Beth Blade And The Beautiful Disasters Interview

Dec18

Our friend Elliot Leaver returns with another interview with one of rock’s most exciting bands, Beth Blade And The Beautiful Disasters

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

I’m Beth Blade from Beth Blade And The Beautiful Disasters and we are based out of Cardiff. We play Hard rock and roll.

Describe your sound in as few words as possible.

Monster riffs, huge choruses and a dose of old school rock and roll attitude. Just good old Hard Rock.

Who are your three biggest influences as a band?

KISS, Halestorm, Gun n Roses

What’s the meaning behind your band name?

Beth Blade is obviously my name. The Beautiful Disasters part comes from ‘World On Fire’ by Slash. The name itself is a tribute to Joan Jett And The Black Hearts.

Tell us about your latest release; did you try anything differently this time around than with previous efforts?

So on our new album ‘Show Me Your Teeth’ it was no holds barred. On our debut album I was very concerned with what I thought people wanted to hear from us. I learned that I needed to not be scared to be vulnerable with the music so everything went on this album; it is completely transparent and personal, a lot more mature but still really fun and rocking.

What was it like to work with producer Nick Brine?

Nick Brine is honestly one of the best people I know; He knows how to get the best performance out of you and also thinks outside the box in terms of what you can add to a song. He also has the cutest studio assistant, Kenny Dogleash (Yes he’s a dog) who is famous in the record making world. He also spend a lot of time getting the right sounds and that really shows in how sonically good the album sounds.

Do you have any personal favourite songs on the release?

Honestly I love every single song but my personal favourite are ‘On and On’, ‘Lost In You’, ‘You and I’ for the string section and ‘Jack and Coke’.

Explain the meaning behind the album title.

‘Show Me Your Teeth’ is a multifaceted title. It’s fighting talk and baring your teeth at the world and saying ‘Here I am, take it or leave it, I am who I am’ whilst delivering the goods. But it’s also showing your vulnerable side and the bones of you, all the things that are underneath the surface.

Do you have any dates lined up at present?

We’ve just announced SOS festival in Manchester in July and we open the main stage at Hard Rock Hell next November which is exciting, we have tour dates and some festivals in the works but we want to get to every part of the UK and hopefully over to Europe too!

What are your favourite songs to perform live?

At the moment I really love playing ‘Down and Dirty’ but also the new songs from the new album as it’s great to see peoples reaction to them.

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

Best show would have to be our last gig on the KISS kruise; the room was packed and the atmosphere was absolutely electric! Everyone was into it and having a great time, singing along and really getting involved. I’ve never had so many people want a picture after a show and I could truly feel the love in the room. And no show has ever been the worst. As long as one person has a good time we are happy!

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

We just played with KISS which has been my goal since I was five so I guess Halestorm would be the next on the bucket list.

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

Recently on the KISS kruise we were celebrating with some friends who had free champagne. And me, being drunk and a barmaid, thought I’ll open another bottle. American corks are plastic and automatic, I didn’t know this so as soon as I broke the seal the cork shot off, missed my guitar players face by an inch, nearly hit the singer of The New Roses and hit the ceiling with a crack which made everyone jump and stop and stare at me. There was a moment of silence and then everyone cracked the hell up and the icing on the cake was that the cork hit the ceiling so hard that it left a huge dent! There is photographic evidence to prove it. I will forever be known as Corky.

What’s the plan for the rest of 2018?

We have one last show and then we are focusing on getting our album out which is happening on January 25th!

Any closing comments?

Please check out our pledge music campaign for album number two at www.pledgemusic.com/projects/bethbladealbum2 and thank you for having us!

Questions by Elliot Leaver

18/12/2018

Beth Blade & The Beautiful Disasters – Bad Habit

May25

Gaining an increasing reputation and support for their hard rock nurtured sound, South Wales hailing Beth Blade & The Beautiful Disasters raise the ante with the release of debut album Bad Habit. It offers a lively and tenacious roar, already drawing comparisons to artists such as Halestorm, Joan Jett, and Heart, which swiftly has the body and appetite eagerly involved in its instinctive rock ‘n’ roll.

