive rock with international influences, I’ve heard the word melodic chucked around a bit as well.

Who are your three biggest influences as a band?

RN: It’s hard to name just three bands as there are many bands we love but I would definitely mention Perfect Circle, In This Moment, Queen of the Damned soundtracks. (The first choice I would choose for the technical side and second two choices I love for the production side.)

What’s the meaning behind your band name?

RN: AREN is made of my initials (‘RN’ = phonetically ‘aren’) I used Aren D. as my artistic / musical pseudonym as no one was able to remember or pronounce my name haha. I chose the second word ‘drift’ because I like to drift and our music should make you drift too.

We came up with lots of different names but everyone liked Aren Drift so we kept it as a band name.

How did you approach our latest release in terms of writing and recording?

RN: Writing is my favourite part so it was just a fun bit for me. I love it. Recording was good but mixing was the difficult part of the whole process.

I am very creative person and I have very strong visions in music and art and I imagine things how they look and sound before they are actually written or filmed. Mixing itself is very creative process and we struggled to get the sound we wanted. However, it was a great learning curve and I’m already excited to apply everything we learnt into our next recordings.

MP: In terms of the recording, we were on a budget, four days in total for five songs, some unreleased at this moment in time. We pretty much had the parts written before we recorded, but somehow ended up re-recording most of the guitar parts at my home studio. When you are on the clock you don’t have time to mull that sound over and try different amps, settings, different guitars, you literally stick a mic in front of your amp and off you go. So that meant we weren’t quite happy with the sound we had. It was a big learning curve for us; we have plans to do things differently next time.

Do you have any personal favourite songs on the release?

RN: Snow Queen. I think the song determines Aren Drift’s unique style.

DC: Light Hole

MP: Sun Goes Down for me.

TC: I’d say my favourite song of the new EP is light hole, it’s one of my favourites to play live as well, but I do also really like “snow queen”.

Explain the meaning behind the album title.

RN: ‘Beneath The Surface’ – We want the listener to go deeper at all the levels while listening our music. Some of the reviews we received say that you need to listen the songs a few times until it fully reveals their potential. I was actually very glad to read that because that’s what I love about music.

The artwork represents what’s beneath your skin, inside of the Earth’s core, inside of you.

Tell us about the video for Snow Queen and its concept.

RN: Snow Queen music video was partly filmed in Czech mountains and partly in England. I wanted to produce something powerful and arty. A music video which captures a story as well as the feelings.

Sun Goes Down music video is solely my arty outlet.

I don’t want to say anything else. Just watch it J

Do they tie in with the themes around the song? If yes, why? If not, why not?

RN: It does. I don’t want to reveal everything. Let’s say you need to listen to the lyrics and watch the video.

Were they fun to shoot or proved to be quite a challenge?

RN: When we were shooting Snow Queen, I was two days in the mountains in -20°C wearing a dress. It was snowing and I thought my hands and nose will fall off so yeah… it was fun haha.

I believe everyone enjoys shooting the music videos. But post production is proper hard work. I believe the devil is in the details and I have very strong visions so I usually spend long time working on the post productions. I produced both videos myself in co-production with Ollie Dolling. It was great working with him. I’m already excited to work on our future videos.

MP: Definitely one of my bands highlights and the results were way beyond what I expected.

Do you have any live shows lined up at present?

RN: Follow us on Facebook. We are planning 2020 UK tour! All the dates will be there.

We were also booked at Concorde 2 in Brighton in June 2020 which will be an epic show.

In regards to the closer dates I would recommend you a gig at Black Heart in Camden, London on 20th September. We are supporting Esoterica. But if you want a ticket, be quick as the show might be sold out soon 😉

What are your favourite songs to perform live?

MP: Our new song Sirens, I love it and the response we had to it at the EP launch which was the first time we played it live, was very moving, loved it.

RN: I really enjoy playing Sirens. It is our new song and by my opinion it is musically the best piece which I’m very proud of. At the moment I’m playing with a thought to write trilogy for Sirens. I have whole concept in my head + the ideas for the video so let’s see if we can do something about that.

DC: Porcelain Dolls has a nice few changes where I can bring a few different styles in the song. For all out energy, Passion Kills is always the track I’m scanning the set list for.

TC: As I said, light hole is one of my favourite songs to play live, as well as one of our new songs called Delirious.

What are the best and worst shows you’ve played to date?

DC: I think it varies for each of us; I’ll leave it down to the fans

TC: I’d say the worst show I’ve played with Aren Drift was my first one with the band, I was slightly nervous, which is odd for me, and I just didn’t quite gel with the music! But our best show in my opinion was our EP release, the sound was great, the crowd was amazing and we were all playing at the top of our game!

If you could open for anyone, who would it be?

DC: Tool would be immense

RN: Deftones, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Perfect Circle, Alice in Chains, In This Moment

MP: Wolf Alice, lead singer is a girl and they rock, great live band from what I can tell on YouTube, I’d then get a chance to watch them in the flesh every night J

Oh yeah and Faith No More, they are still rocking, check out SuperHero from the Radio 1 sessions on YouTube.

Any comical stories from your time as a band you can share with us?

DC: Now that would be telling, shame on you. 🙂

Any closing comments?

Thank you for your support. We appreciate every single person who goes to the live gigs and support the local music in general. Thank you.

