DIY, August 2014

DIY

huge

free / issue 32 / august 2014

diymag.com

reading+leeds

special

paramore Vs chVRches

the wytches

childhood

& lots more

GOES IT ALONE

1

2 diymag.com

GOOD

VS

EVIL

WHAT’S ON THE DIY

TEAM’S RADAR?

Victoria Sinden

Deputy Editor

GOOD The thunder and lightning at

Latitude was something else. Who needs

pyrotechnics?

GOOD#2 diymag.com/superfood

EDITOR’S LETTER

Going solo isn’t easy. When all you’ve known is being part of a gang,

responsibilities shared, your band mates at your back - taking the limelight on

your own must be a shuddering thought. Even more so if you’re this month’s

cover star Gerard Way. Few can lay claim to being the voice of a generation, but

for many Gerard most certainly is. In My Chemical Romance he carried the flag

for the outsiders who could inherit the Earth. Now he’s back, debut solo album

‘Hesitant Alien’ in tow. More lo-fi, pulling influence from Pixies to British pop,

even for those new to his world of intense creativity, with his debut live show at

Reading & Leeds this month it’s worth getting excited.

GOOD Death From Above

1979 were the perfect band.

One album, one masterpiece.

Their second, ten years on,

comes next month. Spoiler

warning: they’re still perfect.

“

QUOTE

OF THE

MONTH

I like it. Even

though

it’s about

masturbating.

“

Stephen Ackroyd

EVIL Tell you what, haters. If

you don’t like a Weezer album

since ‘Pinkerton’ that’s lovely

for you. Some of us still have

faith, and it’s about to be

repaid. I know. I’ve heard.

LISTENING POST

What’s on the DIY stereo this month?

Jamie T - Don’t You Find

A comeback single without the unnecessary bravado,

Jamie T’s mellowed out and honed his craft here, in the

best way possible.

Caribou - Our Love

Initially dubbed the mathematician of electronic

music, Dan Snaith’s since found his heart with ‘Our

Love’ - this latest record is easily his biggest yet.

Sarah Jamieson

News Editor

GOOD It’s almost Reading & Leeds! It’s

almost Reading & Leeds! See you down

front; I’ll be the one singing along to

Paramore that little bit too loudly.

EVIL Saw the most humongous spider

hanging out in my flat last night. Then it

disappeared…

Louise Mason

Art Director

GOOD We made a screenprinted

posterzine for Superfood. Pretty smug.

EVIL Made photos of bands on racer

bikes, doing handstands and with a

London map - all I’ve ever wanted in one

month. Need new aims.

Jamie Milton

Online Editor

GOOD Röyksopp and Robyn’s

euphoric, three-hour blitz through two

brilliant back-catalogues at Latitude.

Perfection.

EVIL Daniel Sturridge covering

Sampha’s chorus in Drake’s ‘Too Much’

was, err, a bit too much for me.

Emma Swann

Reviews Editor

GOOD New Weezer imminent! It’s like

Christmas, only slightly early.

EVIL Four days in Spain and I didn’t

pick up a single word of Spanish beyond

‘cerveza’. Shameful.

EL hunt

Assistant Online Editor

GOOD #R8 is now a proper thing, which

should put a stop to me pitching articles

about Rihanna’s long-awaited comeback

every other day.

EVIL Online Ed Jamie getting all sassy

on his birthday and demanding things

like ‘put my chocolate in the fridge’.

3

6

20

32

54

74

CONTENTS

NEWS

6 LATITUDE

13 YOUNG GUNS

16 MERCHANDISE

19 #STANDFORSOMETHING

20 CHARLI XCX

NEU

24 GENGAHR

26 SPRING KING

29 YEARS & YEARS

30 REAL LIES

READING

&LEEDS

32 GERARD WAY

40 PARAMORE VS

CHVRCHES

46 PULLED APART

BY HORSES

48 DZ DEATHRAYS

50 GNARWOLVES

52 TWIN ATLANTIC

54 CHILDHOOD

58 DRY THE RIVER

60 THE DISTRICTS

62 THE WYTCHES

REVIEWS

66 ALBUMS

74 LIVE

Editor Stephen Ackroyd

Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden

Reviews Editor Emma Swann

News Editor Sarah Jamieson

Art Director Louise Mason

Head Of Marketing & Events

Jack Clothier

Online Editor Jamie Milton

Assistant Online Editor El

Hunt

Contributors: Andy Crowder,

Bevis Man, Chris Rickett,

Dominique Sisley, Hayley Fox,

Heather McDaid, Hugh Morris,

James West, Joe Goggins,

Joe Sweeting, Kyle MacNeill,

Nathan Roberts, Rachel

Pronger, Sophie Diver, Stuart

Knapman, Tom Connick, Tom

Walters, Will Moss

Photographers Carolina

Faruolo, Mike Massaro,

Phil Smithies, Sarah Louise

Bennett, Sinéad Grainger

For DIY editorial

info@diymag.com

For DIY sales

rupert@sonicdigital.co.uk

tel: +44 (0)20 76130555

For DIY online sales

lawrence@sonicdigital.co.uk

tel: +44 (0)20 76130555

DIY is published by Sonic

Media Group. All material

copyright (c). All rights reserved.

This publication may not be

reproduced or transmitted in any

form, in whole or in part, without

the express written permission of

DIY. 25p where sold.

Disclaimer: While every effort is

made to ensure the information

in this magazine is correct,

changes can occur which affect

the accuracy of copy, for which

Sonic Media Group holds no

responsibility. The opinions of the

contributors do not necessarily

bear a relation to those of DIY or

its staff and we disclaim liability

for those impressions. Distributed

nationally.

Cover photo by Mike Massaro

4 diymag.com

LIVE NATION AND PARALLEL LINES PRESENT

PLUS VERY SPECIAL GUESTS

FINAL SHOW OF THE TROUBLE WILL FIND ME TOUR

WEDNESDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2014

LONDON THE O2

TICKETMASTER.CO.UK // LIVENATION.CO.UK

AMERICANMARY.COM

5

NEWS

latitude

2014

L

atitude first-timers are in for a shock: this isn’t like

any other festival. It’s an acknowledgement that’s

gradually affirmed as the weekend develops. Old

heads and fresh faces triumph in equal measure. Music

concludes at 11pm, but there onwards the place comes

alive in the furthest corners of its forest, with skyreaching

trees shunning daylight by simply covering

all-out hedonism. Latitude’s there for deck chaired

families just as it is for glitter-faced post-exam

teens. It’s difficult to see anyone not enjoying

themselves. Even the security guards dish out

high fives like there’s no tomorrow. Only the

odd deranged punter decides to give the lake

a go, before being promptly thrown out. They

probably don’t regret a thing: this seems to

be a festival for brilliant whim decisions.

Bands chop and change their sets midway

through. Jungle refuse to ditch their

bomber coats despite the 30-degree

temperatures. When lightning strikes,

people cheer instead of turning away

in fear and straight back to their

tents. Here are the best moments

of Latitude 2014.

6 diymag.com

Last-Minute

Lily Allen

Triumphs

“I stepped in to

.headline Latitude

.and all I got was

.this lousy t-shirt.”

Good laid plans go to waste. Booking Two

Door Cinema Club as a headliner was

supposed to be Latitude’s big move.

Everything is relative, but in a world of

rotating headliners, this was set to be a first bill

topping role at a major UK festival. That’s something

to celebrate. Or at least it should have been. One

poorly frontman later and everything is up in the

air. The bat signal is out for a replacement. Then up

steps… Lily Allen?

Replacing a reasonably chart leaning alternative

act with a sort of alternative pop act shouldn’t be a

big leap, and yet for some it felt it. Pay attention to

the more negative corners of the internet and you’d

have thought musical high robbery was afoot. Who

knew Two Door were the band of choice for keyboard

warriors?

In reality, this was an altogether different gamble

from the festival. A much bigger one too. Lily has the

hits, sure, but bill topping an event like Latitude is

a relatively new occurrence. In previous years it has

flirted with pop, but usually the classic variety. As the

definitive statement on the first night, there can be

no doubts about it. It works.

Not many pop stars can spend the majority of a

headlining festival set dancing around a selection of

fluorescent pink, light-up baby bottles. Then again,

not many pop stars are Lily Allen. From her cover of

TDCC’s ‘Something Good Can Work’ to the t-shirt

of theirs that she’s wearing as she bounds on stage,

she’s more than ready to pay tribute to the would-be

closers. Needless to say, Allen is still an entity all of her

own; irreplaceable in her own completely unique way.

It’s no secret that she’s unafraid to speak her mind

and be open with her audience. Synth-doused,

pun-laden ‘URL Badman’ comes complete with a

mid-song shout of, “Literally, go fuck yourself!” after

sitting herself on the edge of the stage and giggling

about having to turn around her monitor for ‘Littlest

Things’. Honest, laid-bare but still hilariously witty

throughout, there’s very little not to like.

Compelling, passionate and down for a good ol’ time,

her set is joyous. Plans? Who needs ‘em. (SJ)

Rudimental put in a surprise

appearance

Rudimental rise to the occasion as

secret guests for Latitude 2014. The

Mercury Prize-nominees and BRIT

winners played before Editors and after

Crystal Fighters on the main stage,

bringing debut ‘Home’ to a fevered

crowd. (JM)

Jungle floor Latitude with a

showcase of their debut

Jungle’s debut album is just out,

which in turn has put the funk-leaning

duo under the spotlight. Suddenly

they’re being accused of not having

enough variation of songs, or a dodgy

marketing routine. None of this matters

one jot today. They bring Henham

Park to a disco rapture, complete with

absolutely god-awful dance moves and

a set that - despite recent criticisms -

shows genuine diversity.

Long may the ‘Busy Earnin’’ adventure

continue. (JM)

7

latitudE 2014

T

here’s a lot to be said for the

power of a single song. An

artist can be peerless, but if

that talent isn’t deployed in a way that

connects with their audience it will

matter little. What they need are those

rare occasions where everyone, from

the casual observer to the hardcore

obsessive, finds themselves on the

same page. Damon Albarn has made a

career out of finding just those sweet

spots.

For the first hour and twenty minutes

of his set, there’s barely a flicker of

recognition that this is the frontman of

Blur. Songs are picked from all his other

guises, from his recent solo album to

The Good, The Bad and The Queen,

Rocket Juice & The Moon and even

Gorillaz; but not the one group which

- being honest - is why most onlookers

have turned up.

It’s not until two songs from the end of

the set proper that he finally gives way.

A solo, piano led ‘Out Of Time’ feels like

the pressure being let off, the electricity

in the audience mirrored by flashes

of lightning in the sky. In comparison,

‘All Your Life’ may be a gem in the Blur

back catalogue, but it’s also a b-side.

Closing a main stage performance with

something that wilfully obscure would

be a ballsy move, but it’s also one

Albarn clearly understands. Returning

to the stage for another (almost) lone

“Calm down! I’m

not playing any

Blur until the end.”

DAMON ALBARN

JOINED BY GRAHAM COXON FOR

HEADLINE ENCORE

sing-a-long for ‘End of a Century’, it’s

fair to say for most artists this would be

the pay off. But then we’re back to that

idea of the single song.

Because, while Damon Albarn’s

cupboard of musical gems is stocked

with many sparkling delights, one

is shinier than the rest: ‘Tender’ has

become an almost mythical beast. As

bandmate and wingman Graham Coxon

takes the stage, thunder claps and the

sky starts to fall. Nobody is running

for cover, though. It’s this moment the

crowd will be taking back to their tents.

The time that arguably a generation’s

greatest talent showed once and for all

- it just needs one song to win the day,

and he’s got the best of them all. (SA)

WHAT’S GOING

ON?

If there’s one thing Damon Albarn is

never short of, it’s new projects. So

obviously he’s got something fresh

on the horizon. “The main thing

I’m doing is a musical,” Damon tells

DIY on site at Latitude. “A proper

musical with jazz hands. I don’t

think I’ve ever been that far away

from [composer] Lionel Bart. The

first song I fell in love with was his,

and I love Oliver, it’s just brilliant. I

still love it.” (EH)

Future Islands show up the

competition

While Samuel T. Herring paces away

and gets his vocal cords in gear, there’s

a ruckus side of stage. Members of

the last band on the iArena, Fat White

Family, climb fences and curse at

anyone getting within a metre’s radius.

“Didn’t you see me just now? I was in

the fucking band! Did you not fucking

watch the stage?” one of them shouts.

There’s such a difference between their

definition of showmanship and that

of Samuel T. Herring’s. The Baltimore

trio pour everything into their set.

Herring regales the meanings of

songs before launching head-first into

growled ecstasy: he looks every bit the

showman he’s always been destined to

become. That’s how to do it. (JM)

8 diymag.com

Rabbit. Rabbit.

Slow Club open the Obelisk

Arena

The idea of opening the main stage at

a festival feels like it should be one of

the most daunting of all for a young

band. In reality, as Slow Club can attest,

once you get up there it’s plain-sailing.

“We’ve had a lovely time, haven’t we

Charles?” says Rebecca Taylor an hour

or so after their set. Charles Watson

agrees. “It was a wicked show, it was

really cool.” And the size of the stage

wasn’t too scary a prospect for the pair?

“I think if you’re not used to them,”

answers Charles, “they’re always a little

bit daunting. Once you get on there,

the sound’s always so good that they’re

actually a lot easier than other shows!

Everything works a lot smoother, so

they’re fine. It’s just the bit before!” (SJ)

FIRST AID KITdazzle in the

sunshine

here’s something magical in the

Tsimplicity of First Aid Kit. “We just

can’t stop ourselves from coming

back!” says Johanna Söderberg.

Latitude is the perfect setting for their

picturesque brand of folk pop. For ‘King

of the World’ she’s a vision of golden

waves swirling the stage.

Since 2012, the last time the sisters were

here, there’s a new found confidence

within the pair. Where folk singing

siblings once stood, a glamorous

polished duo return. Their set plays

out like a love letter to their idols with

glittering tributes to the likes of Simon

and Garfunkel and Bob Dylan.

‘Waitress Song’ is a beautiful mix of

Klara’s quiet folk melancholy and a

momentous deluge of sound that

plunges into the crowd as they sing

together. The first majestic notes of

‘Silver Lining’ bring us grass-grazers

to our feet. As the sun begins its slow

descent, the mystical ‘Wolfmother’ sets

a picturesque scene.

Throughout each of their times at

Latitude, the Swedish sisters have

offered their mix of honeyed harmonies

and unique Americana with all the right

flourishes, but this time, there’s extra

preen and polish. Maybe with an extra

few naughty words thrown in for good

measure; to that we say, “tak, First Aid

Kit!” (SD)

Royksopp & Robyn: strong

contenders for the most OTT

rendition of Kylie & Jason’s

‘Especially For You’ ever.

RÖYKSOPP and

ROBYN

MASTER MAMMOTH SET

öyksopp and Robyn’s collaborative set has been given a lot of build-up, but

Ranything lumped with a near-three hour slot might look like a marathon on

paper. As it plays out, the headline show on the BBC Radio 6 Music Stage is less like a

27-mile back-burner and more like a relay. The baton’s passed on from act after act,

each lap stepping things up a notch until the finish line doesn’t particularly matter.

The Norwegian producers commence proceedings, Svein Berge and Torbjørn

Brundtland playing the role of bedevilled decksmiths to cap-sporting frontmen.

Robyn’s entrance ups the anti, the Swedish singer morphing in shape and attitude.

‘Monument’ is a self-immersive beast of a song. It spans nine minutes on record and

doesn’t let up on a single second here. That’s one side of the coin. The other is ‘Do It

Again’, the title track on their first collaborative LP. There’s a DJ-centric encore that

follows, but this is the peak. It’s the very reason these two artists are here tonight; a

song that unites everything in one swift move. As it plays out, it affirms the length

and the sheer ambition of this mammoth adventure the two are embarking on. (JM)

9

latitudE 2014

new

bands

at latitudE 2014

MARIKA

HACKMAN

Spills The Beans

Hampshire-born, Londonbased

newcomer Marika

Hackman spares a few

minutes on site for a natter.

On getting started…

“I’ve been writing since I was really

small. If I had an instrument in front of

me it was sort of my natural inclination

to just try and write a song on it. And

then I started recording my own really

bad demos when I was about 14 on

GarageBand. I still use GarageBand

actually...”

On being in a school band with Cara

Delevingne…

“It was just like a stupid school band,

covers of stuff when we were about 14.

I think I better leaf right now.

Natalie Imbruglia, Sixpence None The

Richer, all the classics! It was just a bit of

laugh really. I still see her occasionally.”

On her upcoming debut album…

“Sonically it’s more stripped back in

places, and it’s got a nice movement

through the album. It’s dark in places

but it’s also got more kind of optimism

in it, but it’s also sort of more free...

it feels like a development for me

personally”.

On what’s next…

“The album is coming out sometime

this year hopefully which is the biggest

thing thus far in my career basically.

And touring throughout the autumn;

I’m sort of booked in until Christmas

now.” (RP)

Broods continue their ascent

It’s in the Alcove that New Zealand’s

next great hope Broods make their

Latitude bow. In just their second

ever festival performance they inspire

awkward dance moves within a couple

of tracks; confident swagger by the end

of the third. This isn’t a home crowd

either. From a child no more than a few

months old in ear protectors to veterans

with flowers in their hair - it’s doubtful

this is what Broods are used to playing

to. By the end it’s yelps and cheers for

latest track ‘Mother & Father’. Whatever

the setting, Broods are destined for the

top. (SA)

Gengahr cement their exciting

reputation

Gengahr’s brand of breezy pop will

surely be haunting those in attendance

at the Lake Stage for the rest of the

weekend. Kinetic and vibrant, every

track has the crowd nodding along

approvingly. They’ve learnt a thing

or two from those Wolf Alice support

shows, as live tracks like opener ‘She’s a

Witch’ dig deeper, and the band aren’t

afraid to let loose with a moment or two

of unadulterated jamming.

You can easily get lost in all the major

acts that Latitude has to offer, but

Gengahr’s short but sharp set cements

them as one of the most exciting new

bands here. (TW)

Childhood arrive with their

sun-drenched debut album

Childhood on the other hand exemplify

the summertime vibes with their

whimsical psychedelia.

The five-piece pace their mid-afternoon

set rather pleasantly, intimately playing

new cuts from their forthcoming

debut album ‘Lacuna’ that effortlessly

heightens the mood of the already

incredibly sweaty audience.

It really couldn’t have gone more

smoothly for them. Hits such as ‘Blue

Velvet’ induce some bloody lovely

swaying, and new

fan favourite

‘Solemn

Skies’ only

reiterates that

Childhood

are the

go-to band

for swirling

summertime

nostalgia.

(TW)

10 diymag.com

Hozier dazzles on the BBC 6

Music Stage

The sticky, pink-necked crowd are

invited for a much-needed dip in the

Mississippi.

This boy from Co. Wicklow has had a

taste of the Deep South and taken a big

ol’ bite of vintage rhythm and blues: a

wave of Americana flows through the

set and his bluesy, wavering guitar riffs

could cause a stir in Henham Park’s

tumbleweed population. We may be in

Suffolk, but Hozier’s sent us a postcard

from the States. (SD)

Vaults wow on Latitude debut

There’s an old cliche that separates

electronic pop projects into two

distinct categories. There’s those that

get absorbed in their own wall of synth

and fail to translate, and those that

completely pull it off. When it comes

to London trio Vaults, somehow this

debate doesn’t remotely matter. Their

whole performance is a celebration in

textured, affecting songwriting. If this

were in an auditorium, it’d close with a

standing ovation. (JM)

The Bohicas bring fizzy pop to

the Lake Stage

The tranquility of the Lake Stage is

shattered, ripped to shreds and booted

in the nethers by shiny black brogues.

The Bohicas mean business. Crashing

into ‘Where You At’ paves the way for

a relentless set. The persistent wave of

psychedelic guitar and Beatles-inspired

harmonies quickly draws an eager

crowd. Ferocious chants and gritty

lyrics set the intense pace. The Bohicas

will swagger away from Latitude with a

spring in their step and a few extra fans

under their skinny, leather belts. (SD)

Circa Waves reflect on a busy

summer

Liverpool’s freshest faces Circa Waves

are midway through a busy run of

summer dates that’ve already taken

them to Glastonbury and across

Europe.

How’s festival season treated you

so far?

Kieran Shuddall: It varies from

country to country. Sometimes you’re

more well known in France than you

are Belgium. And it’s bizarre when you

see French kids singing your lyrics:

“That’s not even your language!” They

probably know more lyrics than we do.

Joe Falconer: The response is so

different - one week you feel like you

rule the world, the next you realise

you’ve still got a long way. (EH)

Parquet

Courts &

Eagulls

clash brilliantly

unday at Latitude sees a ferocious

Sshowdown between two of the

most exciting bands on the planet, as

Parquet Courts and Eagulls take to the

BBC Radio 6 Music Stage and the iArena

respectively.

Having the advantage of getting to play

to a larger crowd, Parquet Courts cause

moshing and crowd surfing aplenty,

shredding through the best of their

newest record ‘Sunbathing Animal’.