From Cardiff, Beth Blade And The Beautiful Disasters have quickly recruited and built upon an eager and loyal local following since emerging. The time since has seen them stomping across the UK with their own tours and with the likes of Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, The Dead Daisies) as well as sharing stages with others such as Ricky Warwick and Damon Johnson of Black Star Riders. Recorded with Nick Brine (Thunder, The Darkness, Bruce Springsteen) at the legendary Rockfield studios and Leeders Vale, and mastered by Pete Maher (The Rolling Stones), the crowd funded Bad Habit is a hefty poke at bigger national attention with success an easy to assume expectation.

Opener Hell Yeah swiftly has ears grabbed, its opening lure of riffs accompanied by the moody tone of the bass; instinctive attention inviting by them well before the fiery flames springing from Chris Gould’s guitar ignite with classic rock spicing. As rhythm guitarist Beth Blade brings just as tasty riffs into play, her vocals command even greater focus while giving richer strength to the song. Like a mix of Suzi Quatro and Cherie Currie, she stands bold with a tenacity matched in the infectious sound hollering around her.

It is a great start quickly matched by the album’s title track; a slice of foot stomping, chest beating heavy rock led by the swinging beats of drummer Sam Brain. Its forceful attitude is epitomised by the brooding tone of Nicko Goodwin’s bass, its menace tempered skilfully by the wiry melodic tendrils of guitar similarly coming at ears with a touch of discontent. Its rousing qualities are swift incitement to physical and vocal participation before Beautiful Disease offers its own potent blend of catchiness and predacious threat. Muscle and melody unite across the menacing prowl of a song which shows the band as adept at creating more composed and moody proposals as they are at flying at the jugular in spirit rousing charges.

Down And Dirty lives up to its name next, its bluesy grooves tonic for hips as rhythms and riffs surround the increasingly impressing tones of Blade with their grungy antagonism while Poster Girl For Pain reveals another aspect to the Blade’s songwriting and the band’s sound with its power driven balladry and emotive intensity. It is a slowly burning encounter compared to the hungry exploits of its predecessors but a temptation becoming more potent and irresistible with every passing minute and listen.

The heart bred snarl of This Bitch Bites fuels both vocals and music, Blade a spiky treat within the track’s quarrelsome nature. Again attitude soaks every strain of sound and intent escaping the excellent song, its defiance and combative contagion equally lining successor Hell In High Heels though its blues rock inflamed body has a ‘lighter’ and more keenly catchy nature which might not impress as addictively as the antics of the previous track but leaves pleasure in another lofty place soon reinforced by the classic rock ‘n’ roll nurtured romp of If You’re Ready To Rock. Carrying no real surprises, the song lacks the spark of its companions for personal tastes yet easily keeps enjoyment and feet firmly involved.

The album is brought to an end by firstly the heated beauty of Angel With A Dirty Face, Blade sharing a croon as magnetic and captivating as her rebel rousing deliveries elsewhere, melodies simmering and boiling up with equal elegance, and lastly through the ballsy, swagger loaded rock ‘n’ roll of Legends Never Die. It encapsulates all the galvanic and creatively vociferous qualities of the Beth Blade and The Beautiful Disasters sound and indeed Bad Habit itself in its bones, leaving instincts aroused and a hunger for more leading fingers keenly back to the start button.

Beth Blade and The Beautiful Disasters might not be the most unique proposition around right now in sound but for a fiercely enjoyable and raucous holler easy to get off on, they set a mighty example.

Bad Habit is out now @ https://bethbladeandthebeautifuldisasters.com/store

https://bethbladeandthebeautifuldisasters.com https://www.facebook.com/BBATBDofficial https://twitter.com/BBATBDofficial

Pete RingMaster 23/05/2017

Gifted Kings – Lose What Makes You

Feb23

gifted kings pic

It is hard to say that Lose What Makes You, the debut album from Scottish rockers Gifted Kings, ignited a fire in the passions for their accomplished and soulful sound, but certainly the 2012 formed band sparked an appetite and satisfaction with their enjoyable release which many emerging bands can only dream of. Consisting of eleven impressively crafted and expressive songs, the release makes a potent and promising introduction to a band we are sure to hear and enjoy a lot more of in the future.