Check Aren Drift out further @…

https://www.arendrift.com/ https://www.facebook.com/arendrift/ https://www.instagram.com/aren_drift/

RingMaster Review 06/11/2019

Crepuscular calm: the Dark Serenity Interview

Nov6

Introducing hard rock trio Dark Serenity…

Hello and thanks for taking time out to talk with us.

Can you first introduce the band and give us some background to how it all started?

We are Dark Serenity, composed of members Zach Barnes (bass), Kate Emrich (guitar and vocals), and Mike Bergamo (drums). We started writing music in Kate’s basement back in high school, which is where we met each other. We were brought together by a similar level of ambition in addition to the obvious shared interest in being in a band and creating music.

Had you been in other bands before?

We haven’t been involved in other bands before, but we went through a few line-up changes until we discovered which members would stick. I’m sure it led to a change in style and direction, because we are a group that values the insight of each individual member.

What inspired the band name?

The band name means that there is light in the dark, and more specifically that the motivation for life and light lies within the reality that death and darkness are inevitable.

Was there any specific idea behind the forming of the band and also in what you wanted it and your sound to offer?

We didn’t approach the formation of the band with the intention of sounding a certain way. We wanted to create a sound that sounded like us, one where each one of us used our respective influences to make our own sound.

And that instinct still primarily drives the band now it is more experienced or has new aspects evolved over time?

I would say the same things still drive us. Those things being the intent to succeed in our field and inspire others to do the same, as well as to live our own lives the way we want to.

Since your early days, how would you say your sound has evolved?

I would say our sound has matured, basically, as we have as musicians. We write in different song structures and utilize our instrument’s capabilities more fully. We can write parts that complement the other instrumentals more effectively, and more clearly communicate our messages.

Has it been more of an organic movement of sound or more the band deliberately wanting to try new things?

It’s both. When you deliberately try new things you tend to find a more of an organic movement and vice versa.

Presumably across the band there is a wide range of inspirations; are there any in particular which have impacted not only on the band’s music but your personal approach and ideas to creating and playing music?

We are inspired by the creations of many of the greats, such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Who. That being said we’ve never deliberately practiced their songwriting approaches.

Is there a particular process to the band’s songwriting?

Yes, typically we write by picking a key and a time signature, then doing an improv session within those specifications. The body of the song usually comes first, with the bass and drums; then the guitar, and then the vocals are written last.

Where do you, more often than not, draw the inspirations to the lyrical side of your songs?

More often than not our lyrics cover subjects that include and challenge societal norms. We have songs about deviating from said norms.

Could you give us some background to your latest release?

Our latest release is our debut album that we released last year. It’s called ‘Memento Mori’ and is eight tracks. It was a live tracked album, which we did on purpose to emulate the experience of a live performance.

Give us some insight to the themes and premise behind it and its songs

The themes we mentioned discussing our commonly used lyrical themes are the themes we applied to the tracks on this album.

Are you a band which goes into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or prefer to develop them as you record?

We go into the studio with our songs completed. We don’t like bringing unfinished material because there’s no guarantee you will come out with something you’re happy with. When a song is complete there’s not really a question as to whether or not it will turn out like you had hoped.

Tell us about the live side to the band, obviously a favourite aspect of being in the band?

Live we deliver an animated and authentic performance. We’ve been told that our passion for what we do is obvious and felt throughout the room. We want to deliver the best version of ourselves.

It is not easy for any new band to make an impact regionally let alone nationally and further afield. How have you found it?

We have found it difficult yet worthwhile. We are lucky to have been brought up as musicians in the metro Detroit area where there are a lot of music fans and a decent number of live venues. It’s arguably harder to get your foot in the door when there are several other groups going for the same goals as you. However, in addition to that difficulty, you also find the most support from the other musicians. You have to work hard, break a sweat, then gain respect…But the respect that you gain is worth it.

How has the internet and social media impacted on the band to date? Do you see it as something positive within a realm flooded with artists and a short attention society or more of a necessary trial?

Bands nowadays need to utilize social media to their advantage, just like any other form of entrepreneur. You’re selling yourself as the product, basically, and in today’s market, you need to unapologetically market yourself with the tools everybody else is using to have a shot at mainstream success. So yeah, not being able to properly use social media can hurt your career, but most likely, will stunt your growth overall. There are obviously always exceptions to a rule, though.

Once again a big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add or reveal for the readers?

Thank you for having us! We just want to add that you can find our music on every streaming platform, and that you can find us on Facebook or Instagram. Please show us your support!

https://www.darkserenityofficial.com https://www.facebook.com/pg/darkserenityband https://www.instagram.com/darkserenityband https://twitter.com/Dark__Serenity

Pete RingMaster 06/11/019

Stirring the senses: Vital Noise Interview

Nov6

Meet Vital Noise…

Hello and thanks for taking time out to talk with us.

Thanks so much for having us!

Can you first introduce the band and give us some background to Vital Noise?

Our band consists of Andrew Wilmot, lead vocals/ guitar; Preston Wilmot, bass; and Reid Campbell, drums. Andrew and Preston are brothers and have been playing together since a very young age. We met Reid in 2018, and have been playing with him ever since.

Is Vital Noise the first project it for you all and if not has previous ventures had a direct effect on the band?