If there’s one thing Parquet Courts

have mastered, it’s certainly their craft,

and by the end the BBC Radio 6 Music

Stage finds itself reeling in sweat. “Can

someone tell the other stage to turn it

down?” says frontman Andrew Savage,

ever the one to want to amp up the

volume. “It’s probably the Eagles playing

‘Witchy Woman’,” bassist Austin Brown

adds, jokingly taunting their opponents.

Bringing their A-game over at the

iArena, Eagulls respond by turning up

the reverb and embracing their sludgy

surroundings. Tearing through select

cuts from their debut self-titled album,

Eagulls’ atmospheric riffage ends

up contrasting and complementing

Parquet Courts’ urgency, providing

everyone in attendance at both stages

something to walk away excited by.

There’s a reason these two bands toured

together - they’re both equally bloody

excellent. (TW)

Tame Impala hypnotise the

crowds

Tame Impala take to the main Obelisk

Stage to soundtrack a humid and

stormy Sunday evening, and with a

trove of psychedelia in tow, Kevin

Parker and his band hypnotise the

crowds into a complete trance from the

very beginning.

“You’ve got your own little utopia

going on here,” says Kevin.”I love how

muggy it is. It’s like being in Singapore

or something. No other festival in the

world has multicoloured sheep!”

Tame Impala launch into stomping

‘Elephant’ and the lighters-in-the-air

atmosphere of ‘Feels Like We Only Go

Backwards’, which seems to enclose

the entire festival in a smokey orb of

infectious arm-swaying smoke. From

here on in they’re unstoppable. One

band from Australia have seemingly

flipped the whole world upside down,

and on the evidence of tonight’s

Latitude set alone, their trajectory

doesn’t look like it’s in any danger of

slowing down. (EH)

Atomic Bomb explode into life

Beastie Boys’ Money Mark is buzzing

around his synths, swinging his legs

off the stage like a giddy schoolboy.

Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside appears

for joyous ‘Heaven and Hell’ dressed

up like a Texas businessman with white

stetson, shirt, tie, and shorts.

“We’re going to bring a party to you

guys, are you ready to party?” they

shout. William Onyeabor may remain

an enigma, but every festival needs the

Atomic Bomb. (SD)

Eagulls frontman George

.Mitchell, after being told they’re

.clashing with Parquet Courts.

11

latitudE 2014

HAIM CHARM THE

CROWDS

I

s there a band less suited to playing in a sudden downpour

than sun-drenched Californian sisters Haim, they of the

impossibly sunny soft rock stylings and beachy resistance-isfutile

hooks? The fact that the rain holds off for the entirety of

their energetic slot feels like it’s due to the sheer will embodied

by Este, Danielle and Alana’s overblown, sometimes ludicrous

power pop.

Key to the sisters’ appeal is their witty, unpredictable stage

banter, spearheaded by sweary Este, whose spectacular bass

face triggers a tidal wave of copycat turns amongst groups of

tripping teens in the crowd. The trio’s gauche charm and fizzing

chemistry has helped them reach larger crowds more quickly

than their debut, ‘Days Are Gone’, perhaps merits, but they

bring so much power and conviction live that you find yourself

falling for them all over again. When they call on you to punch

the air, you do, and when they invite you over to their place for a

massive house party, you’re there.

The songs are scrappier live, losing a little of the shiny 70s

throwback production that flirts with kitsch on record and

sounding all the better for being a little scuffed round the

edges. Tracks such as shimmying opener ‘Falling’ and catchy

R&B groover ‘If I Could Change Your Mind’ sound funkier, tighter,

more compellingly dance-y. A cover of Beyonce’s ‘XO’ is glossier

but still enjoyably slinky, and the brilliant, irrepressible ‘The Wire’

remains the best song Fleetwood Mac

never wrote.

They end with a sweaty, airpunching

‘Let Me Go’, pounded

out on drums, long hair flying

everywhere. It’s an exhilarating

sight. Come on everyone,

party at Haim’s house. (RP)

“I can play bass and do jazz hands! I

should be in Damon’s new musical.”

The Black

Keys close Latitude

2014

Guitar and drums are two of the most simple elements

when it comes to making music; it’s hard to believe the

effect the two can have on one another. The Black Keys,

Latitude 2014’s closing headliners, have come to learn

all too well how great a couple they are.

Making the massive appearance just a month and a half after

the release of ‘Turn Blue’, the anticipation in the crowd is

tangible as the band ready themselves for the stage. Lit up

against the night, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney emerge to

unexpected carnage in the crowd; their music might not seem

like the most rowdy at times, but with the amount of bodies

flying over the barrier, it feels like a fully fledged rock show.

Diving headfirst into their musical well of bluesy garage rock,

roars go up with every song. Their ‘El Camino’ cut ‘Gold On

The Ceiling’ of course opens up the dance floor, but more

unexpectedly, there’s the occasional mosh pit hiding within

the Southwold scenery.

Debuting a handful of new tracks along the way, the lulls are

non-existent, as Auerbach swaggeringly leads his enamoured

crowd. This set is more than just a festival slot; it’s proof that

even the most intimate of projects can become bill-toppers.

Two really is the magic number. (SJ)

12 diymag.com

NEWS

In The Studio::

young Guns.

If you’ve been waiting for the new Young Guns

album, the band’s annual staring competition with

an amp probably gives a hint as to why.

It’s been two and

a half years since

Young Guns

last released an

album, but now,

with work almost

done, they’re getting

ready to unveil their

masterpiece. Words:

Sarah Jamieson.

“It was mostly a case of us

taking some time wherever

we were,” begins Young

Guns’ frontman Gustav

Wood. It’s been well over a

year since the band decided

to make a start on their third

album, but after a successful

stint in the US, their initial

plans were halted. When

their last album’s title track

‘Bones’ hit alternative radio

across America, the fivepiece

became the talk of the

airwaves, and a slew of tours

followed. The band came

up with a solution: to begin

work just about wherever

they could.

“Our American label have

a really great studio in the

centre of [New York],” he

continues, “so we thought

we’d go out early. We did

some stuff then and in San

Francisco.” It sounds quite

glamorous, but Gus assures

it was more a means to

an end. “Although it was

written over time, here,

there and all over the place, it does feel cohesive,” he reflects.

”The record sounds like a real reflection of where we are in the

band, and we sound supremely confident and, I think, like a

band who has figured out what they want to sound like. I’m

really excited about it.”

The creation of their third album has seen them try to

incorporate some new elements to the mix, too. “In the

beginning,” the frontman admits, “we were struggling to write

music that excited us because the things we were writing - or

we felt we should be writing - were sounding like songs that

could’ve gone on the last record. That wasn’t something that

we were interested in doing at all, we wanted this one to be

a separate entity. We definitely looked in different places for

inspiration on this record.”

It’s also going to be, the band hope at least, an opportunity

for them to become less defined by their genre. “It’s never

about not being in rock music anymore, it’s just about not

being pigeonholed. I’d like to think that’s not our defining

trait. I think we’ve managed to do that.”

Young Guns’ third album will be released later this year

via Virgin / EMI. DIY

13

Superfood and

DIY takeover

London

Photo: Carolina Faruolo

The band play three DIY Presents

shows in the capital, with a few

added extras…

B

irmingham gems Superfood

and DIY teamed up this July

and August for three DIY

Presents shows in London. Following

an earlier date where they literally

brought the roof down (whoops),

the foursome kicked off the run in

The Social, before visiting the Old

Blue Last - with a foam machine no

less - and finishing at Notting Hill

Arts Club.

To celebrate the tour, DIY pulled out

all the stops to produce a special,

exclusive poster ‘zine especially

for the occasion. The ultimate

guide to the band, it runs across 16

panels, hand screen printed on high

quality stock - one side packed with

exclusive photography, interviews,

playlists, profiles and snippets, the

other with a huge Superfood poster

prime for hanging on your bedroom

wall.

Available in super limited quantities

at each of the three shows, if you

weren’t lucky enough to get your

hands on one, fear not - you can

read it all, as well as see exclusive

additional photos and extras, at

diymag.com/superfood. We’ll be

giving some away online too, and if

you’re lucky enough to win one we’ll

also throw in a spiffy DIY tote. Isn’t

that nice? DIY

14 diymag.com

no pain, no gain

Frank Iero’s guitar insulted his

shirt and got what it deserved.

NEWS

IN BRIEF

IN THEIR HONOUR

Foo Fighters will headline the London’s

Invictus Games closing concert at the

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park later

this year. Taking place on Sunday 14th

September, the bill also features Kaiser

Chiefs, Ellie Goulding, Ryan Adams

and, er, the Military Wives Choirs.

Tickets for the concert are priced at £49,

available now.

Frank Iero has put up with a lot over the past

few years, and it’s inspired his solo debut.

Words: Sarah Jamieson.

emoralising, destructive; pain is often a driving force behind creativity. For

Frank Iero, the former guitarist of My Chemical Romance, if it weren’t for a

Ddebilitating illness his debut solo album probably wouldn’t exist. A longtime

sufferer of digestive issues, the guitarist had a severe turn for the worse in 2012, as

his former project was winding down to a close. He soon turned to music to help,

after his doctor recommended writing a diary to chronicle each of his episodes.

Before he knew it, he had instinctively begun work on first solo offering with his

incredibly personal - and aptly-titled - ‘stomachaches’.

“This sounds so terrible,” begins Frank, who will release his full-length under the

guise of frnkiero and the cellebration, “but there was a part of me that really thought

I might actually be dying so, I need to kind of leave something behind almost… That

sounds terrible and morbid, but it was, for some reason, where my head went.” No

stranger to hard work, ‘stomachaches’ might mark his first official solo effort, but it’s

not his first foray outside of the bounds of My Chemical Romance. Joining the New

Jersey five-piece from the now-defunct Pencey Prep, he embarked upon another

side project in 2009, Leathermouth, before showcasing his first solo material in 2013.

However, his condition soon pushed for other creative outlets. Setting up a

makeshift studio in the basement of his family home, he began working during the

night as a means of simply trying to overcome the pain. Unsurprisingly then, Frank

is more than a little nervous about unveiling it to the world. “It’s a very personal

creation so when it comes time for other people to hear it, or see it, or experience

it, there’s this natural reaction to pull it back and not let anyone have it. I try to fight

through that because I feel like if I’m gonna do this, and if I’m gonna be honest, I

can’t hide from fear of what people may think. I feel like that’s the point. The idea

was that, if I went through all that pain, I might as well put it out there.”

frnkiero and the cellebration’s debut album ‘stomacheaches’ will be released

on 25th August via Hassle Records. DIY

TRICK ME

Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke

is releasing a new solo album, titled

‘Trick’. Due for release on 13th October

through Lilac Records / Kobalt, it’s

the first record to follow on from Bloc

Party’s 2012 effort ‘Four’ and his first

solo run, ‘The Boxer’, which came out

back in 2010.

WARE-ING ALL

Jessie Ware is slowly but surely

unveiling details of her second album.

Having already aired two tracks – her

album’s title track ‘Tough Love’ and

‘Share It All’, as written with Romy

from The xx – she’s confirmed a series

of world tour dates, including two in

the UK, alongside plans to release the

sophomore record later this year.

A TASTER SESSION

Ahead of their forthcoming second

album, Brighton band Tall Ships

have confirmed plans to play a run

of intimate October UK dates. With

the follow-up to debut ‘Everything

Touching’ anticipated for later this

year, the band will play Manchester,

Bristol, London and Brighton across this

autumn.

15

NEWS

Let Me

Entertain

You

Merchandise have been a

hype band, a punk band and

everything else under the sun

- now they’re giving the finger

to “arty” types by entering

their “pop” phase with new

album ‘After The End’. Words:

Jamie Milton, Photo: Carolina

Faruolo.

This time last year, all eyes were on Merchandise, a Tampa, Florida group

who’d been together since 2008 and in some strange collision of events,

were suddenly being hailed as the saviours of punk. DIY Weekly cover

stars, magnets to label attention, these underground heavyweights were

being exposed to a whole new world. They responded by playing buzz gigs, touring

for months and then deciding - like anyone else would - to become a completely

different band. New album ‘After the End’ - the group’s first on 4AD - is said to be a

different chapter, with 2013 EP ‘Totale Nite’ being the final knockout blow for the old

Merchandise. There’s reason for this - they’ve picked up new members (Chris Horn

on keys and sax, Elsner Niño on drums) and they’ve seemingly ditched the distorted

howl of previous recordings.

Now these five musicians are calling themselves a “pop” band, which seems a stretch

when it’s being applied to doomy rock‘n’roll songs capable of bypassing the six

minute mark. Still, frontman Carson Cox insists that he doesn’t feel like there’s an “an

easy definition” for this marked departure. And when a record’s packing songs as

16 diymag.com

hard-hitting and straight-to-the-gut as lead track ‘Little Killer’,

perhaps they have a point.

Choice didn’t come into this marked change, according to

Carson, “in the same way that for some people having a kid’s

not a choice, moving somewhere’s not a choice.” The new

record was self-produced in the same house closet space as

all the band’s previous LPs, but it benefits from a fuller sound,

one capable of striking arenas and festival stages instead of

stagnating in sweaty bars. “Now it’s about stating an idea

clearly,” says Cox, who admits that “when you make lo-fi music

it’s easy to hide all your mistakes.”

Once staples of a Tampa scene, it’s apparent that Carson sees

his band as completely far removed from their past. “There’s

lots of people who’d prefer us to never make music again, but

they’re not in the band so it doesn’t really matter,” he quips. A

flick through their back catalogue prompts a lifetime’s worth

of “sold out” or “out of print” notifications, and this is partly

why they signed to 4AD - it was a logical decision to go with

someone who could distribute their records. “I don’t see

bands as property, whereas most people do,” he says. “We’re

nobody’s property anymore. It’s for anyone. You can find it on

Spotify. You can hear it on the BBC. It’s for a genuine audience,

a genuine listener. The music I grew up loving was super

direct. I’d rather it be a direct thing than something coming

with instructions.

TURNING

POINT

Merchandise realised they

could ditch “lo-fi” for bigger

things when they first played

Primavera in 2013. “We got to

hear ourselves in this big way,

this really loud way,” Carson

remembers. “I hadn’t heard my

vocal live in a long time. For me,

we had a choice of pretending we

were still making lo-fi music even

though our lives and music had

changed. Or we could try to state

something clearly.”

“THE PROBLEM WITH

MUSIC IS THERE’S

NO NERDS; THERE’S

NO WEIRDOS

ANYMORE.”Carson Cox

“I don’t wanna repeat a lot of old motifs,” says Carson,

referring to the underground status and crate-digging

attitude that might’ve been lumped alongside Merchandise

when heads were beginning to turn last year. “I don’t expect

everyone to look at ‘After The End’ under a microscope. I think

it’s for entertainment. I’m getting something from my art, but

if we’re not entertaining, it’s not worth a damn. We can’t just

say we’re artists and make something that says nothing. That’s

the problem with most modern art; it says nothing and it’s

literally all concepts that nobody cares about.”

At one stage when describing the new record, Carson stops

to say he could speak in more “callous” or “outrageous”

terms, and almost apologises. But he’s constantly engaging in

conversation. ‘After The End’ is “more to do with vibration and

light” than music or lyrics, he says. “I kind of want the words

to melt into the music. I don’t want it to just be this thing

that’s looked at separately or looked at as language.” It sounds

fanciful, maybe “outrageous” enough for his own standards,

but there’s something about Cox that picks him apart from

other frontmen. “The problem with music is there’s no nerds,”

he winds off. “There’s no weirdos anymore. It used to just be

freaks. Now it’s just another motherfucker.” Carson Cox isn’t

just another motherfucker, that’s for sure.

‘After The End’ could be considered a debut, in some senses.

It’s the first Merchandise release to be met with international

expectation, and it’s a record waving goodbye to an old era.

Not that Carson and co. are ashamed of their initial years (“We

had so much help from the labels that put us out before,” he

says), but they’ve had to break free from subcultures in order

to become a better band. Carson compares it to the death

tarot card. “It never really means death,” he says. “Whenever

I’ve had it, it always means change. For sure, there’s so many

growing pains in change and it can feel like the end. But

sometimes it’s good to push yourself to the end.”

Merchandise’s new album ‘After The End’ will be released

on 25th August via 4AD. DIY

17

NEWS

Shine It

Bright

Perfume Genius is back with details

of his new, third album ‘Too Bright’.

S

et to follow up his 2012 effort ‘Put Your

Back N 2 It’, Perfume Genius’s forthcoming

effort ‘Too Bright’ is due for release on

22nd September through Turnstile. The new

eleven-track album comes led by ‘Queen’; a

crazed, outpouring of noise that departs from

the striking balladry of his last full-length. It’s

almost proggy in its directions, linking together

bellowed-out vocals with sky-reaching synths.

The record is also set to feature PJ Harvey

collaborator John Parish, and was recorded

alongside Portishead’s Adrian Utley. The release will

come alongside a visit to the UK, where he will play

three dates ahead of the album’s unveiling, with an

additional five shows scheduled in November. Check

out the dates on diymag.com. DIY

Everything will be

alright.

eezer have

announced plans

Wto release a brand

new album, ‘Everything Will

Be Alright In The End’, this

autumn.

Their tenth studio record,

as produced by long-time

collaborator and the

producer of both the ‘Blue’

and ‘Green’ self-titled

albums, Ric Ocasek,

is set for release on

29th September

here in the UK via

Island (and through

Republic the

following day Stateside).

Last month, the band gave

fans their first real taste of

their new full-length in the

form of ‘Back To The Shack’.

The airing of the record’s

first single came after it had

Weezer Return

been viewed widely online

following its live debut on

the Weezer cruise earlier this

year, before being featured

in a Weezer Wednesday

update last month.

The four-piece have also

been dropping hints here,

there and everywhere

during their weekly video

updates; keep an eye out for

more soon.

Weezer have various live

dates arranged in the US

throughout the summer and

through the remainder of

2014. DIY

18 diymag.com

FIRST SUPPORTS ANNOUNCED FOR

#STANDFORSOMETHING

TOUR 2014

Three support bands have been announced for Dr. Martens’ forthcoming six-date

#STANDFORSOMETHING Tour, in association with DIY.

F

resh from unveiling five of the headliners to appear on this year’s

Dr. Martens #STANDFORSOMETHING Tour in association with DIY,

we’re now proud to unveil the first handful of support acts. With

We Are The Ocean, Tonight Alive, Eagulls, Los Campesinos! and Funeral

For A Friend already confirmed to take over cities up and down the UK,

DIY can now officially announce that Arcane Roots, Only Rivals and

Johnny Foreigner will be joining in the chaos too.

“It’s gonna be amazing,” reveals Only Rivals’ frontman Stephen Arkins,

who will be playing ahead of previous tour mates Tonight Alive at

Newcastle’s Cluny 2. “After the All Time Low tour we weren’t sure when

we would see each other so it will be great to reconnect and play

together again. They’re a great band and such lovely people.”

Elsewhere, at The Flapper in Birmingham, Johnny Foreigner will be

reconnecting with longtime pals, Los Campesinos! “We’ve been good

friends with those folks since the days

we had to buy our own footwear,” jokes

THE

DATES

04.10.14

Cabaret Voltaire,

Edinburgh

FUNERAL FOR A

FRIEND

TBC

11.10.14

Clwb Ifor Bach,

Cardiff

EAGULLS

TBC

25.10.14

The Shipping

Forecast, Liverpool

WE ARE THE

OCEAN

&Arcane Roots

22.11.14

The Flapper,

Birmingham

LOS

CAMPESINOS!

& Johnny

Foreigner

05.12.14

Cluny 2, Newcastle

TONIGHT ALIVE

& Only Rivals

the band’s Alexei Berrow, “but being in a

band is the worst for socialising, so it’ll be

awesome to hang out again.”

Alongside We Are The Ocean, who’ll

be hitting up The Shipping Forecast in

Liverpool, will be rock trio Arcane Roots,

and they’re already looking forward to

catching up with them in such an intimate

environment. “We met We Are The Ocean

at one of the first festivals we ever played,”

explains frontman Andrew Groves, “and

became better friends at each event since.

“They also played with us at the Muse

stadium dates last summer which was a

defining moment for us as a band so we’re

excited to see them again and catch up!

Smaller venues really give us the chance

to really be amongst our fans and rock

out with them in the crowd, the energy is

amplified so much in a smaller setting that

they are always memorable, if not a bit

sweaty and bloody!”

The remaining three support bands - as

well as details of that all important

London date - will be revealed shortly.

Keep updated at diymag.com/

standforsomethingtour2014 and

drmartens.com/standforsomethingtour

for all the news and line up announcements.

Tickets are on sale now. DIY

WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR,

ANDREW GROVES?

“Since day one we’ve only ever wanted to

be the best band that we can be, to focus

on improving both as musicians and as

friends. That’s the most important thing.”


STEPHEN ARKINS?

“We stand for genuine music, no

gimmicks. We play music we love

and hope that other people will as

well. We’re just four guys who love

writing and playing.”


ALEXEI BERROW?

“Truth, justice and the American dream.”

19

NEWS

With her new album, Charli XCX is looking to inspire a new gereration of music fans. “I wrote this

record for girls,” she tells El Hunt. “I want them to feel a sense of empowerment.”