Hailing from Glasgow and consisting of two sets of brothers, Derek (guitar/vocals) and Andy Murray (lead guitar) alongside Gary (drums) and Paul Smith (bass), Gifted Kings build on the undeniable potential and presence of first single Dead End Road, which has just received its video release also, in fine attention grabbing style with the album. It is not unfair to say that the band’s sound has a rich familiarity to its presence right now, not of any specific band but in general which defuses some of its ability to surprise and stoke those emotional flames, but there is little else to raise a quizzical and disapproving eyebrow over. Recorded with producer Nick Brine (Oasis, The Darkness, Bruce Springsteen) at the same studio which housed the making of Oasis’ What’s the Story Morning Glory and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, and mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Depeche Mode), the album proves its case with a stirring presence and potency which easily awakes positive reactions and attention to match that already brewing as far afield as Russia, Ukraine, Thailand, and India over the band. With their music already gracing several shows on Channel 4, S4C, ITV1, and Sky Sport as well as being adopted for advertising campaigns by Ripcurl and O’Neill Sports targeting the USA, Australia, and Asia, the quartet are on a rapid visible ascent which What Makes You Lose has all the qualities to accelerate.

The album makes an instantly engaging and gripping start with Rains Will Come, its opening a sonic intrigue of guitar which expands with a rhythmic jabbing and fiery melodic glaze as company. It is not a startling entrance but one which secures full focus especially as the expressive vocals of Derek Murray joins the already pulsating lure of the song. Thoughts of Bristol band Mind Museum offer a suggestion whilst essences of Placebo also hint throughout the increasing emotive brewing of the track; all to a positive effect. The only strange thing about the song is that it never explodes, just simmers as if an intro to the album rather than a stand-alone proposition. Nevertheless it is a great start matched right away by The Last Time. A heavy throaty bass sound and imposing rhythms make the initial temptation as the guitar’s thoughts crowd around in a sonic breeze before making inviting weaves of melodic endeavour around the incoming vocals. Again there is something recognisable about the encounter, though it just makes it an easier ride to immerse within, which with its especially persuasive rhythmic enticement just infects.

Both No One Knows and Drive keep the album bubbling in thoughts and emotions if missing the heights of the previous pair. The first is embraced by powerful emotive melodies and crescendo like rises in energy and passion as melodic veining arguably inspired by the previously mentioned Mancunians works away, whilst the second strolls with a reserved and enticing alternative rock weight and texture to draw in the imagination. Neither sets sparks to tease the passions into major action but definitely each provides a healthy offering for the appetite to chew over and enjoy, as equally does Dead End Road with its alluring and richly expressive narrative and sound. Though definitely not the best song on the album it is still easy to see why it has drawn such eager responses the band’s way since being released as the first single from the album.

The following pair of Tell Me Something and Fortune In The City return the release to the commanding and contagious levels it started on, controlling rhythms and rich melodic fire rigorously and anthemically tempting the senses within the first whilst its successor explores another evocative climate with an inventively gripping groove and an infection clad chorus within an unpredictable exploratory landscape. Both tracks alone reveal the depth and potential of the band in sound and songwriting, reach easily lighting keen anticipation for future endeavours.

From the pleasing and very decent creative exploits of Last Trace Of The Sun and the sonically colourful, not forgetting contagious Wait, the album’s best moment is brought with Neon, a song built on addictive nagging riffs and crisp rhythms which persist until full submission is given for their vivacious bait. Once more the band casts a virulent infection over the ears and imagination which is impossible not to find a lingering hunger for, it’s dramatic touches and blues kissed strikes quite irresistible. Alongside the closing and strong if underwhelming in comparison Written On The Wall, the pair bring Lose What Makes You to a thoroughly entertaining conclusion.

Gifted Kings has laid the strongest base with their debut, the first of many potent and impressing encounters ahead you suspect.

http://www.giftedkings.com/

8/10

RingMaster 23/02/2014