We have all been involved in several different bands/ musical projects throughout the years. Being in those bands has definitely inspired a change in direction as none of us had been in projects in the genre that we play (hard rock/ metal), and definitely made us want to build a band around that.

What inspired the band name?

To be completely honest, we came up with it when we were very young and thought it sounded cool, and it has just sort of stuck with us since.

Was there any specific idea behind the forming of the band and also in what you wanted it and your sound to offer?

All of us really were in to heavier music at the time and wanted to make a band that played that kind of music, so that drove us to come together and actually make it happen.

Do the same things still drive the band when it was fresh-faced or have they evolved over time?

Things have definitely evolved over time; we have all gotten much older and matured a lot since we first formed the band which has played a big part in that.

Since your early days, how would you say your sound has particularly evolved?

Definitely… At first we just wanted to play straight up metal, but now we are much more into writing music that tends to be more radio friendly, but still heavy of course.

And that has been more of an organic change or deliberate?

It is been more organic. It has just naturally seemed to happen as all of us have matured.

Bring Me The Horizon has probably had the biggest impact on the band and our writing style, as we have drawn tremendous inspiration from them.

Is there a process to the songwriting which generally guides the writing of songs?

Every song is a little bit different, but generally speaking, one of us will come in with a riff or some sort of musical idea, and then will kinda jam around it until a full song starts to form. Then our singer, Andrew will put lyrics over it.

Where do you, more often than not, draw the inspirations to the lyrical side of the band’s songs?

We draw inspiration from what we happen to be going through in everyday life. Whether we be happy about something, sad about something, going through relationship issues, etc., we find a way to write about it.

Give us some background to your latest release.

We most recently released two singles entitled “The Ones” and “Famous”, they were both written during the summer of 2017 and we consider them to be some of our best work to date.

Please give us some insight to the themes behind them.

“The Ones” is about people fighting against societal norms and embracing individuality, it was meant to go out to people struggling with those issues and meant to show that it’s ok to be different, and it’s ok to be an individual. “Famous” on the other hand is about people letting materialistic things and unimportant things in life take precedence over things that are actually important like friends and family. This happens way too often in today’s society, so we decided to write a song about it.

Are you a band which goes into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or prefer to develop them as you record?

We tend to get into the studio with songs in their final state, even though we do very often make little tweaks here and there.

We try to make our show as energetic as possible. We try our best to get the crowd as into it as we possibly can, as we feed off of the energy that they give us.

It is not easy for any new band to make an impact regionally let alone nationally and further afield. How have you found it your neck of the woods?

We are from Los Angeles. Because of this, the scene is very overpopulated, so it is definitely hard to get a ton of recognition, but nonetheless we are trying our best.

How have you found the impact of the internet and social media on the band to date? Flooded with bands and artists, do you see it as something primarily positive or more of a negative on the band’s progress so far?

The internet and social media has definitely helped us in getting gigs and reaching an audience we otherwise wouldn’t have. However, it is definitely hard to get to that next level, but we know we will get there eventually!

Once again a big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add for the readers?

Thanks so much for having us. Be sure to check out our website and social media (links below) and to listen to our music on Spotify and all other digital streaming platforms!

Check Vital Noise out further @…

https://www.vitalnoise.com https://www.facebook.com/VitalNoise/ https://www.instagram.com/vitalnoise/ https://twitter.com/vitalnoiseband

Pete RingMaster 06/11/019

The Black Income Interview

Oct18

Hello and thanks for taking time out to talk with us.

Can you first introduce the band and give us some background to how it all started and what brought you all together?

Hi, thank you for having us….. yes sure…we’re the Black Income a Stoner Grunge band from Denmark…

We started out late 2011, got the idea to change the world with groovy stoned fuzz-metal with melodic a melodic twist… so we got together starting writing song, and experiment with the music before we recorded our first album Noise Pollution…

Had you been involved in other bands before? If so has that had any impact on what you are doing now, in maybe inspiring a change of style or direction?

Yes, we have played in a long line of bands, and sure the musically inspiration we have gotten from other bands, is sure with us to this day… but it wasn’t really what we wanted with Black Income… we wanted a more honest sounding more punky kind of band… we wanted to create something that took start and focused on the music, and not the industry.. meaning we create the music we love, and are not trying to create some certain kind of music, we go with the flow and that’s what music is all about if you ask us, and we think it’s much more fun for the fans to follow a real band, rather than following some studio project trying to fit in at a certain genre of music.

What inspired the band name?

Ohhh we get this a lot… haha

Well it started out as fun thing…it’s always been a part of the music business since the money is not that big for upcoming music… but as time went by our name got more a more relevant, as now a more expression of freedom.. meaning as the systems locks down on all of us, and deciding what you should do…. Black Income is really your only weapon against the system, so thinking off it…if all people stood together and stopped paying their taxes, we would have the power back… and that’s what our name Black Income is to us..

Was there any specific idea behind the forming of the band and also in what you wanted it and your sound to offer?

As we said before, we just wanted to play some honest music, and sure we got some inspiration from the Stoner and Fuzz scene, and sure we have elements of the Grunge era, but we try to do our own thing, and develop our own sound, that’s really what it’s all about for us.

Do the same things still drive the band when it was fresh-faced or have they evolved over time?