IN THE STUDIO:

CHARLI XCX

Charli XCX’s drawn out

trajectory to reach

the point she’s at now

has been a skew-whiff

paper aeroplane

flight. Along the way

there’s been some sneaking off to

gigs at illegal rave parties, a few single

releases, an EP, and a pair of albums;

all of which largely crept under the

mainstream pop world’s radar. Two

infamous pop songs that took over

charts worldwide followed. Thanks

to the latter, Charli XCX’s name has

become almost synonymous with the

word ‘feat’. Now she’s ready to hack

through the associations and stand

alone.

“I

GENUINELY

DON’T

GIVE A

FUCK.”

CHARLI XCX

“Oh my god, dude!” enthuses Charli.

“It’s so exciting. It feels like it’s such a

long time coming. Being a featured

artist is great, but it is nice to finally

have a song of my own that people

really care about. I’m an artist as well as

a writer, so it’s good to be appreciated.”

The song she’s referring to is ‘Boom

Clap’, the first cut from her forthcoming

album of brash, bratty anthems that

storm precociously into the room,

spitting out bubblegum onto the beery

floor. “I need to find a way to describe

it,” says Charli, “it’s not pop punk but it’s

pop with a punk edge. Oh I don’t know,”

she laughs.

Prior to recording this studio album,

Charli explains, she was working on a

punk album in Sweden. Following the

unprecedented and massive success

Icona Pop enjoyed with her song, ‘I Love

It’, punk was the most obvious middle

finger she could jab in the direction of

20 diymag.com

the “bullshit that really doesn’t matter.” The

pressure, at one point, Charli admits, almost

got to her. “I went a bit crazy,” she admits.

“I just started over thinking things and I

needed to not give a fuck. When I sit there

and try and craft things – which is what it was

becoming after ‘I Love It’ – I feel worried. I’m

still young, but after [second studio album]

‘True Romance’ I was worried about being

cool. I was getting a bit caught up in all the

bullshit that really doesn’t matter. I removed

myself from it and went the opposite way.

Now I genuinely don’t give a fuck, which is

awesome, very liberating.”

Charli XCX is a chaotic presence. She’s slightly

scatty, very sweary, and not afraid to speak

her mind. Charli XCX, in fact, is everything

that a media-trained, perfectly preened pop

star is not. “I’m not the classic pop star,” she

agrees. “I’m very scruffy and late and messy.”

A little like Tai Fraiser – the role she took on

in the Clueless inspired video for Iggy Azalea

collaboration ‘Fancy’ – then? “Yes!” she snorts.

“Tai is cool, Tai’s the shit! I’m literally on a

photo shoot right now wearing someone’s

old boxers, no bra and a San Francisco t-shirt.

Yeah, I feel like I am the Tai Fraiser of the pop

world, and I think girls need that. I wrote

this record for girls, and for everyone on the

planet with a pussy.

“RIVERS CUOMO

WAS LIKE,

‘WHAT’S YOUR

FAVOURITE

WEEZER SONG?’

I SAID ‘BEVERLY

HILLS’. HE WAS

LIKE, ‘OK, I HAVE

AN IDEA…’” CHARLI

XCX

“I want them to feel a sense of

empowerment,” she adds. “I feel like this

record is very feminine, and I remember when

I first began writing it I wanted to write an

album that I would’ve been obsessed with

when I was 14. I would love to see a punk

revolution, and loads of 14-year-old girls with

shaved heads. I would love for girls to be able

to celebrate this record.” Charli expands on

exactly what kind of empowerment she’s

talking about, and given all the questions

she’s had in the past about whether she feels

angry or bitter that Icona Pop ‘stole’ her song,

it seems an especially personal gripe. With pop

music in particular, “it feels like there has to be

one top female,” she sighs. “There’s this idea

of women beating each other down, which I

don’t think is very progressive. I don’t think it’s

something that female pop stars really give

a shit about, but feels like there’s this weird

myth that’s being spun around us, that we

all fucking hate each other, just,” she laughs,

“because we all have vaginas. It’s something

that I feel is being spoken about a lot more,

but it’s not vanishing quickly. There is a wave

of highly intelligent female artists coming

through that run their own careers, rocking

the boat. I think it’s cool that people like myself

and Lorde are shaking shit up.”

Shaking shit up comes in many forms for Charli

XCX. Whether it’s ensconcing to Sweden to

scream out rowdy covers of Snuffed By The

Yazuka’s ‘Allergic To Love’, or then deciding to

start her record again from bare foundations,

she now has the freedom now to write

anything and collaborate with whomever she

likes. Having previously turned down another

of those notorious ‘feat’ spots with Christina

Aguilera in the past, Charli has been able to

work with somebody who is a far better fit for

what she’s about; Rivers Cuomo of Weezer.

“He is such an interesting guy,” she gushes,

“‘cause obviously he comes from a completely

different world to me, but he’s just so

interested in pop music. It was pretty cool to

sit in a room with him and write a song, I never

thought that it would be possible but when I

found out he was really in for that idea I was so

excited by it.” One song from the forthcoming

record takes more than a cue from Weezer’s

‘Beverly Hills’, she adds. “It doesn’t [sample it],

but [Rivers] was just like, ‘What’s your favourite

Weezer song?’ I said ‘Beverly Hills’. He was like,

‘Ok, I have an idea...’”

This new record is Charli XCX’s most confident

and self-assured yet; the signs certainly point

that way. The time and space she has had

to develop as an artist, although frustrating

initially, might just be her secret weapon. “I

feel like this record, of anything I’ve ever done,

is most me,” Charli explains. “This feels right,

everything about it feels perfect. I’ve grown

in confidence. I know now that I can write

a hit song, and I feel like I’ve come into my

own. I just wanted to make a consistent but

next-level pop record, and I didn’t want to just

make something that would be, like, a cool,

safe record.” She’s officially moved on from

being just Feat. Charli XCX, and in a sly nod to

her breakthrough song, she adds, laughing, “I

wanted to do something where people might

not love it, you know?”

Charli XCX’s new album will be released

later this year via Atlantic. DIY

21

NEWS

FESTIVAL

PREVIEWS

BESTIVAL

4th - 7th September

hen it comes to having fun, nothing can quite compare to the idea of

hopping on board a boat and heading to a desert island for a few days of

Wmusic-fuelled madness. That’s at least sort of the case for Bestival, if you try

to forget that the Isle of Wight actually has a population of over 100,000 people... and

the boat’s a ferry. That aside, and with a fancy dress theme of ‘Desert Island Disco’,

there’s nothing stopping the masses all going a bit loco; in the best way possible, of

course.

For this year’s event, organiser Rob da Bank has had no holds barred: having celebrated

their tenth birthday in style last year, the weekender is looking stronger than ever as it

heads into its second decade. Take headliner Foals, for example, who have dominated

the festival circuit in the last twelve months with their massive-sounding brand of

indie-rock. They’ll be making one of their biggest live appearances so far when they

close the main stage in a triumphant sea of riffs, and it’s set to be glorious.

Elsewhere, Rob has managed to secure the tremendous Outkast to play one of only

two shows over on our shores during their comeback run, making their set unmissable.

If their performance at last month’s Wireless was anything to go by, they give as good

as they get, and they’ll have the crowds shaking like a polaroid picture in no time at all.

Other highlights are set to include the return of Beck, who will be airing his

wonderful new album ‘Morning Phase’ for the first time in the UK so far, the

incendiary Disclosure, who will undoubtedly bring the house down with their

huge electronica, before the unmistakable funk sounds of Chic featuring Nile

Rodgers close proceedings. Best get your grass skirt packed and ready because

this lot won’t be hanging around to start the party, and no one wants to be

missing out. DIY

Elsewhere at Bestival...

SAM SMITH

Fresh from dominating charts

with his debut album, Sam Smith’s

stock is at the highest it’s ever

been. His performance will be a

joy to witness: just think of the

sultry jams, his incredible voice.

Plus, with Disclosure on the bill,

you never do know what could

happen when it comes to ‘Latch’...

LONDON GRAMMAR

They may have hit a spot of

unlucky illness and cancelled

shows recently, but fingers are

tightly crossed that London

Grammar will be back up and

running again in no time at all.

After all, what would Bestival do

without Hannah Reid’s gorgeous

vocals to soundtrack the sunset?

TUNE-YARDS

It’s no secret that Tune-Yards is

brilliant. Off-kilter but entirely

on-beat, Merill Garbus will be

returning to our shores this

September, and if her recent

‘Nikki Nack’ shows are

evidence enough, her

Bestival set is guaranteed to

get everyone dancing. The

only question left is, how on

earth will she dress up?!

22 diymag.com

FLOW FESTIVAL

8th - 10th August

Finland is growing to be quite the musical hub.

Whether it’s thanks to its breathtaking scenery,

its current musical exports, or just the fact that

their festivals are growing larger and better every

year, it’s definitely becoming one of the places to

visit in the summertime. This year’s Flow Festival

is proving just that, with its incredible line-up

bursting with artists from every genre.

Not only will the likes of Outkast, Blood

Orange, Jungle and Janelle Monáe all be

flying the flag for sassy funk on the line-up,

there’s going to be a good dose of brooding

electronica coming from the likes of

Bonobo, Darkside and Jamie xx at the

event too. Elsewhere, Canada’s Mac

DeMarco is sure to cause some

sort of chaos, while the likes of

Little Dragon and MØ will almost

definitely start a dance party or

two. Even the newest additions to

the event – which come in the form

of Skrillex and Jessie Ware – are

going to be unmissable.

Get the ol’ clashfinder out now, because

at this rate, there’ll barely be time to

sit back, relax and take in your Finnish

surroundings. Then again, who needs those

when you can have all that music to choose from? DIY

ARCTANGENT

28th - 30th August

Last year, ArcTanGent got off to one hell of a start. Inviting some of the biggest

names – 65daysofstatic and Fuck Buttons to name a couple - in post-rock to join

in the fun, they managed to establish themselves as a Mecca for the genre, and this

year, they’re back for more. If you’re even close to calling yourself a math-rock or

instrumental fan, this Bristol weekender has something for you. 2014’s edition of the

event will be playing host to the likes of Russian Circles, This Will Destroy You,

God Is An Astronaut and maybeshewill, as well as old favourites Tall Ships, Jamie

Lenman and many more. DIY

FESTIVAL NO. 6

5th - 7th September

If idyllic surroundings and a peaceful atmosphere are high on your list of priorities

when it comes to a weekender away, Festival No. 6 is exactly that. Based in the

beautiful Portmeirion, it’s an event that openly bills itself as

‘a festival unlike any other, in a place like no other’ and

honestly, they’re not in the business of telling lies.

It’s not just the location that’s worth a visit;

with a line-up like theirs, Festival No. 6 is

also offering up some of the finest musical

performers this summer. Whether it’s

Beck, who’ll be visiting our side of the

Atlantic for the first time in a long

time, or London Grammar, who will

undoubtedly wow crowds with their

spacious but intense debut offerings,

there’s something for everyone. The

likes of Kelis, Pet Shop Boys, Jon

Hopkins and Temples will also be

heading to the Welsh weekender,

making it one way of the best ways to

celebrate the end of summer. DIY

FESTIVAL

NEWS

LABELLED WITH LOVE

The list of dates has been announced

for AIM and Club Fandango’s autumn

gig series, Labelled With Love - find

them on diymag.com. Keep an eye

out for the line up too, curated by

independent labels such as Kissability,

Sunday Best and Bella Union.

MAS MAS

Cate Le Bon has announced plans to

host and curate her very own festival.

Taking place on 28th August in West

Wales’ River’s Edge, Ceredigion, her

Mas Mas production will feature

performances from herself, as well as

Perfume Genius and Sweet Baboo.

SIMPLE THINGS

Bristol one-dayer Simple Things

has announced new acts for its 25th

October bill. Liars lead the way, with

the experimentalists bringing their

‘Mess’ record to a line-up that now also

features How to Dress Well and Rejjie

Snow. They join headliners Caribou

(who opens the Friday night party) and

Mogwai.

SOUTHSEA

DIY is once again teaming up with

Southsea to bring some of our

favourite bands to Portsmouth. Joining

the likes of Fear of Men, Mazes,

Happyness, Slaves and Menace

Beach, are Pulled Apart By Horses,

DZ Deathrays, Flyte and Brontide.

Southsea takes place on Saturday 20th

September.

23

24 diymag.com

NEU

Gengahr

Avoiding

legal disputes

with New

York rappers,

touring with

the UK’s best

new bands -

Gengahr’s first

steps have

been anything

but subdued.

Words: Jamie

Milton, Photo:

Emma Swann.

Gengahr don’t

exactly look

rattled - they’re

relatively

pristine,

considering -

but they’ve just come out the

other side of an insane couple

of months. In this time, they’ve

played Glastonbury, ruled the UK

showcase festivals and toured

with two of the country’s most

exciting new bands, Wolf Alice

and Superfood. On any jaunt

of that billing, the average

group would be making up the

numbers. Not Gengahr. Catch

them at these early summer

gigs and they’d be luring flocks

towards the front of the stage.

Something in their curious

psych rock - left-of-centre but

undeniably universal - speaks on

a big level.

“I think it’s really, slowly, building

up to something now,” confesses

Felix Bushe, frontman of a band

who only have three demos to

their name, despite managing

to build up the excitement

equivalent of a group on the

verge of world domination. He

cites early recording sessions

back in October 2013 - the band’s

first experience in a studio - as the

first collective inkling that they

were onto something. “Obviously

something good was going on

at that time - they all came out

pretty great.” They heaped five

songs up on SoundCloud under

the guise RES, only to swiftly cull

the full set of recordings in order

to save one or two for a special

“ I t ’ s r e a l l y ,

slowly, building up

to something now.”

occasion. “I think we just worried

we might never write a good

song again,” Felix jokes.

Felix Bushe

Shortly following an initial flurry

of attention, they had to call

quits on the RES name. “We had

to make a decision really,” they

remember. “We were either going

to have some prolonged legal

battle with a New York rapper

or we’d pick a new name and

crack on. We went with the easier

option - we were never gonna

win that anyway, to be fair.”

Live, they mimic a grizzlier

beast than the soft specimen

introducing itself on record.

Guitarist John Victor is already

being spoken about in hushed,

cautious terms as the country’s

next great guitarist. His floppy

fringe certainly speaks on a

Jonny Greenwood-sort of level,

but the way he wrestles with

his instrument on stage - it’s

like it’s an extra limb, one that

ought to get removed in an

operation. Comparisons to psych

heavyweights Unknown Mortal

Orchestra are already ablaze -

“We take it as a compliment,”

says bassist Hugh Schulte - and

they’re even being introduced to

new music by way of far-fetched

contemporaries. “Someone

compared us to Woods the other

day. I’m completely new to them,

and it’s nice,” enthuses Hugh.

Behind the scenes there’s the

odd whisper that on their recent

jaunt around the country,

Gengahr were the designated

party-starters, not Superfood or

champions of raucousness Wolf

Alice. “It was good, wholesome

fun,” says Felix with a smirk.

“Nothing too shady went on…”

Still, if antics are being played

up to an extreme, these guys

do share a certain 90s-obsessed

kinship with their tour buddies.

“We’re of

the 90s,” the

frontman

states. “The

first thing

we really got

into would’ve

been the 90s

bands that are

re-emerging

in some form

or another.”

This doesn’t

feel like a re-emergence, though.

Their strange melding of psych

and grizzly rock‘n’roll isn’t of the

average ilk. ‘Fill My Gums With

Blood’ is a song in part devoted

to Luis Suarez, Hugh jokes.

Already the four-piece stand

out as a band bloodthirsty for

more. DIY

25

NEU

Spring King

Tarek Musa is getting more prolific by the second, with new EP ‘Demons’ set

to be followed swiftly. Words: Nathan Roberts, photo: Phil Smithies.

TITLE

‘Demons’

LABEL

Transgressive /

ParadYse

RECORDED

Summer 2014

PRODUCER

Tarek Musa

RELEASE DATE

8th September

TRACKLISTING

1. Can I?

2. Better Man

3. Demons

4. I’m Your Only

Friend

5. Let’s Ride

Four months might not seem like a long

time to bridge releases for an everyday

artist, but Tarek Musa’s thinking otherwise

when it comes to Spring King. The

Manchester-based producer/drummer/vocalist

released a debut single (‘Mumma’) back in March,

took his band on the road for showcase festivals

like Liverpool Sound City and The Great Escape

- then it was back to the studio. The reason he

started the project falls down to Ty Segall (“I

was like ‘Fuck’, completely blown away”) and

he shares his idol’s prolific spirit. Next year he

hopes to get not one, but two albums out into

the world. “We get very bored very quickly. We

always wanna make new sounds,” he says.

Without getting too carried away, first on the

agenda is new EP ‘Demons’. It arrives a good year

on from the emergence of scrappy, early Spring

King demos, distortion epitomised. Tarek claims

that over time, material’s become more “poppy”,

with a “garage pop” aesthetic linking together

these wild, crazed songs. It’s a boundless set of

recordings, possessing all the energy of a pack of

hyenas gone days without prey.

It’s the same when the band play live, where the

four-piece collectively threaten to jump off stage

at any moment. “Our eagerness and impatience

comes across,” Tarek admits, when it comes to the

gigs. “You wait around all day to play 30 minutes

and then smash it out. I think we’re all vented up

with energy, ready to go,” he says, admitting that

“I’ve thrown up on stage in the past.”

The band “don’t know how to pace ourselves”,

by their own admission. That’s of no detriment.

Lead track on the EP, ‘Can I?’, explodes into life

from the get-go. Tarek tends to record most

of the parts himself initially - then he invites

members into his bathroom-turned-studio,

where each individual will “bring their own flair”

to a recording. This group mentality is holding

them in good stead - already they’re getting a

rep as one of the most exciting live bands in the

country. Now it’s a case of translating that energy

into thrashing recordings and a lifetime’s supply

of releases. DIY

26 diymag.com

photo: Carolina Faruolo

NEU

LIVE REPORT

NEU

NEWS

Lil’ Respect

BANKS collaborator Lil Silva has

announced a new EP, ‘Mabel’. It’s out

4th August on Good Years. BANKS

features on two tracks - the rest

showcase Lil Silva’s newly enhanced

ability to make himself the focus of

everything he’s putting his name

to. Check out the lead, title track on

diymag.com.

D. D DUMBO

London, Chat’s Palace

O

liver Perry likes to mess around.

He’ll fiddle with loop pedals,

tiny percussive parts, wood

instruments, for about the first quarter

of every song. It’s a little like watching a

kid play with toys for the first time. Out

steps a beat, somehow, and off Perry

goes. Then the serious business takes

place. 12-string guitar lines - initially

fragments, curiously piercing notes -

form in completion and rise above everything.

They sound half like something

coined in the depths of the Australian

outback (not too distant from his small

Victoria town), half like an ingenious

leftover from Bon Iver’s cabin sessions.

At Chat’s Palace, he makes his debut

London headline appearance, ahead of

shows supporting Daughter and fellow

Aussies Tame Impala. There’s a feverish

anticipation, but there’s also space for

these sounds to float within - and that’s

the important part. ‘Tropical Oceans’,

a single from last year, doesn’t take

long to get into gear. Oliver’s vocals are

confident enough in any environment,

but they’re almost the least important

aspect, here. It’s more interesting to just

stand there, imagining what exactly

goes on in that mind of is, and how

exactly he operates this formidable

machine. (Jamie Milton)

Lock it in

London trio Vaults are releasing a

new single, fresh from appearing

at Latitude 2014. On their latest,

they prove they don’t have a sellby-date.

Their already timeless

trip-hop/pop has shown its hand

with debut ‘Premonitions’ - new

track ‘Lifespan’ continues the band’s

graceful waltz into infinity. It’s out

1st September.

Absorbing the

rays

London psych weirdos Sun Machine

have just got odder: new single

‘Tamaho Hitman’ cosies up with

the idea of expanding horizons,

trying new things, but it doesn’t

forget to pack a killer chorus, the

kind best saved for festival chants

and en masse celebrations. Listen on

diymag.com.

Shedding blood

Self-professed disgusting

distortion addicts Bloody Knees

have announced details of a new

EP. ‘Stitches’ is out 25th August on

limited vinyl, and arriving headed up

by ‘Daydream’, a blow-your-socks-off

return that gives credence to the fact

that these guys played the Lock Up

Stage at Reading Festival this time

last year.

27

NEU

RECOMMENDED

BLESSA

Nothing’s standing in the way of

Sheffield’s sweetest-toothed

Sheffield’s Blessa are quick to say that although most bands coming from their city are looking for escape, they have nothing to

escape from, “save, except, our jobs - and we’re not really into writing a song such as ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’,

although that didn’t do the Arctics any harm!” If chart success isn’t the aim, then making something sweet, genre-defying and

melodically true is definitely a key part of their musical manifesto. Combining hazy melodies and basslines that break the heart,

debut EP ‘Love Is An Evol Word’ ought to be their springboard into bigger and better things. Personal circumstances in-part

hindered the creation process; singer Olivia Neller falling ill led to delays in recording her vocals, and several tracks were scrapped

entirely as they didn’t meet their own high expectations. Eventually they found their eureka moment. (Joe Sweeting)

LISTEN ‘Unfurl’

FOR FANS OF Fear of Men

Deers

Deers are hilarious. They’re best friends

from Madrid, raised in a community

where “everyone’s a musician.”