We think we still have the same goals really, but sure we developed as a band and go to new places with the music…. and listening to our 2 albums, we think unSOUND is a more mature sounding record than the first one.

Between those releases, how would you say your sound has evolved?

Well it’s hard to say really… we talked about the sound of modern Rock and Metal music today, and we came to the conclusion that we think the sound is too pumped these days, it ruins the experience for the listener, so on unSOUND we aimed to go with a more open and realistic sound, and we did create separate mixes to the Streaming and the Vinyl we released.

Has it been more of an organic movement of sound or more the band deliberately wanting to try new things?

We changed a bit in the line-up, we started out as a 3 piece band, and we’re back at that line-up again… we found that the trio setup is more tight, and the music lock’s in at another level… it’s easier for us to get the riffs packed and tight when we’re only a trio, and as this came to our attention the sound evolved with it… and that’s really where we stand today, with the new release.

Presumably across you all there is a wide range of inspirations; are there any in particular which have impacted not only on the band’s music but your personal approach and ideas to creating and playing music?

Sure we had a lot of influences along the line, but the honesty of the bands from the 90’s sure had a huge impact, not only in the music but also in the lyrics… but also bands like Queens Of The Stone Age with their more desert kind of sound and feel we listened a lot to but also we looked at elements from bands like Fu Manchu and mastodon ….that have a more Fuzz and Metal edge to it..

Is there a regular process to the band’s songwriting?

Usually it’s Henrik our vocalist that writes the basic ideas to the songs, and we normally take the ideas and jam on them, letting ideas flow until we have like a whole track. We tend to keep the basic idea, musicians tend to get bored with their own songs and keep developing them to the worse… we try to keep what got you hooked when you first did write the song, and keep that in mind all the way thru the process of writing.

Where do you, more often than not, draw the inspirations to the lyrical side of your songs?

Well we write about realism, and we get inspired by everyday people and feelings, we aim to write lyrics you can set yourself in center of as a listener, and not pointing thing out like other bands… it creates a more open lyrics universe for the listener, just like reading a book and creating your own pictures.

Please give us some background to your latest release.

unSOUND we started recording in 2017 in Medley Studio with Soren Andersen, and after that we recorded 5 Tracks in Tube IT Studio Denmark, and finished up the album there as well; we did mix and mastering ourselves, we wanted to have total control of things and not just lean back and let some producer take our music somewhere else… so this way we found our way of working in the future.

Give us some insight to the themes and premise behind it and its songs.

Well it’s kinda like we described, but on unSOUND you will find a wide range of different songs, stretching from modern love songs like ‘The Sun’ to the more real songs like our single ‘Loaded Gun’ that tells a personal story to songs like ‘Somethings wrong’ that takes off at the world and the problems we’re facing today.

Are you a band which goes into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or prefer to develop them as you record?

For us to be able to find the right elements of the songs, we work with the songs before entering the studio, but we leave space to develop things in the recording face as well….

Tell us about the live side to the band, presumably a majorly favourite aspect of the band?

We love playing live, that’s where our music comes to life… we are an energetic kind of live band, meaning we don’t give a F.ck, we are here to have a great time with the people who showed up.. so let’s F…ing Rock out…

It is not easy for any new band to make an impact regionally let alone nationally and further afield. How have you found it?

Well call us old fashion, but we believe that in the end good music will survive, it might take some time, but don’t give up…. We started out in our own country Denmark, and as time went by we found that with streaming and the internet, we gained a lot of love from other countries than Denmark… so with that in mind we decided to go where our fans are and not focus so much on our own country, so for us we get a lot of love from USA and the UK, but also Germany and Sweden. So with this new world, it’s more like don’t spend a lot of time pressing your music onto a certain land or community, go where people like your music instead.

How has the internet and social media impacted on the band to date?

Well social media has changed so much since it started out, when it first started out it was a great tool…today we’re not really sure what to expect from it, it seems like even though fans like your page, they don’t see the news your postings unless you pay for it… and what is it good for then? We think social media will fall back the next years, and streaming services like Spotify will take over that part, and gives more meaning to gather the information with your music.

So you see it as something destined to become a negative from a positive as the band grows and hopefully gets increasing success or is it more that bands struggling with it are lacking the knowledge and desire to keep it working to their advantage?

It’s really hard to say really… but it seems every bands are doing the same, so with all the music and videos coming out all the time, what would we expect from that, and how people react to it…what impacts the upcoming scene the most at the moment, is in our opinion that bigger established bands, don’t earn any money at record sales anymore, and with the streaming fee so low, they are not taking up place at all the venues because that’s where the money is, leaving the upcoming scene not being able to get anything from the gigs they play, it they can get any gigs… so that’s one of the more negative sides to the music business today.. so that leaves upcoming music to struggle with the internet and streaming, breaking thru the noise of bad music being published from every bedroom studio around the world.

Once again a big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add or reveal for the readers?

Thank you so much… yes just wanted to let you know that you can check out our brand new album on the links below, and we will see you in 2020.

Thank you…

Our brand new Video “Loaded Gun”

YouTube: https://youtu.be/KKNJd9Kg_aY

Shop: Http://shop.tubeit.eu

Social Sites:

Website: http://www.blckincm.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackincome

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackincome/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/blckincm

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XzUUfJH9hTfcvjInSUytt

Video: https://www.youtube.com/user/BlackIncome

Pete RingMaster 18/10/2019

Embracing the discord: the Matt Finucane Interview

Oct11

Hi Matt and thank you for sparing time to chat with us.

Glad to. Thanks for asking.

Could you first introduce yourself and tell us how your musical presence came to be?

It’s the old, old story: this never-ending mission to be heard and understood, in other words I’m obsessed and not many people get it, but so what. It was time to move on from making lo-fi electronic-based stuff on my own, playing acoustic guitar in nice clean coffee shops and being called “quirky”…Time to get back on a real stage in unhygienic surroundings and yell at people, so I found a bass player (Stephen Parker) and a drummer (Barney Guy) on the circuit here in Brighton. Luckily, I was able to drag them into my world.

How would you define not only your sound but the creative character of the band?

The sound’s just pure emotional disorder: I can’t make feel-good music. The band’s focused on delivering the songs as tightly and urgently as possible, just keeping it sharp, but there’s a lot of room for personal expression…Which is how it should be… It rocks, but there’s something in there that isn’t… quite… right.

Are there any previous musical experiences for yourself or band members and how have they been embraced in what you do now?

Stephen’s a solo artist himself, used to be in a thrash metal band, can play pop covers; he’s at home anywhere on the music spectrum. This means he comes up with these fantastic basslines, the kind it’s great to listen to just on their own, but really rock in a very direct way. Barney does a lot of session gigs in about 500 bands, as with most drummers, so he’s likewise slick and versatile. This cuts out a lot of flab, we can zero in quick on what works. They bring pop smarts, enhance the actual tunes, but without sacrificing the more out-there elements – it feels quite spontaneous, which is always good. We’re all very into keeping the energy levels high.

Is there a particular process to your songwriting?

I put myself into some kind of self-hypnotic state and rough out the songs, and then write down the chords for Stephen, and away we go – just smash through them until they take a fixed shape. It’s open to any changes the others want to suggest; I’m not sentimental about my own ideas, because I’ve been doing this long enough now to know that you can always create more; I just wait a while for my subconscious to throw something out. It helps to think of song structure in story terms – prologue, opening paragraph, cliff-hanger, that kind of thing.

Would you tell us about your latest release?

“The Seizure” EP is three tracks recorded pretty much as-live by the band, at Church Road Studios with Julian Tardo… plus a final DIY track, featuring Mik Hanscomb of Junkboy on 12-string acoustic. He played drums before Barney then had to drop out and concentrate on making his own album, but we’d also done a few gigs as a duo playing acoustic arrangements of some of my older material. We had one new number, the first thing I wrote after getting out of rehab, which it seemed like a nice idea to include, for contrast to the other songs. They were done loud and raw with the express purpose of showcasing the band. It’s a rock record, brash and nasty, rather than the sort of introverted DIY head music I’d been putting together at home. Also, it was nice to let someone else think about the technical side for once. I’m not exactly hung up on audio quality – I recorded an EP using a mobile phone and some freeware a few years ago – but it was refreshing to work in a good studio with an expert.

What are the major inspirations to its heart and themes?

I keep coming back to addiction, because it directly affects me, and also it seems like practically everyone’s dependent on something, physically or emotionally, to help them through this life. So that’s an underlying thread, even if it’s not spelled out – there’s no preaching or Important Social Message – and it tied in to the idea that it’s hard nowadays to be honest, when there’s so much pressure to present yourself as a viable product for everyone else to consume, while you’re picking them apart in turn. I’m no longer a youth, so it’s also about expressing this discontent in a way that’s age-appropriate and concentrated. That sounds like an ordeal to listen to, but the idea was to put this into really driving, powerful music and make it a cathartic experience, rather than a gloomy slog through My Big Thoughts. So it leads up to a sonic outburst – a seizure, obviously – then ends on a calmer note.

I am always intrigued as to how artists choose track order on albums and EP’s and whether in hindsight they would change that. What has been the deciding factor for you or do songs or the main do that organically?

It varies with each project – the last album had a theme, the stuff before that was more of a patchwork, but in each case I try to have a consistent tone or atmosphere running through the whole thing. As mentioned above, the idea was to vent all this stuff and then torch it. So by the third track, we go abstract, just obliterate it all in a glowing cloud of plasma (I also play with various free improvisation wizards in Brighton, and wanted to apply that method to a rock song)… Then after the seizure, all the discords and harsh sounds, you get the spaced-out calm, which calls for acoustic guitars and deep trenches of weird reverb. It’s meant to be an interesting virtual space to visit, as opposed to just a collection of songs.

What do you find the most enjoyable part of being in a band and similarly the most cathartic?

For context – I used to find getting wasted and stumbling around the stage the most enjoyable part, it’s embarrassing to admit. At first I suspected I couldn’t perform without chemical help then found I could, but chemicals made it so much more fun… then it wasn’t fun anymore, just a flimsy cloak for my own dysfunction. But nowadays, I make a point of enjoying all of it. The whole process – the satisfaction of creating something, shaping it then blasting it out live: the expression of a whole complex of thoughts and emotions. Notice audience approval doesn’t really figure – communication’s the important thing. Also, it’s a way to spend your existence that doesn’t involve chasing around after money or power and then dropping dead in a premature heart explosion of bile and regret – not the way I do it, anyway.