Their backstory is mindblowingly

complicated, involving at least three

ex-boyfriends and half a dozen best

friends, all somehow connecting

Carlotta Cosials and Ana Garcia Perrote,

the duo who first started the group. In

a video for debut single ‘Bamboo’, they

parade around city streets like nobody’s

watching; the energy of it all is enough

to win over the sleepiest, most passive

casual listener. (Jamie Milton)

LISTEN ‘Bamboo’

FOR FANS OF The Black Lips,

drinking beer out of a

dumpster

Liu Bei

Liu Bei’s grand, epic introduction

isn’t short on confidence, and it sees

the newcomers dressing up what’s

essentially a power ballad in the

emperor’s new clothes. The trio is

led by a guy called Richard who has

a ‘successful’ background in penning

scores for adverts. His attention’s since

turned to being in a band full-time,

giving atmospheric rock his utmost

attention. They just put out a single

on Transgressive imprint paradYse -

‘Infatuation’/’Atlas World’ is out now.

(Jamie Milton)

LISTEN ‘Infatuation’

FOR FANS OF MONEY

Kult

.Country.

Having undergone a handful of

makeovers - the first incarnation of the

band was “really raw, really angry, really

political” - Kult Country are now poised

to become the latest Sways Records

graduates to make a mark outside

their hometown, Manchester. After

a few years of relentless gigging, the

band are readying their debut record,

produced by MJ from Hookworms.

“Half of it’s a collection of our early

stuff,” they claim, “and the other half is

newer songs. There’s ripples of where

we’re going, and echoes of where we’ve

been.” (Joe Goggins)

LISTEN ‘Trembling Moon’

FOR FANS OF MBV, walls of

noise

28 diymag.com

Years&Years

Take shelter - this UK trio have hit their stride. Words: Jamie

Milton, Photo: Mike Massaro.

It can take mere minutes or a good couple of years, but any new band hoping to get anywhere

needs to experience their eureka moment. Years & Years had whittled away and honed in on a

sound that best suited their desire to build great, galloping pop songs out of electronics. After

months perfecting this process, shit suddenly got ‘Real’.

The trio found themselves on the receiving end of hundreds of thousands of plays, all on the back

of their breakthrough single on Kitsuné. This wasn’t easy to take in, especially for frontman Olly

Alexander, a verified internet and new music addict. “My friend was like ‘What’s Hype Machine?’,”

he recalls, after seeing ‘Real’ top the online charts. “I’m like, ‘You don’t understand!’”

‘Real’ was the beginning of a new chapter for the band. Coined in speedy studio sessions, it gave

the three of them a new sense of purpose. They realised they could pen songs quickly, load them

full of hooks and unveil them to the world with a click of a button. These days they’ve a quick

means of road-testing things: “We play our demos to our drummer, and if he does his fist-pump,

then we’ve got a winner,” jokes Michael Goldsworthy.

Olly renders most Years & Years songs to be a puzzle. “I always want to fix it, but the longer and

harder you try, the more broken it gets,” he says. The process usually involves Emre staying in that

dark, windowless space of his, presenting ideas to the band, while Olly and Mike apply something

they might have been working on in their spare time. “I only really play piano. I have no technical

brain, at all,” claims Olly, while Emre dryly states: “I spend my time in a room.”

Together, they’re already thinking about a debut album. “If you want to be a musician, who doesn’t

have the dream of making an album?” Olly says. “The process of a band, well most bands, is you’re

always writing. You always have a lot of material. Whether it’s gonna end up on an album or not,

I don’t know. And we’re not taking a chunk of time by saying ‘Finish the album in three weeks’.

Personally I’ll feel relieved when an album’s finished, and I can look at it and go ‘That’s a Years &

Years album that we made’. It’s hard to grasp.”

Years & Years’ new EP ‘Take Shelter’ will be released on 19th August via Polydor. DIY

This spring, Years &

Years were crowned

(de facto) kings of

the showcase new

music festivals,

ruling over Liverpool

Sound City, Live at

Leeds and Brighton’s

The Great Escape.

“It went loads better

than I thought it was

gonna be,” says Olly.

“It was really good

to break out of that

and realise actually

we can play in places

that aren’t London,

with people coming

to the shows and

enjoying it. We’re

always happy when

anyone’s at a show,

and if by the end

they look like they

don’t hate you, then

it feels good.” DIY

29

NEU

Real Lies

Champions of the in-between, Real Lies started on the outskirts and they

intend to stay there. Words: Jamie Milton, Photo: Phil Smithies.

The three that make up London trio Real Lies used to live on the outskirts of their chosen city. They were on the fringes,

seemingly stifled but equally lured in by the bright lights that existed just miles away. When they arrived, individually

they were confronted with bands that meant nothing to them. “The London scene has been a disgrace for the past

fifteen years,” claims Tom Watson. The very thought of being a part of this apparently going-nowhere movement, even

as a bit-part, “would have absolutely disgusted me,” agrees Pat King. “It was never our intention to be in a band.”

Even today, the three of them don’t have specific band roles. Guitars and electronics entangle, with Kev Kharas obsessing over

loops or barely-there samples before applying lyrics that, when executed, walk a tightrope between spoken word and melody.

He cites one of Pat’s loops (for ‘North Circular’) that reached up to 2,000 plays before it even became a song. “I let it sink into my

brain. That was the ambient noise I was hearing wherever I went,” he remembers.

Some of the trio’s songs were coined on a whim. Others took two years, going back to early days where Tom and Kev took

residence in a permanent party house by a reservoir. They describe the place as “artless”, anything but a “music house”. One

night, the music was being played so loud that a chancer climbed through Tom’s window and stole his laptop, containing a

recording of new song ‘Dab Housing’, which was finished on the very same day. Hence why it took so long for some of these

recordings to come to light.

“At no point did we sit down and give ourselves a band name or decide to release what we were making,” says Tom. It was

only when they finished debut ‘Deeper’ that they decided to share something, instead of keeping this spare hours project to

themselves. “We spent about a month worrying about it and arguing about it,” Tom remembers, but eventually it saw the light of

day, backed by a Rollo Jackson-directed video.

This clip brings together house party footage, plus snippets of London itself, from the morning commute to the ghostly hours.

It’s a song - and video - that doesn’t cosy up with any defined thought or emotion. Real Lies are the kind of bunch that prefer to

exist in the in-between. Kev sums it up by saying: “It’s important to have that ambiguity with what you do. If music doesn’t sit in a

grey area between three different emotions it might as well be written down.” DIY

30 diymag.com

LITTLE

LABEL

Neu takes a look at the record labels responsible for

breakthrough releases, big or small.

HOWLING OWL

AUGUST 2014 IN

EPS

August represents both

the winding down of

festival season and the

first sign that releases are

busying up for the second

half of 2014. This month,

a handful of (relatively)

familiar faces make good

on their promise with some

of the year’s most exciting

EPs. We’ve picked out three

of our favourites, below.

Astronomyy

There For U

One-man musician / producer extraordinaire

Astronomyy has set up his own label, Lunar Surf,

for this debut release. It follows on from a handful

of promising smooth pop tracks, plus one hell of a

debut gig, supporting London Grammar at Brixton

Academy. It’s out now on glossy 12” vinyl.

FOUNDED: Summer 2011

KEY RELEASES: Oliver Wilde, ‘A Brief

Introduction to Unnatural Light Years’

(2013), GuMM, ‘Lionheart’/‘Windswept’

(2012)

Hooting from a Bristol bedroom and beyond, Howling Owl

is barely into its baby steps, but already it’s combining a

smart-small ethos with exciting artists on a frighteningly

regular basis. They began with tapes and zines, but they’ve

since moved into LPs, full-lengths and enough screen prints

to satisfy a local gallery’s thirst for decades.

Can you think back to a specific release that stopped you

in your tracks the first time you heard it?

The first time we heard Oliver Wilde. We were friends with him

already but he was very quiet about his music so we had to

use sneak tactics. Five seconds into ‘Flutter’ and we knew we

were the luckiest label in the world.

What was the founding ethos for Howling Owl?

Everything we do is a reaction to today’s clickthrough culture.

We invest all of our time and energy into every Owl related

activity which we hope can be felt through our artwork,

design and the shows we put on... and that people will stop

for a second to appreciate something real.

What’s been the most exciting moment in Howling Owl’s

history?

Hearing Oli’s second album [‘Red Tide Opal in the Loose End

Womb’] on air all day as BBC 6Music Album of the Day was

pretty special; that kind of accolade doesn’t usually happen to

haphazard imprints like us. That and selling out the Arnoflini

art gallery for our New Year / New Noise show. That felt like a

massive step up. Next year’s will be even bigger.

If you were to start again completely from scratch, what

would you change?

Absolutely nothing. DIY

Benjamin

Clementine

Glorious You

Here exists a name still giving

faith to the belief that one

performance on Jools Holland

can make a huge impact.

Benjamin Clementine’s stirring

piano-led songwriting aims

straight for the heart, and

on new EP ‘Glorious You’ he

builds on debut ‘Cornerstone’

with more a explorative,

sometimes good-humoured

take on his own fascinating

backstory. It’s out 25th

August on Virgin / EMI.

MOKO

Gold

Showcasing the other

half of debut ‘Black’,

Moko’s returning

this summer with her

second release. The first

showcased snapping,

in-your-face trip hop.

This one’s more inclined

towards the charts, with

big names Two Inch

Punch, Kwes and Chase

& Status all sharing

production creds. It’s

released on 24th August.

31

32 diymag.com

As the frontman of My Chemical Romance, .Gerard Way.

seemed to have it all. A fervent fanbase, a band with

purpose and a nice line in tabloid baiting brilliance.

But as that came to an end, the next chapter required

something altogether riskier.

Words: Sarah Jamieson, Photos: Mike Massaro.

33

cover

It all began with a guitar.

My Chemical Romance first

came to life when the band’s

frontman, their leader-inwaiting,

picked up a 90s

Fender Mexican Stratocaster

in his parents’ basement

and wrote their very first

song. Twelve years on, as the

band were finally drawing

to a close, it was that same

Lake Placid Blue guitar that

Gerard Way turned to.

It’s safe to say that Gerard was stepping

into the unknown. For the best part of

a decade-and-a-half, he had graced

stages around the world, kicking and

screaming, sweating and bleeding his

way to the most dizzying heights of

popularity. He had taken his band out

of the dirty basements of New Jersey,

tracked down the souls of 1000 evil

men, led a deathly army and become

his very own superhero. With each of

their albums came a new era for the

band, and with every new concept,

legions of fans would follow. Then, one

day, My Chemical Romance became just

too big a monster.

“It had,” agrees Gerard. Sat in the

basement of a central London hotel,

he looks a little different to the last

time he was on UK soil. One of the last

great accolades of the band saw them

headline Reading & Leeds Festival

just over three years ago, but gone is

the flame red hair and leather jacket

that he boasted during their ‘Danger

Days’ performance. He’s traded it in

for a messy mound of blond locks (for

the time being, at least), blue jeans

and some beaten up Converse. He

looks relaxed, ready for things to set in

motion once again, unafraid to admit

that the next part of his life began at

the end of his last. “There was a large

part of me that wanted to escape that

bigness, which I came to terms with

over time. I learned to accept that it had

grown to that and to love it for what it

was, despite how big it had gotten. I

came to peace with that part, but at the

beginning of the break up, for sure, I

was trying to escape this largeness.”

By the time the band called it a day back

in March 2013, they had sold over four

million albums worldwide, climbed to

the top of the charts and headlined

festivals on both side of the Atlantic.

Their incendiary brand of punk rock –

visceral but somehow eloquent, morbid

yet enamouring – proudly blurred the

lines of niche and mainstream, all the

while taunting critics with its moments

of bombast and flair. With the release

of their third album ‘The Black Parade’

they had grown bigger than ever; they

felt unstoppable, a force to be reckoned

with in their gothic military uniforms,

but when touring drew to a close in

2008, that couldn’t have been further

from the truth. “I don’t know how much

of a secret this is,” offers Gerard, “and I

don’t think it is, but when we finished ‘...

Parade’ and we had finished the touring,

I didn’t want to do it anymore. That was

a nice ending point for me. It was an

extremely high note, I had said all I’d

wanted to say. There was nothing more

for me to say under that umbrella of My

Chemical Romance.”

Somewhere along the way, his priorities

had changed. With the band growing

up and beginning to settle down with

their wives and children, he had bigger

responsibilities than his own artistic

urges. As the project grew, drawing

more and more people into the mix,

there were less opportunities to walk

away, and more depending on him

than ever before. “You know, you try

to be responsible,” he explains. “You’re

becoming an adult and so you think one

of those things is, ‘Well, I’m gonna be

responsible. We’ve all got mortgages

and families now and the right thing

to do is to stay in this.’ Then you start

thinking about the crew that you help;

they work with you and that’s how

they make their pay cheque. It gets

bigger and bigger. It becomes that

machine and then you don’t want to

turn your back on anybody, not a single

person. So, you go against yourself,

you go against what feels right, to ‘be

an adult’.”

Having closed the door on ‘The Black

Parade’ almost six years ago now, things

soon became quiet in the MCR camp.

The band – guitarists Frank Iero and Ray

Toro, along with Gerard’s bassist brother

Mikey – spent time being husbands and

fathers, settling in to that new period

of their lives. That was until September

2010 at least, when the notoriously

catchy, gloriously cartoony trailer for ‘Na

Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)’

burst onto the internet. The band were

back, reborn as superhero rogues in a

post-apocalyptic land, another concept

album firmly in their grasp and another

touring schedule spanning way out into

the future.

“As a human being you have to

understand and deal with the process,

not just run away from it,” Gerard

reflects. “I wasn’t running away from

the bigness, but I wasn’t happy doing

it anymore, and it’s not what I wanted

for my life anymore. It’s not the kind

of father I wanted to be, or husband,

or artist for that matter. It’s not who I

wanted to be any longer. To go against

what your inner-self is telling you - to

go against the art like that - and keep

grinding it and keep trying to milk it

and make it work - not the guys, but me

personally - that didn’t feel right. So,

everything from the end of ‘...Parade’ to

the end of the band just felt like I wasn’t

being honest with myself. It was doing

serious damage physically and mentally

over that time.”

It took the release of fourth album

‘Danger Days: The True Lives Of The

Fabulous Killjoys’, their consequential

7” collection ‘Conventional Weapons’,

and a performance at New Jersey’s

Asbury Park to shake Gerard into action.

It admittedly took a while to sink in – as

he later went on to explain in a closing

letter to fans – but soon enough, he

knew that their time was up. “You

know,” he muses, “I think being an

adult is not necessarily running away

from things, but it’s doing exactly what

you’re supposed to be doing. You have

to be honest with yourself. I think that’s

how you end up with a lot of really

unhappy parents, who raise unhappy

children that don’t want to be around

them. I’d rather make a quarter of what

I made in MCR and have [his daughter]

Bandit grow up and say, ‘My dad was

awesome. He had a great time making

art. He loved life, he loved looking at

life through a lens, he taught me how

to look at life.’ I would much prefer that

to, ‘Yeah, I kinda see my dad. He drives

a Porsche, he doesn’t talk a lot. He’s

on the computer a lot. Sometimes he

writes comics but not really.’ I was just

so unhappy with where I was at, that’s

the way it started to become.”

I

t was time for Gerard to pick himself

back up again. With the band laid

to rest and his mind finally at ease,

he was able to turn to that guitar – the

same one he had written ‘Skylines and

Turnstiles’ on twelve years previously,

the same one he had introduced in his

closing letter to fans – and start over.

“I knew I would,” he states, without a

34 diymag.com

“There

was a

large

part of

me that

wanted

to

escape.”

Gerard Way

35

cover

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

flicker of hesitation. “I just

didn’t know what it was going

to be.” At first, the frontman

had set his sights on forming

a new band. Immediately

inspired, he “started cooking

up art, and trying to visualise

the kind of instruments”

they would need. It grew

more and more ambitious

as his imagination ran wild.

“I realised, you’ve gotta take

ownership over yourself .

You’re not gonna start a band

because that’s not gonna

work out for you. You’re

pretty uncompromising

so don’t put yourself in a

position that’s based on

compromise anymore.”

As the release of Gerard’s debut

solo album creeps ever nearer,

he gives an insight into the innerworkings

of a handful of tracks

Millions

If there’s a song on the record that is

about me processing me being part of a

large money-making machine that maybe

made me feel trapped, ‘Millions’ feels like

that’s the one. It was the first one I wrote.

It definitely feels like my internal struggle

with being in a large rock band. Sonically

and musically in a lot of ways, to me it’s

very late-Britpop. It’s very Supergrass, it’s

very 60s pop which I love.

Action Cat

It started with just wanting a song called

‘Action Cat’. In my head I said, ‘Well, that

would be a great song; what would ‘Action

Cat’ sound like?’ So, I picked up a guitar and

I was like, ‘’Action Cat’ would sound like

this’. We started to chase the way that very

early Misfits stuff sounded, like ‘Static Age’.

I kept saying, you know, the drums have

to sound like shit. I was like, ‘No, I wanted

to kick drum to sound like it’s a thumper

hitting wet cardboard!’ And ‘shit’ wasn’t

a bad word in the studio; I didn’t want it

sound bad shitty, I wanted it to sound great

shitty. It was a sonic experiment, and the

lyrics are very abstract, but at the same

time, it feels like they’re about starting over

which is a very direct thing.

Zero Zero

That’s another one where I knew that’s

what I wanted the song to be called, and

the statement ‘I am zero, zero’ was really

important to me. Like, I am completely

zero-ed out; I am nothing and that’s great. I

am back to nothing. It was like a declaration

of being nothing, with no aspirations. DIY

The birth of Gerard Way’s solo

career was as simple as that. It

was an opportunity for him to

explore the paths untrodden

by his former project, all

the while looking at things

through a different pair of

eyes. He didn’t even have a

concept in mind, for starters.

“When it became a solo

thing…” he pauses to think.

“Visually there’s a concept

but there’s nothing that’s a

concept about the album.

That’s the first time I’ve ever

attempted that; it’s not a

concept album at all. It’s nice;

it’s a lot more varied because

of that. I know My Chemical

Romance was very varied, but

this feels more so.

“A lot of it was completely

blind flying and I loved it,” he

enthuses. “It was extremely

free. It was sitting with a

guitar at a mic and just hitting

record, and being like, ‘Alright,

let’s hear it back. Okay, let’s

do this.’ The opening track of

the record was literally just

me grabbing my brother’s

bass, because it happened to

be there, and just playing and

building off that. I would do

that, and then I’d say, ‘Okay,

I’ll take the guitar now. Open

me a new track.’ There was

just layering and layering and

layering and then we’d say,

‘Let’s get some drums on.’

It was really free. It was just

grabbing stuff.”

Not only was it the first

real chance for Gerard to

be behind the guitar on an

album - “when you’re in a

band with two really amazing

guitar players, you feel weird

to wanna play guitar” - it

also presented him with the

freedom to roam his own,

more personal influences

for inspiration. “I got to go

extremely deep. I knew that

if I wanted to make a song

that was going to sound

like The Jesus and Mary

Chain, it could really go that

far. When you’re in a band,

everybody has a fingerprint

and that’s what makes that

band special. When it’s just

your singular fingerprint on

it, you find that you can go

deeper with it.” While My

Chemical Romance had lurked

at the heavier realms of his

tastes – from Iron Maiden

to Misfits – his new album

became a place to explore.

“[It has] everything from

shoegaze to Britpop, and it’s a

very British album. Everything

from fuzz rock to noise rock,

to experimentation, to Berlinera

Bowie and Iggy stuff. I’ve

distilled it into some other

thing, and there’s a thread of

that throughout the record,

but I went deep into my

influences.”

Writing the album, dubbed

‘Hesitant Alien’, also allowed

for the former frontman to

gain his own sense of closure.

Having spent over a decade

in a band as notorious as

My Chemical Romance had

become – no one’s forgetting

their infamous dalliance with

the British tabloids any time

soon – the time away, and the

songs he wrote, saw Gerard

face up to his own personal

dilemma: re-discovering

his place in the musical

landscape. “Definitely each

song is its own thing this time.

They’re all connected by a

sense of alienation and the

idea that figuring out where

I fit into music was realising

that I don’t exactly fit into

music, and that’s kinda how I

fit.” He laughs, “that’s my role;

my role is to be myself and

super-unique and not worry

about how I fit in. Not in an

outsider, rebellious way, but

in a celebratory way, saying

‘I’m different, this is what I do,

and there’s nobody that does

this like I do it, so I’m gonna

be the best me I can be.’”

That’s not to say that Gerard

believes it’s plain sailing

ahead. There’s always the

fear of the new, fear of the

unknown, of what could come

next. That’s something he’s

having to face head on. “Yeah,

there’s a fear attached to it,”

he agrees. “You have nobody

to turn to and say, ‘Is this any

good?’ You have nobody to

turn to and say, ‘Do I look

alright?’ That’s all gone, so

you have to really believe in

yourself. There’s a good fear

36 diymag.com

Finding emo.