For anyone contemplating checking you out live give some teasers as to what they can expect.

Sarcasm and sudden loud noises… Something that’s unsettling but in a good way, stimulating, like watching a horror movie – but without horror-type lyrics or anything like that.

What has been your most thrilling moment on stage to date?

Hate to burst this bubble, but on the whole it’s difficult to remember, or at least describe, those kinds of peak moments. It’s not like I’m up there sacrificing a live deer with my teeth every night – that, we can agree, would be memorable. It’s easy to describe the fuck-ups and disasters, but very hard to express how it feels when everything really flows and time stands still. Besides, it’s better to think even more thrilling stuff’s yet to come.

Do you have live dates coming up?

Wed 16 Oct, Eight Miles High @ Brunswick Cellar Bar (Brighton) – w/ Seadog & Fane

Wed 6 Nov, Rossi Bar (Brighton) – solo – w/ Junkboy & Jako

Sat 16 Nov, Biddle Bros (London E5)

Sun 24 Nov, Gladstone (London SE1) – solo

Sat 30 Nov, Grub Club @ Global Cafe (Reading) – w/ The Mirror Pictures + Adam & Elvis

Tue 3 Dec, Bloc (Glasgow)

Wed 11 Dec, Green Door Store (Brighton) – w/ Adam & Elvis + tbc

What else can we expect in the near future?

There’s an album’s worth of new songs I’m working through with the band, hopefully to record next year for release in late 2020, with a few guest musicians and a broader palette. More gigs (was hoping to expand into Europe, but now it’s a question of waiting to see how the Brexit fallout’s going to settle). A 24-hour magic ritual in an underground car park…(Not really, but that would be cool.) A fucking nervous breakdown trying to keep all those DIY plates spinning, probably; most of the time, I barely know what to expect myself.

What are the major inspirations to you sound wise and as a musician?

I was ruined by listening to Lou Reed and The Fall at an early age. Whatever it is in me that’s distressed, that’s not at rest, responded instinctively to stuff like that… found a way of making sense out of the world in it… and soon enough I was compelled to try and pass that on. I like the sound of raw electricity, loud guitars or acid synths, whatever – doesn’t matter how it’s conveyed.

And finally what song or release would you say was the spark to your passion for music?

It probably started with some silly pop song that injured my brain in childhood, but it’s not clear. Most musicians, deep down, are started off by the most random, silly stuff that they probably can’t recall or wouldn’t acknowledge (so even if I knew, I’m not sure I’d tell you).

Many thanks once again; anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for listening – it’s good when somebody makes the effort. I guess people just have to be willing to meet me halfway.

Check Matt out further @ https://mattfinucane.net/ and https://www.facebook.com/Matt.x.Finucane/

Pete RingMaster 11/10/2019

Hooby and the Yabbit Interview

Sep18

The RingMaster Review makes its first exploration of the root and blues styled sound of British rock and roll troubadours Hooby and the Yabbit with band founder Ian Hawkins…

Hello and thanks for taking time out to talk with us.

Can you first introduce the band and give us some background to how it all started and what brought you all together?

So Hi I am Ian, song writer and band leader, Lee on the bass, and Matt on the drums –at least for this week. It got started in my head in about 1991 but don’t tell anyone. I can be a bit slow you know.

Have you been/are involved in other bands? If so has that had any impact on what you are doing now, in maybe inspiring a change of style or direction?

Well I have played in more bands than most folks have had breakfasts…yes I think definitely. I have worked with a fine variety of guitar players over the years and I think that’s why I changed from bass to guitar to front this project

What inspired the band name?

Two of my daughter’s cuddly toys are the short answer. I decided they should have an adventure.

Was there any specific idea behind the forming of the band and also in what you wanted it and your sound to offer?

I thought there wasn’t enough rock n roll in the world!

Since your early days, how would you say your sound has evolved?

This is our first release, but the songs are old now. The new stuff is different for sure, perhaps more sophisticated, and I’ve developed the acoustic part of our sound

Do you find the growth of the band, its sound etc. has been more of an organic movement of sound or deliberately wanting to try new things?

Organic I’d say.

OK – The Blues Brothers, you might laugh, but check out where those songs came from, it’s a doorway to an education. We also love a bit of rock, AC/DC, Zeppelin, or Neil Young. We’re not from just one background; I think you’d hear that if you listen to it

Is there a particular process to the band’s songwriting?

Nah not really, they just sort of happen.

Where do you draw the inspirations to the lyrical side of your songs from?

People, life, injustice, family, love, sex or just random emotional outbursts.

Give us some background to that first release you touched on earlier.

Mostly it’s me in the studio as the band didn’t exist then. Some friends of mine helped with harmonica and saxophone. It’s for late night listening I think, apart from the last song. Put this on next time you’re feeling a bit mental

How about its themes and stories behind songs?

Girls, booze and politics; Guitars and boogie…the songs are meant to be played live I think.

Are you an artist who goes into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or prefer to develop them as you record?

This release is the former. In future I hope more of the latter. It’s just more fun

Tell us about the live side to the band, presumably a major favourite aspect of the band?