“A lot of

it was

completely

blind

flying, and

I loved it.”

Gerard Way

37

cover

“Everything

that’s the right

thing to do is

extremely hard.”

Gerard Way

38 diymag.com

that comes with it and there’s a bad

fear, and that’s the unknown: ‘Is it

gonna work? Are people gonna like

it? What am I doing? Why did I do

this?’ All that bad stuff, it creeps in!”

he laughs. “It comes from a place of

fear. Everything that’s the right thing

to do is extremely hard. It should be

fun, but it should be the hardest thing

I’ve ever had to do, next to having My

Chemical Romance break up.”

There’s also the question of his

future audience. With My Chemical

Romance fans ready and waiting

for new music, there’s no shortage

of people who’ll undoubtedly give

the record a listen, but who is it

that’ll stick around? Have their tastes

grown to match his, or will they move

quickly on? More pressingly, who

from outside those boundaries might

raise an eyebrow for the ex-frontman

of a band who were stuck with a label

that’s been more than difficult to

shake: who exactly is going to care?

“I think I’d like to reach…” he begins,

before pausing. “Uhh, it’s weird. I

don’t want to…” he trails off, before

starting afresh. “I really respect the

My Chem fans so it would be nice to

carry on the journey with them, but

I think it’s gonna go how everything

else goes. You’re gonna have a group

that likes it, a group that doesn’t like

it, and a group that’s very indifferent

to it. I do think that because of the

influences of the record, maybe

some of the sophistication of it, it will

appeal to people maybe closer to my

age, or in their early 30s at least.

“I know I would listen to this record,

and that’s not to say I wouldn’t listen

to My Chem records, but My Chem

was very different. When we did

something in My Chem, it was all

gut and psychology. This time, with

this album, I was very conscious in

my influences and I chased them

down very hard. I started to make

the record that I wanted to hear,

that I wanted to go into a store and

buy. It was important for me to

bring fuzz pedals back into music.

I had a mission this time and it was

a sonic one. My Chem had a very

socially-driven mission, and now this

was, ‘No, I’m gonna get fuzz pedals

on the radio. That’s my goal.’ I think

audiophiles will like the record a bit

more. We got Tchad Blake to mix it;

people who are really into mixing will

know Tchad’s work very well. Then,

Doug [McKean, the album’s producer]

and I experimented so much with the

tones, so I think people that maybe

didn’t like My Chem would like this…

“I think it’ll get a fair shake,” he

concludes. “What they feel about it

after they’ve listened to it, I won’t

know, but I definitely feel like

somebody will go, ‘Alright, we’ll I’ll try

this dude out and see how it goes.’”

As for the reaction he hopes the

album might provoke, it seems to be

the mantra that he himself is trying

to follow. “I just hope they take away

that…” he pauses one last time. “Just

to be free, and just to do what you’re

feeling, to not over think it. To take

the risk, and do the hard things.”

Gerard Way’s debut solo album

‘Hesitant Alien’ will be released on

29th September via Warner Bros.

Records. DIY

Ready To Start

Gerard Way is planning to kick his solo career off in style, visiting Reading & Leeds to give his UK fans a glimpse

of what lies ahead. The only question left is, what exactly should we expect?

“Well, originally, I was going to play guitar and sing live. That was actually the first thing and then, it was another one

of those things over time where I was like, ‘It’d be nice for one or two songs, but I don’t think people wanna see that if

they’re coming.’ We had some rehearsals where I tried to play guitar and sing and confidently, I could do it, it just didn’t

feel right. I didn’t think an audience wanted to see that.

“The energy that I have when I’m in a live setting, it’s a bit wild and kind of uncontrollable so trying to put that behind

a guitar didn’t work. I felt like I was fighting it, like I just wanted to take it off and smash it and then sing. And that’s not

good! So, to my band, I just said at one point, ‘No I’m just going to sing live. I have to do my thing or I’ll just feel trapped’. I

was never meant to be a guy with a guitar singing live.”

And as for starting things off at Reading & Leeds? “We have a history with it! It feels good to be in England kicking it off no

matter what. My Chemical Romance had built up a tradition of doing that, since ‘...Parade’, we always did it and I probably

will always start here.

“It was also very important for me to be in that tent. I have a buddy out here and we were talking about it, and I told him

at one point, ‘I’ll see you in the tent next year’ because I just wanted to be in that tent so bad. It feels good to be playing

really early in the morning too, and really kicking things off.” DIy

39

reading

&leeds2014

Gerard Way isn’t

the only amazing

act making an

appearance at this

year’s Reading & Leeds

Festival. Across three days

there’s everything from

chart-baiting pop punk to

hyper cool blog darlings.

Over the next 26 pages you’ll

find some of the very best.

Paramore

CHVRCHES‘ Lauren Mayberry

and Paramore‘s Hayley Williams

go head to head prior to their

appearances at Reading & Leeds.

One’s the current royalty of pop

punk; the other’s the esteemed

heirs to the throne of electropop.

They’re both fans of one

another’s work and they’re both

set for standout performances

at this year’s Reading & Leeds.

While Paramore are still riding

high from the release of their self-titled fourth album,

Chvrches have spent the last year garnering critical

praise and dominating the US, and all off the back of just

one record.

Now, as Paramore gear up to headline this year’s festival,

Chvrches are climbing their way up the line-up with a high

profile slot on the Radio 1 / NME Stage eagerly awaiting

them. While on the outside, the two bands may seem like

they live within opposite sides of the musical universe,

they have more in common than might be first assumed.

What better time to quiz Hayley Williams and Lauren

Mayberry, and discover – despite what some people may

think - just how similar the inner-workings of the two

bands really are.

Hayley, Paramore are currently out on the

40 diymag.com

CHVRCHES

Monumentour. How have the shows been?

Hayley Williams: I have no clue why we never did

this tour before now. The fans that both us and Fall

Out Boy share are incredible and the fans that we

bring to each other’s shows are amazing as well. It’s

nice to see that two different bands can exist in what

is essentially the same scene without any sort of

fan rivalry. And the tour really is an event. It feels big

which we are all really proud of.

Lauren, Chvrches just got to play a couple of sets at T in

the Park: how did they go?

Lauren Mayberry: T is probably our ‘local’ festival compared

to other things we’ve been doing so it was nice to be able

to take some friends with us, and be back in your own bed

afterwards! We played three shows in the end - the gig we

were scheduled to do, a BBC Introducing guest spot and

standing in for London Grammar on the Sunday so we

definitely saw some different sides to the festival, but it’s a

festival we all grew up with so it means a lot.

You’re both now gearing up to play at this year’s Reading

& Leeds. What do you enjoy about festivals in general?

What sort of challenges do they throw up?

Hayley: We grew up on the Warped Tour and pretty early

in our touring career we were able to make it over to the UK

to play some festivals. So I guess I feel pretty at home on a

festival stage. I love the challenge of keeping the attention

of people who aren’t fans, and I love the prospect of winning

them over!

So, do you think it’s important to tailor your live show?

Lauren: Festivals mean you play in a lot of different

environments - indoors, outdoors, daytime, night time - so

41

26 pages of

reading

&leeds2014

LAUREN VS

HAYLEY

W

hat do you think of the supposed lack of women

in more hardcore music? Is it that there are a

lack of female performers, or is the industry not

supporting or promoting them?

Hayley: I can’t be sure if there actually is a lack... I know for

sure that there are a lot more young girls fronting or playing

in bands in our scene than there were when Paramore first

started touring. That was ten years ago. If there truly is a lack...

It starts with us as individuals. We have to encourage girls at

a very young age that they are capable of being exceptional.

For whatever they show real interest in, the passion we foster

within young girls must be stronger and louder than the

voices that tell them they aren’t good enough. And then we

need to take it a step further and make sure we aren’t holding

girls to a different set of skill levels than we hold boys to. I’ve

never once wanted to hear anyone say, “Oh yeah, Paramore

are great for being a girl band.” To me, it’s more of a life issue

really, not a music industry issue.

You seem pretty active on social networks. How important

is that to you as a means of communication with fans?

Paramore fans are pretty hardcore too - do you think the

online ‘street team’ has been valuable to you guys?

Hayley: We got our Myspace before we ever got a real tour.

I’m not sure Paramore as a whole could function without

some sort of online networking platform. We just really love

the instant access to the people who are supporting us. It’s

become even more important now that we are at a point

where we can’t be at merch after every show or hang outside

before doors open. The Street Team is proof that people

still want community even in the “hide-behind-the-screen”

Internet age. That community comes to life at shows and

that’s where you really start to understand how valuable the

online stuff actually is.

Your vocal range is IN-CRED-IB-LE. What are your tips for

singers, in terms of strengthening and maintaining their

voice?

Hayley: Thank you! Never stop doing some type of vocal

lesson, which is essentially just a really good warm-up. Even

more important is the warm-down! Pretty much, just do your

warm-ups backwards... Moving down the scales instead of up.

Simple but so so important! Also, voice-rest is crucial when

you’re hoarse but no one can ever get me to shut up so I just

have to make do. DIY

you need to tailor your

set slightly depending on

that but it’s always been

important to us that our

live shows be just that

- live. I think there can

be a tendency for some

electronic bands to do a

glorified playback party

instead of a gig but, because

of the musical background

we come from, we want to

play as much of it live as

humanly possible, for the

benefit of a crowd but also

for our own enjoyment. The

fourth band member is still

Ableton though.

Hayley: It’s important to

find balance between a big

explosive festival type set,

with singles and big songs

and then also to show your

older fans that no matter

how high you may make

it onto a bill you haven’t

forgotten the songs that laid

the foundation to where you

are now.

As for your set itself,

what’ve you been able

to explore within it as

the stages have gotten

bigger? How do you think

you’ve changed and

developed it over the past

couple of years?

Hayley: It’s gotten to

be a lot of fun working

with different types of

production. We were always

the band that just came

with a backdrop and our

instruments. We liked that

approach, we were inspired

when we saw that Rage

Against The Machine once

played at a festival and they

needed nothing but their

logo behind them to rip the

faces off of what seemed

like a whole country worth

of people.

With this album, we’ve tried

a lot of new production

elements. Jeremy always

mans the production ship.

He comes up with most of

the ideas that people see at

our shows. We still keep it

pretty streamlined, we aren’t

a super flashy band... but it’s

really been fun to try new

things in the show.

Lauren: We’ve all been in

bands for quite a long time

so playing gigs is what we’re

best at, but it takes time

to figure out what the live

dynamic of each band is and

we’ve definitely become

more comfortable over the

past two years. People will

always have opinions on

things and, when we first

started out, people would

say, “Why doesn’t the singer

dance more?”, “She should

smile once in a while.”

Despite those things being

casually sexist. Does anyone

ever say that Thom Yorke

should smile? I don’t think

so. People want you to fit the

mould of what’s ‘expected’

of an electro band, and

for me specifically, what’s

expected of a femalefronted

electro band. But

if those things already

exist, what’s the point in

us doing a bad pastiche of

that to please other people?

You can only be the truest

version of yourself, and that

has always been important

to us.

What’re the most

important elements of the

live show for you?

Lauren: The sound, us

working together as a band

to deliver a good show, and

the people who have come

to it. We’ve all been the guy

who played a gig where

there were probably more

band members on stage

than there were people in

the crowd, and I don’t think

that experience ever leaves

you.

Hayley: The most important

element of anyone’s live

show should be that it is,

in fact, a live show. I don’t

like when a band sounds

exactly like their recordings

but I don’t like when a band

can’t pull off their songs,

either. We work our asses

off to impress the hell out

of people coming to see

us. Just as important is the

ability and the desire to

connect with the people

who are supporting us. That

means that it’s important

we’re connecting with the

songs as well. So every show

is a little different in terms

of emotion, execution, and

42 diymag.com

“We work

our asses

off to

impress

the hell

out of

people

coming

to see us”

Hayley Williams

even little things like stage banter.

How much of a challenge is being the

frontperson of the band? Have you

noticed your own self growing into

the role as the band has grown? How

has the journey been to get where

you are today?

Hayley: I am definitely more

comfortable now with my role in the

band than I was at 15 or 16 years old. It’s

helped that I’ve just gotten older. The

thing I learn every day is how to balance

projection and connection... Like,

when we play a really big show I want

to project my whole self from stage

all the way to the very last person in

the very last row, but at the same time,

it’s important that I don’t let the stage

performance get in the way of real

connection with people at the show.

That’s far more personal and more

valuable than saying something cool or

being a “rockstar”.

Lauren: For me, it’s a development.

As in all aspects of life, I suppose we

are constantly learning and evolving

and it’s important to me that those

things happen in their own time, rather

than forcing yourself and just doing

impressions of other people. I have

been told that my stage patter is that of

an uncomfortable best man speech at

a wedding. But it’s my uncomfortable

best man speech patter, so at least it’s

HAYLEY

VS

LAUREN

loved your editorial for The Guardian about internet misogyny. I’ve

experienced this more than I like to admit over the last 8 or 9 years and I

I really felt empowered by your words. I’m just wondering what happened

for you after it went viral? Did you notice any change in either yourself or your

interactions with fans?

Lauren: The response we got from fans, other musicians and the media was very

positive - to our faces, at least, I’m sure there were negative things said but I haven’t

hunted for them. That was very encouraging because, although to me it seems like

a completely legitimate thing to bring up, we hadn’t been a hugely political band

in the public’s eye up until that point. For me personally, I think it was in one way

a relief because I had been silently dealing with it all behind closed doors so there

was something cathartic about being able to do something positive in what was

ultimately a negative situation. And also by that point I was so tired and pissed off

that doing something felt good. It has also made it slightly easier for me to feel like I

can be myself in the work that we do.

You have such a cool voice. Even when I saw Chvrches live I was really impressed

with your pitch and your tone. Razor sharp! Which singers or vocal performances

in particular have influenced your style up to this point in your career? Is there

anything vocally that you want to do differently for the next album?

Lauren: Thank you! I think that two years of touring has definitely helped in terms

of confidence and general strength but that has also opened up vocal possibilities

which probably didn’t exist when we were making the first record, because I wasn’t

singing ‘professionally’ at that time. It will be fun to try different keys and ranges,

and continue to experiment with the idea of using vocals as instrumentation as well

as melodic lines. In terms of influences, I love listening to as many different kinds of

singers as possible and trying techniques you hear. Fiona Apple, Debbie Harry, Tracy

Chapman, Corin Tucker, Regina Spektor, PJ Harvey, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst...

Lastly, you’ve been able to gain momentum and credibility, pretty much

simultaneously, all during the course of your first album! Do you guys have any

plans, goals, fears, or any particular thoughts on what you’ll do next as a band?

Lauren: I think for us the most important thing is to keep doing what we feel is right

and focusing on a second release. As long as you feel like what you’re doing is true to

what you believe in, then that can’t be wrong. DIY

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“Does

anyone

ever say

that Thom

Yorke

should

smile?

I don’t

think so.”

Lauren Mayberry

genuine. There is a certain amount more

pressure when you are identified as ‘the

voice piece’ of the band, but a lot of that

is outside perception, and Chvrches is a

team game.

You’re also both now part of trios;

how do you think being such a close

unit affects you as a band?

Hayley: It’s crazy to get older with

Jerm and Taylor ‘cause at this point,

we’ve all been friends for like 13 years

and we’ve been on the road for ten.

When we became a three piece, our

friendships became simpler almost out

of necessity. We had to relearn what we

had in common, what we loved about

each other, what we didn’t... So the basis

of our “rebirth” as a band started with

laying a new foundation of friendship.

Lauren: I think for us, it’s the perfect

number because there aren’t too

many personalities involved that you

can’t get things done and it’s easy to

communicate.

It’s also always been important to

you to do things on your own terms:

to remain seen very much ‘as a band’.

Whilst it has present many challenges

along the way, why’s it so important

to maintain?

Lauren: Our initial fears about that

kind of thing were mainly informed

by my background in media, as well as

having been A Girl In Bands for years.

When we first started out, we definitely

noticed the media’s wish to separate

me from Iain and Martin, and present

‘Chvrches’ as one person and that’s

never something we were interested

in. It wasn’t a band masterminded by

two men with a female singer to sell

the songs - it was a group pursuit - and

it was important for us to establish

that from day one so that we could be

represented as accurately as possible.

Maybe some people thought we were

being pigheaded at the beginning but

I don’t really care. I think it’s important

to have as sure a sense of yourself, and

what you want to do as you possibly can

and people will always try to manipulate

that. And it’s a lot harder to backtrack

from a place you don’t want to be than

never go there in the first place.

Hayley: I don’t really think of it as

maintenance as much as just sticking

true to what we are, no matter what

image the media tries to paint or if I do a

feature on a song without the guys. It’s

important to remember that this started

in a basement with a bunch of kids who

loved music that wasn’t popular... We

needed the outlet and we needed each

other. It could never be just me, just

Jeremy, or just Taylor.

Finally, you’re going to be playing

fairly high profile slots at this year’s

Reading & Leeds; are you looking

forward to it?

Lauren: We played Reading & Leeds last

year, so it’s nice to be there again, one

year later, with an album out so that

people might know more than just the

singles.

Hayley: I’m nervous, man! But so

excited and so ready. We still have to

rehearse a lot of extra songs cause

the set is going to be even longer

than the set we’re playing right

now on tour! We haven’t fully

ironed out all the details yet but

we’ll make it worthy of a top

spot. DIY

44 diymag.com

are wolf alice

ready to win

reading and leeds?

Festival Essentials with

Catfish and the

Bottlemen

1 Your best mate! Always take your best mate!

It’s essential! Don’t get paired with brothers who

don’t look out for you and leave you for dead at a

Craig Charles DJ set.

2 Brownies! I’m sure you’ll agree that this needs

no explaining.

3 Sausages! But keep them to yourself. Just take

a pack of Walls, man. If someone starts revving up

a BBQ and you turn around with a bag of sausages,

you’ll go down an absolute storm! DIY

Who are you looking

forward to seeing,

Bipolar

Sunshine?

“I play Reading on Friday

which is the same day as

SBTRKT. So looking forward

to hearing his new stuff live,

that will deffo be a great

watch! I’d also like to catch

Catfish and the Bottlemen,

I’ve known these guys for a

while and it’s nice to see

them doing so well. If

I was going to be at

Reading all weekend

I would make sure I

went to see Cage

the Elephant,

Schoolboy Q and

Die Antwoord.”

DIY

There’s always one

band at Reading

& Leeds who set

the festival alight.

Trust us, this year,

it’s going to be

Wolf Alice.

eading & Leeds is

special for all sorts

Rof reasons, but one

echoes loud and strong -

when it comes to breaking

through, the Festival

Republic stage is a special

place.

Long established, even

though it’s one of the

smaller tents, when the

stars align - usually mid

way through the afternoon

- it provides the perfect

platform for the next big

thing to really show how to

start the party. Have doubts?

Its alumni reads like a who’s

who of the last decade of

music. Franz Ferdinand

strutted their way into our

hearts there. Foals showed

that, underneath their math

rock, one day they’d be

back to take the Main Stage.

Arctic Monkeys caused riots,

and only a couple of years

ago Alt-J graced its confines

on the way to the Mercury.

This year, there’s no doubts

about it - it’s Wolf Alice’s

turn.

“This is our first time

playing,” bassist Theo Ellis

ponders, seemingly unfazed

by the pressure. “We’re well

excited, we’ll probably do

backflips or something.

Maybe it’s because people

have had a chance to have

a few drinks,” he muses.

“They’re well up for it then.”

Oh, Theo. If only you knew

what’s about to come. DIY

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“We’re

r e a dy

to

take

Back on the Reading

& Leeds main stage,

Pulled Apart By

Horses return more

confident than ever.

Words: Tom Connick,

Photo: Emma Swann.

always been quite fast-paced as a band,” states Pulled

Apart By Horses drummer Lee Vincent, in possibly the

understatement of the year. He’s commenting on the band’s

past two years in the shadows – a breather completely at

“We’ve

odds with both the non-stop touring schedule and frenzied

post-hardcore they were previously renowned for. “We just got to the point where

we were in a position where we could take some time off and actually take our time

with writing a record, which was not a position any of us ever thought we’d be in,” he

continues. “So we decided, ‘Let’s not go on tour for a year and a half and take all that

time to write a record’. Hopefully people will think the results are worthwhile. If not,

we’re kinda… fucked,” he laughs.

Touching down in their hometown of Leeds for rehearsals ahead of the band’s remaining

summer schedule, Lee is itching to get back on the road. Declaring their run of dates

this spring “one of the most fun tours we’ve ever done”, he’s looking to the summer with

eager eyes – particularly their return to Reading & Leeds’ main stage. “Yeah, y’know,

fireworks!” he jokes when asked if there’ve any surprises up their sleeves, “I dunno, I think

the extent of our theatrical plans are that we’re gonna get a new backdrop! Any time

we get asked to play Reading & Leeds it’s a massive thing for us, and we did the Main

Stage a few years ago, so for them to ask us back after we’ve pretty much been out in the

wilderness for a year and a half was really kind of them. They still clearly have faith in us,

so it’s really nice.”

control”

Reading & Leeds’ Main Stage will

make a suitably grand launchpad

for the four-piece’s future, as

they gear up for the release of

aforementioned third full-length

‘Blood’ this autumn. But despite

46 diymag.com

their schedule beginning to gather

pace, this isn’t quite a return to the

madness of the old Horses – ‘Blood’

is an altogether more gloomy affair,

with early singles prompting the

phrase ‘stoner-rock’ from all angles.

“It’s an old cliche, but you’ve got to

interest yourself first in the music

you’re playing,” says Lee on the

change of tone. “It wouldn’t have

made us happy at all to go and make

another ‘Tough Love’. It’s that thing

where we’ve been playing at one

hundred miles an hour for the first

few years of our life. We definitely

wanted to play around with some

more brooding, mid-tempo stuff.

“I think it’s the record we’re all the

most in love with, it’s definitely my

favourite Horses record. We wanted

to make it more melodic, but not

lose that intensity. Even when we’re

playing slower stuff, it needs to sound

fuckin’ raw – like it’s being played

with meaning.” An early glimpse at

this ethos’ influence on ‘Blood’ came

in the form of recent single ‘Lizard

Baby’ – a three minute sludge-fest

of a track, with a title that references

“it needs

to sound

fuckin’

raw. ”

Lee

Vincent

writer David Icke’s assertion that

the royal baby is… er, a lizard. Lee

explains the reference; “It’s kind of

synonymous with bands doing things

for attention, and to make their way

ahead in the world in maybe not the

most honest way. And that kind of ties

in with the hype around just a little

baby being born – the whole world

goes crazy, and it’s just a couple who

had a kid. It’s just all about the chaos

of it I guess.”

Integrity is something Pulled Apart

By Horses have always prided

themselves on, but with ‘Blood’

the band finally felt ready to take

a few extra steps. Releasing the

record on their own label, Best Of

The Best Records, is a fitting end

to a production cycle that saw the

most hands-on Horses yet. “This is

definitely a record where we feel like

we’re ready to take a lot of control

over things,” Lee continues. “I think it

turned out better for it.”

Pulled Apart By Horses’ new album

‘Blood’ will be released on 1st

September via Sony/Red. DIY

The

Godfathers

Of Rock

There’s no denying that the influence

of Josh Homme, and his fellow

bandmates in Queens of the Stone

Age has travelled far and wide. After

all, not only did Homme take fellow

headliners Arctic Monkeys under his

wing when they ended up in the desert

just a few years ago, but the band’s

music is still inspiring new fans to pick

up their guitars and turn their cabs

up to eleven. Few acts can compare

to their Reading & Leeds attendance

record.

2000

Making

their debut

appearance at

Reading & Leeds,

the turn of the

millennium also

saw Queens of the

Stone Age play

not one, but two

sets.

2005

Their first

showing since the

release of ‘Songs

For The Deaf’

and ‘Lullabies

To Paralyze’,

2005 also marks

their debut on

the Main Stage,

sandwiched

between The

Coral and The

Killers.

2009

Josh Homme

appears on the

Main Stage with

Eagles of Death

Metal, and the

BBC Radio 1

/ NME Stage

with a surprise

appearance from

Them Crooked

Vultures.

2010

Homme et al open

proceedings for

the shambolic

efforts of Guns N’

Roses on the Main

Stage.

2014

Having returned

stronger and

darker than

ever with their

brooding

effort ‘...Like

Clockwork’, 2014

marks the perfect

time for the band

to finally close

the event. Having

established such

a legacy, there’s

no better place

for them to step

up to headlining

duties. It’s going

to be one hell of a

show. DIY

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AUSSIE INVASION

For 2014, DZ Deathrays are upping their assault on Reading & Leeds.

Words & Photos: Emma Swann.

DZ

Deathrays come to Reading & Leeds with brand

new album ‘Black Rat’ in tow. Well, we say

brand new, but the record has already been

out in the pair’s – that’s vocalist / guitarist Shane Parsons and

drummer Simon Ridley – native Australia for some time. “It’s

not ideal,” admits Simon of the enforced delay. His band mate

is a little more philosophical. “I thought it was a big deal,”

Shane says, “but it happens so often to Australian bands

that it’s expected. It just means that we’ve done our tour in

Australia, and now we can focus on the UK and Europe too.”

The new record follows not only debut album, ‘Bloodstreams’,

released back in 2012, but also winter 2013 stop-gap single

‘Northern Lights’, which as Shane explains, was their way of

apologising for album two taking a little longer than they’d

planned. “We wanted to record the album last year,” he says,

“but we didn’t have the songs ready and we were trying to

sort a producer. Once you stop touring, it’s hard to get back

and get that momentum again, so we really wanted to get

new music out and back on the road again.”

With producer Burke Reid (who’s also worked on fellow

Australian Courtney Barnett’s debut full-length) in tow,

the pair decamped to a studio just outside Sydney at the

beginning of this year. “We wanted a quick turnaround,” says

Shane. ‘Black Rat’ was released in both Australia and the US

back in May, just a few months after they began recording in

January. “I think we’re going to try and do the same again for

the next one.”

Before that, of course, comes the small matter of touring.

And with touring comes dealing with reluctant travellers. “It’s

funny,” Shane laughs. “In the UK, as soon as you announce

tour dates, there are people complaining that you’re not

coming to your town. It’s like literally 40 minutes away, you

could get a train or whatever! We get it in Australia, too,

because we’re not playing Newcastle or whatever, and I guess

it’s three hours away but that’s not far in Australia. Or America

either. And both are not as bad for it as here!”

The duo play the BBC Radio 1 / NME Stage on Saturday in

Reading and Sunday in Leeds – something they weren’t

previously aware would make them miss Blink-182.

“Naaahhhhh,” they both cry. “I missed them when they did

the Australian run!” “I’d love to see Blink,” muses Simon. Shane

agrees. “Yeah, it’d be awesome.” They are, however, excited

about their own set. “Yeah!” Simon enthuses. “Last time we

did it was so much fun, and this time I guess we know a little

bit of what to expect.” “We’re doing a bigger stage this time,”

Shane adds, “we’re now in the one The Cribs played last time

we were there.”

DZ Deathrays’ new album ‘Black Rat’ will be released on

18th August via Infectious Music. DIY

48 diymag.com

“THERE’S

BIGGER THINGS

TO COME.”

Lower Than Atlantis are

hoping to rock Reading &

Leeds with their new, selftitled

album. Words: Tom

Connick.

M

ike Duce is a man of simple

pleasures. Tucking into a

fry-up in the café next door

to his band’s self-built studio, the

Lower Than Atlantis frontman has

one desire in life: “I just want to play

and write music, that’s all I wanna

do.” Of course, it’s not always that

easy, and few bands have been

subject to quite as much industryrelated

stress as Lower Than Atlantis.

After the label campaign for 2012’s

‘Changing Tune’ didn’t quite hit

the mark, the band were given an

ultimatum – face a second album

under the label’s control, with little

to no promotion; or take the next

album’s advance and leave. True to

form, they handled the proposition

in the most straightforward manner.

“We took the money and ran,” Mike

states, a note of relief in his voice.

This no-bullshit approach will come

as little surprise to existing Lower

Than Atlantis fans, with Mike’s

lyrics in particular renowned for

their pragmatism. But as the band

took a step back to recover from

the blow they’d been dealt by their

first tentative steps away from DIY

culture, they looked inwards too.

“Lyric-wise – before, every song’s

been kind of like reflective and I’ve

spent a long time getting it right,

and then the meanings get lost.

With this album, it’s very much the

case that on first listen, you hear

what I’m saying, and they’re pretty

loose, so people can take away from

it what they will.”

The self-titling of Lower Than

Atlantis’ fourth record is more than

just an aesthetic choice - it’s the

clearest indicator of the band’s

intentions to date. “A lot of people

are saying that if this album doesn’t

blow up and we don’t get massive,

then we’ve gotta call it a day,”

concludes Mike when quizzed on

the band’s future plans. “I don’t

give a fuck – I don’t need validation

from some strangers who come up

with these numbers.” Forthright ‘til

the end - Lower Than Atlantis are

still doing everything on their own

terms.

Lower Than Atlantis’s self-titled

new album will be released on

29th September via Easy Life /

Sony Red. DIY

TOP

OF THE

POPS

Touché Amoré guitarist Nick

Steinhardt runs through his

ultimate Reading & Leeds

playlist.

Architects - These Colors Don’t Run

In 2012 we and Architects went out

together with Rise Against in Europe. This

is the song they sound checked with daily,

well before the record came out. Still one

of the funniest / best groups of people

I’ve been on tour with.

The Neighbourhood - Sweater Weather

I love the mix of styles that progress

throughout this song. An incredibly

strong and memorable chorus.

SBTRKT - Pharaohs

The world would be more productive

if this groove was woven throughout

everyone’s lives.

Twin Shadow - Here Comes The Sun

I’m a huge 4AD nerd so this naturally fell

my way. My favourite performance at FYF

Festival 2012 in LA.

Disclosure - White Noise (Feat.

AlunaGeorge)

Been a big fan of AlunaGeorge since their

EP on TriAngle Records, which naturally

drew me to this song.

Every Time I Die - In The Event That

Everything Should Go Terribly Wrong

A big influence on me musically in my

formative years in bands. This track was a

total oddball on the record, proving that

diversity and atmospherics can work well

to break up an overly heavy record.

Jimmy Eat World - Blister

In 2009 we recorded a cover of this song

that will never see the light of day.

Find the full playlist on

diymag.com. DIY

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60

SECONDS WITH…

OF MICE & MEN

Drummer Valentino Arteaga spares a few

minutes ahead of the band’s headline

spot at Reading & Leeds’ The Pit.

Hello Valentino, how are you?

I’m doin’ well just chillin’ out at Warped Tour in

Cleveland, Ohio.

Are you planning anything special for your

Reading & Leeds sets?

We’re really excited to be playing new material, so

that will be really special.

Have you been to the festival before?

This will be our first time and we couldn’t be more

excited!

You’re playing the Lock Up/Pit tent, is there

anyone else on that stage you’d especially

recommend people to go see?

Issues, Woven War and Crosses.

Who are you most looking forward to seeing

yourself?

Our fans!

If you could book any band at all to headline the

festival, who would you choose?

Rage Against The Machine ‘cause they’re one of the

best bands on the planet.

You’ve just released your new album, ‘Restoring

Force’, how has it been going down with festival

crowds?

The new material has been going over great! ‘Feels

Like Forever’ has some of the loudest crowd singing of

any song we play.

What have you got planned for beyond Reading

& Leeds?

We just announced a tour with Linkin Park in

November that goes through some UK and European

markets, so come see us again soon! DIY

ROUGH

READY

Gnarwolves up the ante, finding their way

onto the Main Stage. Words: Sarah Jamieson.

For Gnarwolves, the road to Reading & Leeds has

been long and fun-filled. Having made their

debut appearance at the festival just twelve

months ago, when they opened the Lock Up

stage at midday on Friday and still managed to have

people fighting to make their way into the packed tent,

they’re now set to take on something bigger.

“Main Stage, yeah!” exclaims guitarist and vocalist Thom

Weeks from the back of a van, where they’re on the way

to play yet another show. Are they prepared? “I don’t

know, I can’t remember… I watched Mastodon on the

Main Stage in like 2006 and that was pretty cool. They’re

pretty huge now, aren’t they!? I dunno though... It’s

gonna be fun, isn’t it? No matter what.”

Having built their reputation up from playing show after

show, the trio have become more than well known for

their brand of ruckus-inducing punk rock. Last year, they

managed to shake off the cobwebs – and hangovers – of

punters with singalongs galore when they opened up

the Lock Up. Now though, with a massive stage on the

horizon, it’s proving more than a little difficult to get

their heads around.

50 diymag.com

“It’s well

scary!

It’s such

a crazy

thing to

have to

do.”

Thom Weeks

LOCK UP STAGE / THE PIT

PICKS

Rock’s newest darlings Neck Deep

choose their must-see acts.

THE WONDER

YEARS

We did a tour with those

guys a while ago and they

put on an awesome show

and always have a huge

sing along. Plus their

record ‘The Greatest Generation’

is amazing.

ARCHITECTS

They always tear up the

stage with their riffs! Been

a huge fan for years and

if you like your heavier

music then you don’t

wanna miss em, plus they

won Best Album at the

Kerrang! awards this year.

ISSUES

We just did all of Warped

Tour this summer with

them and it was incredible

watching them all the

time. They have awesome

stage presence and kids

go wild for it. I think

they will have a massive

response and will blend a

lot different types of fans

together. Heavy catchy

party tunes. DIY

“Yeah, I don’t know what happened there really!”

Thom ponders, thinking back to their set last year

and how far they’ve climbed up the bill. “I dunno

who let that happen, but it’s worked favourably for

us! Otherwise, I’m literally putting [this year’s set] in

the back of my head because it’s well scary! It’s such a

crazy thing to have to do and it’s so out of our comfort

zone. I don’t think it’ll sink in until the day, but we’re

having a little practice at the Blink-182 show [in the

Tipsport Arena, Prague], as that’s in a big room too.

So, I’ll do that, and then I’ll think about it from then

onwards!”

Their slot at Reading & Leeds will also mark the real

introduction of their debut album, due out this

September, which sees the band really embracing the

challenges of bettering their songwriting. “We were

genuinely terrified in the few weeks leading up to the

recording that we weren’t gonna have enough songs

to write a record, but then we did and it was great.

We’re really proud of every single song on the record

as well.

“We thought about what we were doing a little

bit more than we have done in the past. We’ve

concentrated on trying to write really good songs,

and just had a little bit more time to learn how to

write songs together. We were just trying to get into

the groove a bit, while learning how to play with

each other, and how to sing and stuff! It’s better

in that sense. We didn’t have to rush – and we’ve

never not had to rush before – and that shows in the

recording quality.”

With their self-titled full-length now ready and

waiting to go, all that’s left is for them to do is turn

on their amps, plug in their guitars and win over

those thousands of people who’ll be waking up

bleary-eyed on the first day of Reading & Leeds. So,

the final question is, how many crowd-surfers do

they expect to see coming over the barriers that day?

“Crowd surfers?!” laughs Thom. “I’d like to set some

kind of world record, probably. I think that’s possible,

isn’t it?”

Gnarwolves’ self-titled debut album will be

released in September via Big Scary Monsters /

Tangled Talk. DIY

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Divide&Conquer

Twin Atlantic aren’t too good at attending festivals; but they’re great at playing them.

Words: Sarah Jamieson, Photo: Emma Swann.

Having spent the last six and a

half years on the road, it was

with their debut full-length

‘Free’ that things began to

fall into place for Twin Atlantic. After its

release in 2011, a slew of headline tours,

festival appearances, a Gold certification

and soundtracking a free fall from space

followed, and the Scottish four-piece

finally found themselves playing to the

audiences they had always hoped for.

Now they’re back with a second album,

‘Great Divide’, but they’re set to change

things up a little.

“The best part of the build up for

me,” begins the band’s frontman Sam

McTrusty, “is knowing that there are still

songs on there that will catch people off

guard. We know the cards that we have

up our sleeves, so that’s the exciting

thing. From the beginning we were

always talking about, ‘What type of

song do we not have in a headline set?’

That was a starting point for writing

songs. We had a billion ideas for a riff, a

piano part, a drum fill that could maybe

be a song. We scrapped a lot of good

ideas because they already existed.”

If anything, this album was written to

really transform their live show. Having

spent almost half a decade playing

across the country, when the venues

began to get bigger, crowds began to

get rowdier. The band realised it was

time to inject some fun into their sets,

as well as adrenaline. “We learned from

the last time that we go out and play

these songs every day,” offers Sam.

“Obviously we knew that was gonna

happen, but the reality of it is that we

want to have fun. I think rock music can

be taken too seriously, and we found

that doing all of our shows for the last

album, the people that came wanted

to have a party. It was a celebration

almost, because we’d taken baby steps

to get to the environment where we

could put on an actual show. I think we

were really excited by that, and that’s

why there’s all of these directions.

We were filling in the gaps of what

we’ve always wanted to do on

stage, I think.”

It was also an album inspired

by the shows themselves.

Readily admitting to writing

the majority of the album

in the back of their tour

bus, McTrusty is adamant

that you just can’t

remain unaffected

by playing to thousands of people

every night. “I could’ve come off stage

and hated a gig, and been in a really

frustrated mood and then the next

night, it could’ve been the greatest

feeling I’ve ever had,” he offers. “And

not just during the shows; there was

meeting people during the day and

stuff. We were doing things like meeting

a 40 year old guy from Aberdeen

who had got the petrol can [from the

artwork for ‘Free’] tattooed on him and

told us the story of why he got it, before

playing a fucking sold out show in a big

room in Aberdeen… All those things,

you’d have to be a stone to not absorb

some of it, and I mean, a lot of it was

from the sub-conscious because I was

so tired. I only started playing guitar at

the back of the bus because I couldn’t

get to sleep. Then, I’d get really into an

idea and I’d be fucking exhausted, but

the words would start coming out. A

lot of it is probably from a more honest

place, because I wasn’t filtering it in the

same way that I would if I’d been sitting

at home.”

Twin Atlantic have always been

a band with something to

say, at the heart of things,

and that honesty is

something that

spills into the

album’s

message.

It’s a

fairly

52 diymag.com

simple one, too. “Ultimately, it’s just

to - it’s so cliche to say - just be yourself.

I know that’s pretty naive to try and

live like that, but I guess that’s what

it’s kinda inspired by. That’s where it

all stems from; this one stems from us

trying to find our feet with everything

that was going on with the last album,

and spending all that time away from

home. All of that happening, whilst we

were becoming men. I don’t know if I’m

a man yet,” he stops and gestures to

Ross, “you guys definitely are, but I’m

trying. That’s what it’s all built upon; our

experiences.”

Twin Atlantic’s new album ‘Great

Divide’ will be released on 18th

August via Red Bull

Records. DIY

A LESSON IN..

FESTIVALSURVIVAL

Twin Atlantic are here to give you a heads up

on how to survive festival life... or, er, not.

Sam: Fuck, I’m a bad festival-goer man!

Ross: Er, don’t go too hard on Friday because you’ve got a long way to go. That’s

kinda standard though.

Sam: I would also say, if you feel sick, just do the two finger tango. Just get it out,

man! The vomit, not anything else… Genuinely, I’ve been at festivals and felt

kinda sick and it’s really ruined the rest of my day, whereas if I’d just pulled the

trigger and made myself sick, I’d have felt so much better. I wish I’d done that at

more festivals! And also, when I first went to T in the Park, it rained really, really

heavily and I went home. I came back the next day, but I just wish I had stuck it

out. I regret that I didn’t experience it to the fullest.

Sam: My mum camped at T in the Park last year. What with me being in the band

and us talking about it all the time, she was watching it on TV and then started

reading interviews and would see things about festivals. So, she was like, ‘Oh I

regret never doing it’, so she did it last year. She came back fucking sunburned

and covered in mud! My mum had the shakes, she’d gotten so fucked over the

weekend! My mum lasted longer than I did. DIY

Camping it up:.

.Twin Atlantic.

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CHILD’S

Manic shouting and pointing lasers in each other’s faces might not be how you picture a band recording an album in

the studio, but for Childhood, it’s the new norm. The London-based four-piece release their anticipated debut LP

‘Lacuna’ this August, and it’s clear that the journey is just as vivid and vibrant as the album itself.

“It was about getting everyone into this super creative, don’t-give-a-shit mindset,” excitable frontman Ben Romans-Hopcraft

says on the band’s studio antics. Recorded “basically in a day” with the go-to alt-pop producer Dan Carey, ‘Lacuna’ is a rich,

brightly-coloured album that has as much a summertime shimmer as it does light shades of melancholy. Those hooked from

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.Having been one of the

.highlights of Reading

.& Leeds 2013, Childhood

.are back and this year

.they have a debut

.album in tow. Words:

.Tom Walters, Photos:

.Emma Swann.

pl ay

the sound of their first woozy single ‘Blue Velvet’, or even the more recent psych-driven ‘Solemn Skies’ will feel right at

home on ‘Lacuna’, an album that’s as much doused in radiant sunshine as it is pale moonlight.

While it definitely has a distinctive summer sound, Ben doesn’t necessarily consider Childhood strictly a band who

provide seasonal anthems. “I think it’s just one of those inane things that comes out of writing music for certain

reasons,” he explains. “For me, I never made music that I really wanted to hear before I was in Childhood, you know

what I mean? There’s a little bit of melancholy in it, but it’s not really too sad - it leans to a more ethereal quality for me

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rather than a sad quality. It’s a pretty breezy album in many

respects.”

It all starts with ‘Blue Velvet’, a song that’s become a massive

fan favourite ever since it emerged as the band’s first single

in 2012. Two years on, Ben is just as chuffed about that track

as he was the day he wrote it. “I actually love it!” he proclaims.