Sporadic really…Looking forward to more of this. It’s a rock n roll show, and it’s fun. Bring your dancing shoes.

It is not easy for any new band to make an impact regionally let alone nationally and further afield. How have you found it your neck of the woods?

Locally there is stuff to do but its limited. You have to get out of Dodge really…Simple as that.

How has the internet and social media impacted on the band to date? Do you see it as something destined to become a negative from a positive as the band grows and hopefully gets increasing success, people illegally downloading etc. or is it more that bands struggling with it are lacking the knowledge and desire to keep it working to their advantage?

Well just the fact you’re asking me that is a thing, yes? I mean you never heard of me before and I never heard of you but here we are talking. That’s got to be a good thing in itself. People have streamed our music all over the world now and that’s in no small way thanks to interviews like this. Maybe in the future we might make recordings that only sell a couple of hundred around the world but that’s a much more positive thing than having something to say and getting no further than making a demo tape that only your friends heard, like it was when I started out.

Once again a big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add or reveal for the readers?

Everything you ever suspected is true. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you. And be nice to your mum. Peace.

Check out Ian and the band further @ https://www.facebook.com/hoobyandtheyabbit/ https://twitter.com/HoobyYab https://hoobyandtheyabbit.com

Pete RingMaster 18/09/2019

Rock ‘n’ Sulphur; talking with Avalanche

Jul27

Roaring out of Smithfield, Western Sydney Avalanche are a 4 piece hard rock band playing heart-racing, gut busting, roof crashing, fast paced Rock ‘N’ Roll courtesy of the devil himself. The Australian outfit recently sat down and shared with us their origins, new album, inspirations and plenty more….

Can you first introduce the band and give us some background to how it all started?

Veronica ‘V’ Taleski: My name’s Veronica I play lead guitar.

Ryan Roma: I’m the drummer.

Arthur Divis: Rhythm guitar.

Steven Campbell: And I’m Steven, lead vocalist and bass player. I know that Ryan and Veronica have been jamming together for a few years, she went to school with his sister and that’s how they met, they had another rhythm guitarist and bass player at the time and eventually reached out to me as they needed a singer. Soon enough, the rhythm guitarist gave up, the bass player stopped showing up so I thought I’d take up bass too, and after a whole string of rhythm guitarists we eventually found Arthur. But yeah I think what brought us all together was a love of heavy rock music, particularly stuff from the 60s, 70s and 80s, were all young but we’re all into that kind of music and we were lucky enough to find others to share that interest with.

Have you been involved in other bands before? If so has that had any impact on what you are doing now?

Veronica: For me and Ryan, this is our first band, pretty much from our first time playing together we both knew we wanted to start a band and take it as far as it could possibly go. For us our biggest influences has always been bands like AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Motörhead and the like, bands that are just bare bones rock n roll, with a bit of blues a bit of early rock n roll but heavy and loud and BIG, yet simple and not overly complicated. That’s always been the kind of music we want to play, while we may have other influences and play different styles sometimes, we know always just need to bring it back to that paradigm.

Steven Campbell: I’ve been in and out of bands since I was about 13-14 starting with an acoustic duo me and my best friend started, I’ve been in all sorts of bands, heavy metal all the way to psychedelic funk. But rock and roll has always been my favourite music, I feel like all my past experience in bands though gave me a much needed leg up on how bands and gigs are actually run which has helped us in a lot of a situations, and it goes to show if you want to play music especially in a band, you just can’t take no for an answer.

Arthur Divis: I haven’t ever played in another band. It’s interesting though because I remember when I was learning I sort of moved away from open chords to bar chords and would also mess around with pedals and distortion and the like so got extremely use to playing like that. But in this band, following what V does, she has a very particular way of playing, inspired a lot by AC/DC to get the most massive sound possible without a lot of effects, so no pedals, very little distortion, and going back to open chords and hitting the strings as hard as possible, it was all a bit awkward at first but feels good now haha.

What inspired the band name?

Steven Campbell: My dad, Adrian Campbell was actually in a band called Avalanche in the 70s and the 80s, they used to belong to the same management company as AC/DC; they have even played with them before and some other major bands at that time, we thought it was an awesome sounding name and wanted to keep the rock and roll family tradition going so after going through a lot of other names, we decided to name our band Avalanche.

Was there any specific idea behind the forming of the band and also in what you wanted it and your sound to offer?

Veronica: Yeah as mentioned me and Ryan came into this wanting to be a bare-bones hard rock band. We didn’t wanna write ballads or slow songs or political songs or songs with a whole wall of effects and distortion on ‘em, we wanted to be a guitar band and we wanted to write music that you could have a good time too. If it’s heavy, loud or fast then it’s good enough for us. I think it was Slash or somebody who said that a good rock song has either gotta make you want to fight of fuck. So that’s what we try to do.

And those same things still drive the band when it was fresh-faced or have they evolved over time?

Veronica: Yeah pretty much. Of course with bringing new members in, they’re gonna bring their own influences and ideas in as well, but in our cases, all that’s done is add to the sound rather than take away from it, we’re still a hard rock band and that’s not gonna change anytime soon. And we’re still hell bent on taking this band to the ends of the earth, even more so now than before I’d say.

Since your early days, how would you say your sound has evolved?