The song was originally recorded back when they were a

three-piece, but on ‘Lacuna’, it’s meatier, grander - it’s more

of a fully-realised vision. “This time we played it live and got

some new textures involved,” Ben continues. “We love the

song, and it felt like it would be good just to kick off the record

with what we thought was our instant classic! It’s good to go

to a familiar place to start something new, I think.”

Another huge tune in the history of Childhood is ‘Pinballs’, a

track that took everyone by surprise when it emerged at the

beginning of the year. A sprawling seven-minute psych-pop

jam, Ben is highly enthusiastic when he talks about that

song’s ultimate influence on ‘Lacuna’. “For better or worse,

when you see us live, we tend to go off on one, and I think it

was inevitable for us to put out a track like ‘Pinballs’,” he says.

“There are so many bands that do the same kind of thing as

us, and me personally I can’t listen to a certain sound for that

long. The main vibe was just complete intensity at all times -

that’s what we tried to portray.”

With festival season

well and truly in swing,

Childhood have been

preparing themselves for

bigger stages this summer.

Having completed a short

run of UK headline dates

back in spring before

heading out on a tour

supporting Interpol which

has only just wrapped, Ben

is confident in his band’s

ability, even if it means

being a bit more ‘mature’.

“I’m a massive Interpol fan

so for me, it was like seeing

celebrities,” he bashfully

states. “They’re really chilled,

humble people. They’re not

constantly throwing beers

around the dressing room

and stuff,” he laughs.

The band return to Reading

& Leeds this year too, having

already played the festival

when they opened the BBC

Radio 1 / NME tent, and

closed the BBC Introducing

stage last year. “I got to hang

out with bands that I liked

all day, eat catering and get

really pissed,” he divulges

- whatever hazy memory

remains is clearly a fond one.

“We’re playing quite high

up on the Festival Republic

stage this year, so I feel like

maybe we should take it a

little more seriously rather

than drinking vodka at six

in the morning like we did

last year!”

Childhood’s debut album

‘Lacuna’ will be released

on 11th August via

Marathon Artists / House

Anxiety. DIY

“Maybe we

should

take it a

little more

seriously

than last

year!” Ben

Romans-

Hopcraft

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Let’s Dance

This year’s dance line-up -

spanning across the whole of the

Reading & Leeds weekend - might

just be the most diverse yet.

Headliners come from completely

different corners of the globe

as well as musical spheres, and

acts the average punter might

consider all-out pop make an

appearance in the tent. We’ve

picked out some of the highlights

from across the weekend.

FLUME

Aussie Harley Streten’s rise to the top has

pretty much come out of nowhere. One

minute he was selling millions in his home

country, with plenty to do on these shores,

the next he’s jumped the queue to headline

the Sunday night of Reading. The bloke’s just

22, for crying out loud. Someone tell him to

slow down.

MØ

On paper it might seem an odd match,

former punk Karen Marie Ørsted winding

up in the dance stage with foot-stamping,

progressive pop. But live she’s a different

beast. Up in the face of anyone who dares

get near, she’s constantly enlivened,

throwing shapes that might not have even

existed until now. Recent collaborations with

Diplo and Major Lazer cement this brilliant

crossover into dance.

LXURY

Best buds with Disclosure (and signed to

their label, Method), West London producer

Lxury - aka Andy Smith - has built quickly

on the success of debut ‘J.A.W.S’ (which also

comes produced by Disclosure). He’s an early

billing on this year’s line-up - expect this

to be the first of many appearances in the

dance tent.

BONDAX

Production duo Bondax are barely past

their teens and the DIY Class of 2014 alumni

are making big inroads. Ahead of releasing

‘Bondax & Friends: The Mix Album’, they’ve

added to their live set-up, bringing in special

guests from all sides. Expect this to be one of

the liveliest sets of the weekend.

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“We’ve

worked

our way

up”

Dry the River have made their way up the

bill and on to the Main Stage. Words & Photo:

Emma Swann.

Dry The River’s slot on the Main Stage at Reading &

Leeds this year is, as frontman Peter Liddle describes,

the realisation of a “lifetime ambition”. The fourpiece

are local to the southern leg of the festival, “so

everyone’s always had ‘Main Stage Reading’ as a milestone.”

“And we’ve slowly built towards it,” his bandmate, Matt Taylor

adds. “We started out on the Festival Republic stage, then

worked our way up the NME/Radio 1 stage, and slowly over

the years towards being on the Main Stage – and this year they

finally let us!”

The band come to Reading & Leeds with second record,

‘Alarms in the Heart’ in tow, the follow-up to 2012’s ‘Shallow

Bed’ released the Monday following the festival. “It was a long

and arduous process,” bassist Scott Miller explains, almost

laughing. “It hasn’t been easy. Sometime around February last

year, we thought ‘Yeah, let’s get in the studio and record this

album’, thinking we’d be finished by about May. This August

it’ll finally be out!”

In the time between starting and finishing work on ‘Alarms

in the Heart’, the band and violinist Will Harvey parted ways.

“When we started out we were going for that folky sound,”

Matt explains, “with more acoustic instruments, and the violin

really fit in with that. And more and more, on the new material

we’d been writing, we were using keyboards a lot more. The

direction we were going down was perhaps less what he was

trying to do. Sometimes these things just happen.”

‘Alarms in the Heart’ was recorded between various studios in

Iceland and later in London. “We spent some time in Iceland

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and came home with something we

thought could be an album, but we

weren’t quite happy with it, it wasn’t

where we wanted it to be. So we then

spent a few months that summer, all the

way through to November in different

studios in London tweaking what was

there.” Matt continues. “Once we’d

decided what we’d done in Iceland

wasn’t completely perfect, we didn’t

know when to stop!”

With an appearance at Glastonbury

under their belt already this summer,

“low-key” might not be the right term

for the few dates Dry The River will play

in the first two-thirds of 2014, but they

have been picky about where and when

they’ve opted to play new material.

“The audiences haven’t heard any of

them before,” muses Matt, “so it’s that

awkward thing ‘cause you know that

people want to hear songs they might

recognise, but at the same time we’ve

got this opportunity to start playing

the new ones. After four years, 400-odd

shows of playing pretty much the same

material every night, it’s exciting.”

Of course, by the time they head out

on tour this October, that won’t be a

problem. “Fingers crossed!” Matt laughs.

“I think some of the new material lends

itself better to a bit more of a singalong

atmosphere. Some of the songs are

more uptempo, we’re hopeful that it’ll

get people moving their feet a bit. Dry

the River fans have a habit of just [he

nods his head slowly]. Our songs are

quite slow, quite melancholy. Or at least

those on the first album are, it’s not

exactly stuff you can dance around to.

There are a couple of tracks on the new

record that will get people moving.”

That wasn’t something that hindered

the crowds in India, when the band

played a trio of dates late last year. “It

was a real experience,” describes Peter.

“We played Bangalore, Mumbai and

Delhi.” “They’re into a really diverse type

of music,” Scott adds, “Jon and I went to

Sonisphere, and that was more heavier

music – bar this year, those bands don’t

rock up at Glastonbury and go down

that well. But in India Meshuggah

headlined the festival and the crowd

were going wild, and then those same

audience members were watching Dry

the River and going wild for us!”

Matt interrupts. “London audiences

could take a few tips from India.”

Dry the River’s new album ‘Alarms in

the Heart’ will be released on 25th

August via Transgressive Records. DIY

THE

MOTHERS OF INVENTION

There’s problems already because

The Mothers of Invention have been

booked to open the festival, which is

in danger of making everything else

obsolete. Those who were lucky to

arrive early enough get treated to just

about everything off of ‘Freak Out!’ and

a special live-improv of ‘The Return of

The Son of Monster Magnet’. It goes

down really well.

AMON DUUL II

They were originally booked to

headline but wanted to leave before

teatime, Amon Duul II do the dirty

and upstage Zappa improvising,

without actually playing a recognised

song. Someone hears Archangels

Thunderbird in there, but can’t be sure.

NICK NICELY

Having not really played festivals

before, it’s a genuine treat that Nick

Nicely has agreed to play. Unaware,

he plays singles ‘Hilly Fields’/’49

Cigars’ first and then takes

everyone on a journey of his thenunreleased

back catalogue. It’s by

far one of the most sophisticated

performances of the day, but only

around 400 there.

Fantasy

Festival

BBC Radio 1/NME Stagers Temples

ponder their dream festival line up.

IVOR CUTLER

Over on the spoken word stage, Ivor

Cutler is trying out his latest work

‘Velvet Donkey’ (1975) on everyone. It’s

going well until ‘Life In A Scotch Sitting

Room’, when a few start muttering and

people at the back can’t quite hear.

ALEXANDER SKIP

SPENCE

With all sorts going on elsewhere,

over in the acoustic tent Skip Spence

is having some reverb trouble with his

guitar. An impromptu performance, so

we can expect special one-offs of just

about everything he will play.

EDGAR FROESE

In the twilight of everything else,

Edgar Froese is up next, so everyone

can enjoy the sun setting. People will

be disappointed that it’s not Tangerine

Dream, but that’s not really the point.

He’ll mainly play excerpts from Aqua

and end the set with an extended

version of NGC 981. It

sounds fantastic.

PINK FLOYD

The 68-71 set goes

really well, then Syd

turns up making

everything better.

They all grow old

together and live

happily ever

after. DIY

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The Districts

the Essential New Band

To See At Reading & Leeds

The Districts are the kind of live band capable

of winning over any crowd, however stubborn.

Words: Jamie Milton.

ow Philadelphia-based four-piece The Districts

stand out in a busy bunch of exciting new bands, not

Nbecause of online hype or a kick-starting buzz track -

this is all based on word-of-mouth. Last time they came to the

UK, their bluesy Americana took over showcase festivals like

Brighton’s The Great Escape. On record - self-released debut

‘Telephone’ landed them a deal on Fat Possum - they stick to

self-imposed limits. Live, they’re a completely different force.

Frontman Robby Grote admits that it’s been “pretty wild”,

getting such an immediate and positive response to their first

UK shows. “Playing overseas is really strange and exciting - we

don’t really have a concept of how our music is faring over

there while we’re on our side of the Atlantic.”

Robby’s fully prepared for what awaits at Reading & Leeds.

He cites Nirvana, The Cure and Thin Lizzy as bands who

conquered these festivals, but at the same time “it’s much

more of a separated, distant thing,” he says, having grown up

in the US. “While it has much more history than Lollapalooza

or something, it’s more surreal since it’s been a festival you’d

read about that wasn’t necessarily prominent in our lives.”

Their heady ascent to the present day came about after two

solid years of gigging and sticking to a DIY approach. “I’m

really glad we started from scratch,” says Robby, “because I

think we developed a real pride in our identity as a band. [But]

I don’t think there was ever a conscious decision to be DIY, I

think doing stuff yourself is often a side-effect of just giving a

really big shit about what you’re doing.”

Already The Districts are at the stage where, if all else fails,

they can fall back on a loyal fan base; one that’s seen them

grow from the off. Recently their van was broken into

following a show, but the response has been insane. Fans

have donated cash in support of the band raising enough

to re-purchase stolen gear. “We were really worried because

we weren’t sure how we were going to afford a lot of the

upcoming touring, and it’s been so amazing the help people

have given us,” says Robby. “It’s been really, really humbling.”

All gear kept intact, the big next step is an eventual new fulllength

on Fat Possum, tentatively due out in early 2015. First

on the agenda is Reading & Leeds, festivals that could easily

claim these guys as future heroes. DIY

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From playing to fewer

people than you can

count on one hand, to

some of the world’s

biggest festivals. It’s

The Wytches’ time.

Words: Hayley Fox.

Photos: Emma Swann.

just like a thing I wrote

down in a book at school

once… you know, when

you’re young and you

“It’s

think what you’re doing

because it comes from your heart. At

the time you think it’s the realist, purist

thing ever.” The Wytches frontman

Kristian Bell explains the nostalgia

behind the title of his band’s debut

album, ‘Annabel Dream Reader’.

The

Wytching

Hour

Though this sentimental anecdote may

sound pretty serious, the band don’t

take themselves too seriously. The trio

- completed by bassist Dan Rumsey and

drummer Gianni Honey - have been

touring extensively, with support slots

for Pulled Apart By Horses, Blood Red

Shoes, Superfood and Parquet Courts,

in preparation for their album release.

This year, The Wytches have also taken

to the stage at SXSW, Field Day and The

Great Escape, such experiences that

Dan describes as “milestones”. Flying

the flag for British music, the band

played SXSW among the likes of Royal

Blood, Drenge and Temples. “We’d

already signed an American deal, we

just went there for the crack really,”

admits Gianni. “Kristian had loads more

stuff to do, he had to do lots of press.

He was getting thrown in cabs, we

felt sorry for him, but he had a bigger

workload.” “Look what Gianni got!” an

excited Dan cuts in. Gianni lifts up his

sleeve to reveal a cartoon-ish tattoo of a

pint on his upper arm inked at SXSW. “I

was completely sober!”

“We’ll probably

just be on tour

forever.”

Dan Rumsey

As far as touring goes, they’ve formed

a bit of a love/hate relationship with it,

even though they are a band who excel

in a live setting. Dan says: “We’re pretty

much back on tour until December

now we’ve had a few weeks off. We’ll

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probably just be on tour forever.”

Kristian and Gianni are quick to have

their say. “I can’t be on tour forever, I’d

lose my voice,” says Kristian. “I’d lose my

mind!” quips Gianni.

They agree touring can be stressful,

especially when they’re told to do a

‘Disco Load Out’. Whether this means

loading out before a club night, or

dancing while you’re on the way to the

loading bay, they still haven’t worked it

out. But you can tell they’re all grateful

for the opportunities they’ve had so

far. They spend a rare day off from tour

either sleeping at home or travelling

to the next city. On the last day of the

Pulled Apart By Horses tour in Cardiff,

they went to the Natural History

Museum and explored the mammoth

replicas and fish skeletons. Dan perks

up to offer some brotherly praise, “I

really enjoyed that day with you guys.”

The Wytches formed when Kristian and

Gianni moved from their Peterborough

hometown down to Brighton to study

music at university. Gianni explains,

“Uni was so we didn’t have to get jobs.

Then we advertised for a bassist and

Dan was the only one to apply.” Funnily

enough, Dan made the cut and they

started gigging a month later with their

first show at Brighton’s Pav Tav. “We

only had four songs and we just went

fucking mental. We just started trashing

everything to, like, four people,”

remembers Gianni.

With Kristian’s love of tape recording,

they embarked on creating the album in

analogue at Hackney’s Toe Rag Studios.

Following the lead of artists who’ve

recorded there like Tame Impala, The

Cribs and The White Stripes, the record

sounds warm, with a rich, gritty agenda

exhaling through. Done in five days,

half of it was written by Kristian when

he was just 17. He co-produced it with

Bill Ryder-Jones, The Coral’s former

guitarist, who gave them lots of tips.

‘Annabel Dream Reader’ carries nods to

all their influences. When asked about

who inspired them growing up, a heap

of artists including Black Sabbath,

Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Bob Dylan and

AFI are all thrown on the pile. Going

to gigs when they were young also

had an effect on their desire to be in a

band. “I hated being in the audience, I

just wanted to be onstage to the point

where I wouldn’t enjoy a gig,” Dan

admits.

“We advertised for

a bassist and Dan

was the only one to

apply.” Gianni Honey

On the album,

tracks like

‘Digsaw’, ‘Wide

At Midnight’

and ‘Robe For

Juda’ all go

full-pelt with

lingering, moody

atmospheres.

Alongside them

stand tracks like

‘Fragile Male’

and ‘Weights &

Ties’, which plod

along at a more

toned down

pace. Kristian

sums up this

balance, “I have a

lot of inspiration

from obnoxiously

heavy music and

a lot to thank

from soft music,

and I feel like I’m

neglecting all

my inspirations

if it’s just the one

track.”

While it’s hard

to define The

Wytches’ music

with a genre, the

term surf-doom

- which Kristian

“used once” to

describe the

music - seems

to have been

64 diymag.com

chucked around a lot. “It’s

because you get those really

really obscure genre titles

where you just might as well

listen to it instead of explain

it,” he says. The term does

sum up their sound, made

interesting through the

hypnotic riffs and drowning

vocals. Kristian continues:

“It wasn’t like, ‘I’m going to

start this mad surf doom

band’. But I guess you could

see the sense in it because

we love doom…”

Though they used analogue

equipment for the album,

they still use some modern

technology within the band.

Dan picks up his tinny and

uses an app on his phone

to asses the calorie count,

something he’s been

doing for approximately

two days. “I’m allowed to

have 936 more today, in a

can of beer there is 215”.

Later on, they’re showing

off some of their recent

Snapchats, which seems

to have evolved into a

hobby, drawing extra,

ahem, additions onto the

images. Dan, being the butt

of several Snapchat-based

jokes, protests, “It’s stupid. I

have free texts, I don’t need

Snapchat.”

Between feeling intrigued

about the unique title,

‘Annabel Dream Reader’ and

a dazed rush surrounding

the rugged music,

confirmed with a confident,

raucous live show. The

Wytches are continuing

to push forward, winning

support. “The only thing we

wanted to achieve [with the

album] was documenting so

many songs, which nothing

had been done with yet,”

states Kristian. “I think we’ll

think more about what

we want to achieve on our

second one.”

The Wytches’ debut album

‘Annabel Dream Reader’

will be released on 25th

August via Heavenly

Recordings. DIY

“My 11-yearold

self would

Clash

DECIDER

Confused about who to see at Reading & Leeds this

year? You’ve some tough decisions to make. Thankfully,

Bombay Bicycle Club’s Ed Nash is here to help.

FRIDAY

Slaves vs Drenge

Drenge! The loudest two

piece since Death From

Above 1979.

Vampire Weekend

vs Warpaint

Warpaint are the most

beautiful band in every

single way. I went to see

them a couple of months

ago and fell completely

in love. I’m a huge fan of

Vampire Weekend but they

can’t compete with that!

Queens of the Stone

Age vs Palma Violets

Queens of the Stone Age

are the best rock band in

the world. The last time

I saw Queens play, Josh

Homme stopped the show

and demanded that the sign

language interpreter tell

the crowd to “go fucking

mental”. He made her do it

six times! It was one of the

best things I have ever seen.

be so angry if

I went to see

Clean Bandit.”

Ed Nash

saturday

Gnarwolves

vs DZ Deathrays

I don’t know either of

these bands, I’m pretty

out of touch with new

music! I’ve got to go with

Gnarwolves as they have the

best name. In my mind they

are a bunch of real angry,

hairy surfer dudes.

The Hives

vs Crosses

I have always wanted to see

The Hives. They have been

killing it for over a decade!

Dry the River

vs Royal Blood

We toured with Dry the

River a couple of years ago.

They are a great band and

a lovely bunch of guys. I

haven’t seen them in quite

a few years so it would be

good to see how they have

evolved!

sunday

Klaxons

vs The 1975

I don’t like sex, chocolate or

girls... It’s gotta be Klaxons.

Papa Roach

vs Clean Bandit

Papa Roach without a doubt.

‘Infest’ was one of the first

albums I owned, and ‘Last

Resort’ was the first song I

learnt on guitar. My 11-yearold

self would be so angry if I

went to see Clean Bandit.

Blink-182

vs Disclosure

Both have a likelihood of

depressing me. Disclosure

will remind me of how old I

am, whilst Blink-182 will give

me a good look at what I will

most probably become... A

middle aged man who tells

fart jokes. I would probably

go with Disclosure, at least I

can dance my worries away.

65

ADULT JAZZ / BASEMENT JAXX / BENJAMIN BOOKER / BILBAO BBK LIVE /

TWIGS / GLASTONBURY / LUKE SITAL-SINGH / OWL JOHN / MERCHANDISE

HORSES / ROYAL BLOOD / SLEIGH BELLS / SPOON / SUMMER CAMP / T IN

eeee

ROYAL

BLOOD

Royal Blood

(Warner Bros.)

On their debut album, the Brighton two piece take it

leven is one louder than ten, so said Nigel Tufnel. The more the number goes up,

the more extreme the volume. Common sense, right? So how exactly do we explain

ERoyal Blood? The two piece may be svelte in terms of number, but when it comes to

noise they’re surfing a soundwave straight out of the hellmouth.

Yet where a bit of a good old fashioned racket usually means an underground rather

than mainstream concern, over the past twelve months Royal Blood have exploded. In

an era where rock on the radio has found itself staring longingly at arenas by becoming

ever more epic, often risking sharing a student bedsit full of Coldplay’s disguarded

pissy mattresses, they’ve led the charge by going back to its glorious roots. Thumping,

sleazy blues, mile high riffs, a mighty crunch that could turn a skeleton to dust; far from

reinventing the wheel, Fred Flintstone’s car has been painted with go faster stripes and

fitted with nitros.

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CHILDHOOD / DRY THE RIVER / DZ DEATHRAYS / EUROCKEENNES / FKA

/ NOS ALIVE / JACK WHITE / PARQUET COURTS / PULLED APART BY

THE PARK / THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM / THE WYTCHES / TWIN ATLANTIC

TRACKLIST

1. Out of the Black

2. Come On Over

3. Figure It Out

4. You Can Be So Cruel

5. Blood Hands

6. Little Monster

7. Loose Change

8. Careless

9. Ten Tonne Skeleton

10. Better Strangers

up to twelve.