Ryan: We’re definitely more tighter and more aggressive I’d say. A lot more used to playing with each other and anticipating each other. Our songs have become more dynamic and more unique as we’ve begun to find our voice and bring in each other’s influences. But it’s still all good old fashioned rock n roll.

Have changes and growth in sound etc. Been more of an organic movement or more the band deliberately wanting to try new things?

Steven: Well its funny Veronica and Ryan tend to be very firmly rooted in the hard rock, rock and roll sound and I’ve spent so much time playing in different genres that sometimes it comes together in a way that we may not usually have thought of because of that. We tend to be a lot more towards the organic rock sound but very occasionally there are a few weird things I manage to get into the final mix haha

Steven: I think one of the biggest inspirations I like to add into my own musical approach, is the way Bon Scott would write his lyrics. How he would subvert the listener’s attention in certain ways and make you think that he was talking about something completely different. I like that sort of mystery in my writing, sort of keep everyone guessing.

Veronica: AC/DC is probably the biggest inspiration for me, and learning their songs has impacted my playing quite a bit, there’s a reason I now have 2 Gibson SG’s and counting. They have taught me that you don’t have to keep building a riff up to make it great, it’s better to strip it down to its bare bones; like back in black, highway to hell, long way to the top, they are very simple but very catchy and complex riffs and those songs will never go away. They also taught me that it’s often what you don’t play that makes a song, the space between the notes that makes it rock…And not to play filler material or play a note for the sake of it. And I try to take those lessons into this band as well.

Ryan: Playing different genres across the rock/metal spectrum has helped me quite a bit I think, I like my thrash and death metal as much as my hard rock, but other than that, I think a drummer shouldn’t be afraid of playing 4/4. Look at Sent From Hell, he can play 4/4 better than anybody on the planet and I hope one day to be as good as him as well.

Is there a particular process to the band’s songwriting?

Steven: It’s very collaborative. Usually one of us will come up with a riff or a title or some kind of idea and bring it in to rehearsal and then we’ll work on it with the rest of the band. Sometimes it’s very spontaneous and we can work out a whole song together on the spot at rehearsal, other times, me or Veronica will go home and work on it by ourselves and structure it in our own time and then bring it back to the band to complete, and were constantly trying to get it as close to perfect as possible. We just think if you go through the trouble of writing a song, why not try to make it the best song it can be?

Where do you, more often than not, draw the inspirations to the lyrical side of your songs?

Steven: Just From life experience really, a lot of the times I tend to hide what I’m really talking about with a variety of different stylistic features. But there’s always a general theme for a song that I write to, and a lot of them come from life experiences. A lot of them are about sex also.

Give us some background to your latest release.

We just released our debut Double EP, Sent From Hell, it’s a wild and raw rock n’ rock record about sin, sex and good times. It’s a mix of 4 studio recordings, including our 2 single releases, and 4 live recordings taken from one of our gigs in December. It’s fast and heavy and it’s LOUD!

Could you give some insight to the themes behind it and its songs?

Steven: Well we didn’t actually realise it was all under a general theme until we finally put them all together. But it stems from a bit of a stereotypical sense of being a rock band; we just reimagine it in our own way. The whole Hell theme for a lot of rock bands I think comes from a general sense that you aren’t accepted, either by society or musically in some way or another, but we sort of just went with that and realised a lot of our songs were about that too.

Are you a band which goes into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or prefer to develop them as you record?

Veronica: I don’t think any band who aren’t already millionaires can really afford to work out songs in the studio, it’s expensive too record, we spent about 9 months working on material and perfecting all our songs and choosing the best of those to record for our EP so we wouldn’t be wasting any time and can focus on making the song sound as good as possible rather than writing the song from scratch. Of course you do develop it a bit while you record and may add or take away things you didn’t think off before, but if you’ve already worked it out and rehearsed the shit out of it before you even think about recording it, it does make everything a lot easier and faster.

Tell us about the live side to the band, presumably the favourite aspect of the band?

Steven: So the live show is something we’ve spent a lot of time working on and still are improving every time we play, but I feel it’s just a thing you have to jump into, because the best way to learn it is by doing it, making those crucial mistakes and realising what it takes to have that amazing live show. It’s something a band has to find just as much as they have to find their own sound, and believe it or not, I find it perhaps the most fun part.

How has the internet and social media impacted on the band to date? Do you see it as something destined to become a negative from a positive or vice versa as the band grows and hopefully gets increasing success?

Steven: I mean it’s just one of those things isn’t it, I feel every industry will go through changes and end up evolving. But with new challenges comes new experiences and I feel like everyone is pretty accepting of the new digital aspect of the music industry. Sure it’s hard to get noticed in a market that kind of revolves itself around self-saturation but it’s also the easiest time in history to be heard. There’s always gonna be ups and downs in an industry I guess it’s just up to the person themself if they want to put in the effort to learn that industry.

Once again a big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add or reveal for the readers?

If you’re in Sydney, be sure to catch us at one of our shows over the next few months for Sent From Hell. We also recently spent some time recording at the Grove Studios for our next project so keep your eyes and ear peeled we have plenty more to come!

https://www.facebook.com/Avalanche2018Official https://avalanche2018.bandcamp.com/ https://www.instagram.com/avalanchebandrock/

Pete RingMaster 27/07/2019