Even with a debut album, their ascent has been so steep the

opening salvo feels like a premature greatest hits. ‘Out Of The

Black’ remains an incendiary calling card - a roaring, snarling

Godzilla levelling sky scrapers at will. ‘Come On Over’, a pulsing

engine of oil and metal, retains its stature too, while ‘Figure It

Out’ brings a touch of the funk, rolling and strutting into a high

risk of headbanging whiplash.

There are fresh delights too. ‘You Can Be So Cruel’ has a

delightful hint of the Homme to it, cruising the desert in a

way the Queens of the Stone Age main man would no doubt

approve of. ‘Blood Hands’, ‘Loose Change’ and ‘Careless’ all

have echoes of an augmented Jack White, the former as close to

a ballad as a band can get while taking everything to its loudest

point. ‘Ten Tonne Skeleton’ is the deal maker, though. Mike

Kerr yelps like a banshee, Ben Thatcher beats the living shit out

of everything in sight - this isn’t a cooler than thou indie band

masquerading as something heavier; Royal Blood can mix it. As

a flash of their credentials, it’s waved right through.

For what feels like eons, anyone with more than a passing

interest in rock music - proper rock music - has not-so-quietly

been praying for a saviour. A homegrown concern who might

have a chance of punching through to prove that Britain can

still raise hell. Their faith is rewarded, Royal Blood will save us

all. (Stephen Ackroyd) LISTEN: ‘Come On Over’, ‘Careless’

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eeee

DZ DEATHRAYS

Black Rat (Infectious)

From 2012’s ‘Bloodstreams’ to

the mainstream, ‘Black Rat’ is

essentially DZ Deathrays’ debut

with sunglasses on – the party

just hasn’t stopped. It’s sexy and

patient, but, in addition, loud and

all-up-in-your-business in the

most mis-matched Aussie pairing

since the Minogues. Throw

in some shrill falsetto, a few

‘oh baby’s and more repeated

refrains than a parakeet with OCD

and what you’re left with is near

40 minutes of slow and sweaty

seduction executed exquisitely

by weeping guitar. (Chris Rickett)

LISTEN: ‘Ocean Exploder’

eeee

ADULT JAZZ

Gist Is

(Spare Thought)

Without a doubt an audacious

first effort, Adult Jazz have

lovingly crafted a record of

intriguing, ear-catching pop

music on ‘Gist Is’. Those unable

to get their head around its

own internal logic however will

find themselves stonewalled -

listening to it is a bit like eating

huge mouthfuls when trying new

food instead of taking a few bites,

and the end result feels just as

bloating and discomforting as

that process in itself. On the other

hand, those already hooked

by their irregular melodies and

sharp, focused instrumentation

will certainly find a few gems to

latch onto. (Tom Walters) LISTEN:

‘Am Gone’

A brave first

-step.

eeee

FKA TWIGS

LP1 (Young Turks)

Visually there’s nobody else like her. And

there’s a reason that FKA Twigs’ career under

the spotlight started - successfully - in front of

the camera as a backing dancer in videos. But ‘LP1’’s self-explanatory title is

explicit in stating that this record’s all about the songs themselves. Tahliah

Barnett is someone who demands control. Her tracks might enjoy production

credits from Paul Epworth, Dev Hynes and Arca, but most of ‘LP1’’s process

saw her learning and developing techniques that she could apply on her own

terms. Lyrically, too, everything’s happening on her watch. She’s the focus.

Clarity is shunned for something more confounding, more intoxicating. Dead

ends, rough edges - it’s a fitting debut. Especially so, given that at points it

sounds like Barnett’s throwing every inch of her upbringing into an album at

once, that she’s as nonplussed as the rest of us as to what’ll emerge from the

melting pot. ‘LP1’ is not perfect, but anything this expressive and personally

vital rarely is. (Jamie Milton) LISTEN: ‘Two Weeks’

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eee

TWIN ATLANTIC

Great Divide (Red Bull Records)

Landing over three years after the

release of Twin Atlantic’s debut album

proper, ‘Great Divide’ was introduced

with huge intentions: ‘Heart and Soul’

was a bold move, veering further into

pop tendencies than they ever had

before. Luckily, their second record

boasts more than anticipated on

first glance. Take the live anthem-inwaiting

‘Brothers and Sisters’ and its

spine-tingly bridge at the 2.40 mark,

or the bolshy, carefree swagger of ‘Fall

Into The Party’. Granted, this isn’t the

album they were expected to make, but

it does provide them the opportunity

to round out their resume. If anything,

being predictable is never fun and

Twin Atlantic know it. (Sarah Jamieson)

LISTEN: ‘Oceans’

A more nuanced

-approach.

eee

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

Get Hurt (Virgin EMI)

On their fifth studio album, it appears The Gaslight

Anthem have finally decided to move on from the soul

inspired punk rock for which they are known. Changing

direction is always a dangerous move: the band could have

emerged triumphant, proving their credentials as more than

just the Springsteen imitators they are still viewed as by

some, or it could have been a disaster. Perhaps predictably,

the answer lies somewhere in between. The more reserved

approach adopted throughout much of ‘Get Hurt’ makes

the album less instantly memorable and less easy to relate

to. Given time there’s every chance that the subtleties

and nuances of ‘Get Hurt’ could mark it out as being every

bit as good as anything the band have ever done, but on

first impressions it doesn’t have the same impact. (Stuart

Knapman) LISTEN: ‘Rollin’ and Tumblin’

Q&A

Frontman Brian Fallon talks

‘Get Hurt’ with DIY’s Sarah

Jamieson.

For this album, you’ve said you drew

inspiration from the albums of some

of your favourite artists that were

originally a bit of a curveball in their

careers. Why?

Because what else would you do after

four records of making the same kind

of music? There was nothing left to

do: it was either stop, or do something

different. You can’t just keep doing the

same thing. It wasn’t so much necessarily

a choice of whether to do something

different, it was just as though we had to.

You’ve also said you read a lot

more, and played around with more

instruments. Was the making of this

album somewhat of an education for

the band?

Yeah. Even with instruments, I was taking

lessons and trying to learn how to play

different things. Just seeing what would

stick; I wasn’t really chasing anything in

particular. With the lyrics, I was reading

books as I just wanted to put as much as

I could inside my head so that that would

come out. DIY

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Gloriously

-kaleidoscopic.

ee

LUKE SITAL-SINGH

The Fire Inside (Parlophone)

As the repetitive, and unexpansive nature of ‘The

Fire Inside’ grows apparent, or rather, fails to grow,

it becomes hard to imagine Luke Sital-Singh’s

debut album having any sort of lasting, meaningful

impact beyond its strongest stand-out tracks, like attention-grabbing early

number, ‘Bottled Up Tight’. Seemingly lacking in any kind of driving furnace,

it’s hard to get behind songs about heartache when they come packaged

as copy-paste polite campfire sing-alongs lacking in any sort of emotional

investment. (El Hunt) LISTEN: ‘Benediction’

eeee

BENJAMIN BOOKER

Benjamin Booker (Rough Trade)

Benjamin Booker starts off where label mates

Alabama Shakes’ 2012 southern-blues extravaganza

finished. Opener ‘Violent Shiver’ channels Chuck

Berry, with Booker seemingly pitching a convincing

case for a name change to Johnny B. Goode. Colourful blues guitar flourishes

intersperse thick, simple riffs in a track that keeps the exhilaration short and

sweet. And then there’s Booker’s voice. Like Tom Waits after smoking three

packs of Marlboro Reds before lunch, his rusty drawl and swampy guitar riffs

go together like peas and carrots. (Will Moss) LISTEN: ‘Chippewa’

eeee

CHILDHOOD

Lacuna (House Anxiety)

Being a kid is pretty awesome,

and sometimes a hefty slice of

nostalgia goes a long way. Ever

since Childhood floated their way in

to view, their swoonsome melodies

and acid-washed vibes have offered

an alternative to bawling over

long-gone Lego structures. Ben

Romans-Hopcraft and co have,

rather fantastically managed to

create a body of work as catchy as

it is woozy. ‘Falls Away’ tumbles

down a spiralled staircase of lush

melodies. ‘As I Am’ bounces in a

glittery chorus that never gets lost

in the fuzz. This isn’t ‘Lacuna’ in

the sense of lacking something, or

being empty. Instead, it’s an escape

from the world – either to past

memories or to future adventures –

and a empty pool ready to be filled.

(Kyle MacNeill) LISTEN: ‘Solemn

Skies’

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Fragile,

boisterous,

screaming and

wailing.

eeee

THE

WYTCHES

Annabel

Dream Reader

(Heavenly)

Is there a more perfect

debut album than

‘Annabel Dream

Reader’ in 2014? It’ll be

a hard-fought battle:

the Brighton trio’s

brand of scuzzed-up,

scream-filled facemelting

rock is a ball of

contradictions in the

best possible way. They

master both loud and

quiet – often within

miliseconds of each

other, Kristian Bell’s

vocal shifting between

fragile, shrill and full-on

blast with terrifying

ease. “Every day’s a

bad dream”, muses Bell

during closer ‘Track 13’,

and while at the end

of the record, this lyric

does a pretty good job

of summarising the

whole lot. ‘Annabel

Dream Reader’ is, for the

most part, permanently

on a knife-edge.

Dark, gloomy, angsty,

melancholic – it delves

in and out of them all.

At once fragile and

boisterous, screaming

and wailing, kicking at

walls then curled up

against them, ‘Annabel

Dream Reader’ is far

more accomplished

than a debut should be.

(Emma Swann) LISTEN:

‘Weights and Ties’,

‘Gravedweller’

eee

SPOON

They Want My

.Soul (Anti-)

Spoon’s sound is

distinctly theirs,

because it has been

perfected over time.

But ‘They Want My Soul’

is in a slight catch 22.

It’s exciting to hear a

band so resolutely in

their zone, but on the

flipside it doesn’t offer

anything remotely new,

and that’s the opposite

of exciting. ‘Rent I Pay’

is a safe opener - it

might be the sound

of these New Yorkers

wrestling with odd time

structures and whatnot,

but that’s for their own

entertainment. The

songs are strong: ‘I Just

Don’t Understand’’s

jazz bar mood-changer,

‘New York Kiss’’

emotional farewell - but

Spoon can be better

than that. (Jamie

Milton) LISTEN: ‘Rainy

Taxi’

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SUMMER CAMP

Beyond Clueless OST (Moshi Moshi)

While this sort of thing is not new for Summer Camp,

somehow applying it in the context of a film soundtrack,

the duo’s music is given a new depth in both sound and

meaning. ‘Beyond Clueless’ is also far darker than any

of Elizabeth and Jeremy’s previous outputs, which more often than not focus

on shimmering summery pop nuggets. This is an album that doesn’t celebrate

teenage culture, but exposes the cracks in its facade. Brooding, sparse, often

Lynchian electronics add to the feeling of condemnation, all polished with a

thoroughly cinematic sheen. In short, it proves once and for all there’s far more to

Summer Camp than just sunshine and lollipops. (Will Moss) LISTEN: ‘Weak Walls’

eee

OWL JOHN

Owl John (Atlantic)

The moniker Owl John has given Scott Hutchinson an

opportunity to explore themes and textures he would not

otherwise have been able to within Frightened Rabbit.

There are signs of the songwriter we already know – ‘Two’

offers a recognisable plucky-yet-morose indie rock, and ‘Sounds About Roses’

is a raw and sarcastic anecdote on the perils of romance. ‘Owl John’ is, however,

a mismatch of styles, moods and tempos. There is little cohesion and each song

feels like a thought or idea alone on the record – like a collection of B-sides or

rarities. That’s not necessarily bad - it’s an interesting insight into a accomplished

musician’s repertoire. (Hugh Morris) LISTEN: ‘Ten Tons of Silence’

Their most

-diverse to date.

eeee

PULLED APART

BY HORSES

Blood (Sony/Red)

Following on from the success

of their 2012 follow-up ‘Tough

Love’ - which showed once and

for all the longevity of the band’s

hardcore-influenced sound -

Pulled Apart By Horses’ third

full-length is light-years away

from the music heard on their

early single releases. The pace

lessens, but ‘Blood’ is a dynamic

album which allows a band used

to screaming their lungs out

the ability to better deliver their

sound. Atmospheric moments

are allowed to creep and build

as the band push through their

most diverse work to date. Pulled

Apart By Horses are now more

accessible than ever, but the

Yorkshire four-piece will manage

to keep fans both old and

new on board. (Andy Crowder)

LISTEN: ‘Lizard Baby’

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eeee

MERCHANDISE

They’ve only

-just begun.

After The End (4AD)

Every showy move on Merchandise’s part gives the impression

that they feel like one of the biggest bands in the world. ‘After The

End’ is their first album on 4AD. When they’re not chugging out

numbers that aim straight for the gut, they’re still perfectly happy

to bask in sweeping walls of noise. Then comes the title-track; a

doomy, amphitheatred work of gross ambition. If the rhetoric around

this record was about severe change, this is the rabbit in the hat.

Merchandise aren’t one of the biggest bands in the world, but on this

dramatic penultimate track they sound capable of reaching that level.

(Jamie Milton) LISTEN: ‘After The End’

eeee

DRY THE RIVER

Alarms in the Heart

(Transgressive)

‘Shallow Bed’, Dry the River’s debut,

was tightly held together by an

intensity that just about kept itself

in check. ‘Alarms in the Heart’ is noticeably more reflective

in tone, delving through a wider spectrum of emotions

than previously, the follow-up fittingly representative of

a band who finally stopped after three years of touring to

take stock of their situation. Single ‘Everlasting Light’ even

shows a meatier side. Cathartic it may be, and perhaps not

representative of the album as whole, but the track is a clear

focal point, a confident statement that when they want to,

Dry the River can be an enviable force to be reckoned with.

(Bevis Man) LISTEN: ‘Vessel’

ee

BASEMENT JAXX

Junto (Atlantic Jaxx/PIAS)

Given the current influx of Jaxxindebted

newcomers, a fresh LP from

Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe

seems like an opportunity for the

house genre’s elder statesmen to show these fresh-faced

imitators a thing or two. But alas, ‘Junto’’s flaws, much unlike

2009’s forward-thinking ‘Scars’, are the fact that it is lagging

behind rather than leading the pack, playing catch up with

the duo’s own supposed pupils. By Buxton’s own admission,

their seventh album seeks to “unite people” and some

cuts do hark back to the giddy unabashed pop and massconnecting

floorfillers of yore. Sadly many of its disparate

parts miss the mark. (James West) LISTEN: ‘Power To The

People’

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74 diymag.comlivefranz ferdinanD

-Basque-ing in it.

the black keys

bastille

Bilbao

BBK

Live

Kobetamendi, Bilbao

Photos: emma swann

W

ith mountain tops and rugged

scenery stretching as far the

eye can see, one could be

forgiven for thinking that proceedings

should begin with something a little

more serene. At first, there’s something

ever so slightly strange about watching Parquet Courts

in the Spanish sunshine. Yet, as they settle into their slot, it

becomes all the more clear that this is just how they’re meant

to be watched. Later, the reaction Franz Ferdinand get,

stepping out onto the stage to the chords of ‘No You Girls’, is

indescribable. You’d think this was more of a One Direction

affair; and it’s brilliant. Following suit on the excitement scale,

Phoenix begin just as a new day creeps in. There’s nothing

stopping crowd members from hoisting themselves up onto

nearby portaloos to get a better view of Thomas Mars and co,

and luckily, the French gang give as good as they get.

It’s no real surprise that Bastille are in the business of

attracting huge crowds, but the sheer speed at which punters

appear in front of the Main Stage on Friday is quite a feat.

There’s even some triangle-throwing for good measure, just

going to prove that this four-piece have stolen yet another

festival’s hearts, and all with a few good ol’ fashioned ‘woah

ohs’. As the sky darkens and the crowd again begin to

gravitate towards the Main Stage, there’s an indescribable

level of anticipation in the air. If anyone’s qualified to break

down that barrier, it’s The Prodigy, who have no qualms with

piercing the darkness via their customary sonic terror. Later,

adorably ramshackle and only looking somewhat out of their

comfort zone playing this late at night, South London fourpiece

Palma Violets blitz through an assault of their modern

guitar anthems in what feels like a perfect blur of drunken

dancing and playful expressions.

Emerging on stage, for once without his trademark green

parka jacket – understandably, too, thanks to the evening’s

beautiful sunshine – Skaters’ Michael Ian Cummings works

quickly to ignite the spirits of their crowd. Even without a

couple of guitars, which were lost somewhere in transit,

the band sound commanding and accomplished, with their

punk rock ethos bleeding through. Throwing in a special

cover of The Ramones’ ‘Judy Is A Punk’, dedicated to the

late Tommy Ramone, their set is a well-rounded showcase.

With headlining slots scheduled at festivals across Europe,

The Black Keys have grown to be a little larger than just the

guitar-drums duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, but

their garage-rock, blues-infused roots are still firmly in place.

While the Main Stage closes its doors for the last time, it’s up

to MGMT to bring Bilbao BBK Live to an end. Crowds spill out

of the designated area and stretch back into the main arena,

all desperately trying to get a glimpse of Benjamin Goldwasser

and Andrew VanWyngarden. An unbeatably excited cheer

goes up as those ever-so recognisable chords of ‘Time To

Pretend’ kick in, and it’s enough to make even the most cynical

of viewers crack a nostalgic smile. (Sarah Jamieson)

75

Un chien Eurockéen.

Photo: lilian ginet

LIVE

EUROCKÉENNES

Presqu’île de Malsaucy, Belfort

n electrical storm is in

full swing. The French

Ahave also just lost their

World Cup game, and the

downpour makes it hard to tell

which football-shirt wearing

punters are crying, as opposed

to those who are just drenched.

The torrential volumes of

water crashing down from

the sky don’t dampen Pixies,

though. The sight of thousands

of festival-goers howling

‘Debaser’ and ‘Where Is My

Mind’ from beneath umbrellas

is something to behold. There

is a mass exodus towards

Metronomy next, with material

from ‘The English Riviera’ being

a particularly apt fit for today’s

extremely British display of

weather. Saturday brings

sunshine, along with JUNGLE;

a band so immediately likeable

that their greatness smacks

in the proverbial gob like a

first time tasting halloumi.

Schoolboy Q, meanwhile,

wins the coveted prize for

most excitable crowd. Not only

do the audience apparently

know every single word to

every Schoolboy song, but

they’re also up on every bar of

label-mate Kendrick Lamar’s

‘m.A.A.d City’ and there’s more

surfing going on in the crowd

than there is anywhere near the

water. (El Hunt)

pixies

Photos: matt richarson

O

ld heads and fresh faces treat

Glastonbury 2014 exactly the

same - like it’s the biggest

moment of their lives, a celebration

that might never be matched. Every

headliner performs with the awareness

that this isn’t just any other set. Arcade

Fire give the most genuine, hairraising

show of their lives. Win Butler

has the impression of someone trying

helplessly to control a storm, while

brother Will doesn’t stop jumping

and howling under a disco ball for

two hours straight. Metallica arrive

with tongues placed firmly in cheeks,

bringing shameless fun to a crowd

that wholeheartedly welcomes their

disputed arrival. They prove that any

band belongs on Worthy Farm if they

treat the occasion with the required

mentality. Festival-closers Kasabian

welcome in the most flare-friendly, up

for it crowd, with the masses wearing

Lads (and lasses)

on Tor.

76 diymag.com

merchandise that has the wrong date printed on its front

- in the end, they couldn’t care less, as Leicester’s rowdiest

embrace their big moment.

Jack White looks like a man on a mission as he blitzes

through solo numbers and White Stripes classics, collapsing

onto stage gear in the process and only becoming more

enamouring in doing so. On the festival’s biggest stages,

countless acts are making their debut - St. Vincent pulls out

every trick in the book; rolling down stairs, stealing punters’

hats, so caught up in the magic of her first appearance that

she looks capable of anything. Wolf Alice admit their nerves

from the beginning, but as soon as they start playing these

anxieties fly straight out of the John Peel Stage, giving further

momentum to their relentless charge.

There’s a clear difference in how debutants deal with their

big shot. Dolly Parton showcases her own new mud-centric

song, with the biggest crowd of the festival warming to a

country star in a surreal, often hilarious anecdotal and musical

extravaganza. Her set follows The 1975, who at points sound

like they’re playing to two backing tracks at once, with drums

mistimed and guitar solos barely breaking out of first gear.

Dolly’s follow-up set might be cheesy to the extreme, but

its professionalism makes the wine-guzzling antics of those

preceding look like complete pretenders. Any band incapable

of playing to a rhythm shouldn’t be let out of the rehearsal

room, let alone given free roam of the Pyramid Stage.

Lana Del Rey’s had years plagued with accusations of being

shoddy live, but they don’t show up here. Parquet Courts

shouldn’t be able to pull it off either - their set’s delayed by

storms and by the time they hit the drenched Park Stage, the

setting couldn’t be further away from the sweaty, dimly lit

basement venues they excel in. Somehow it doesn’t matter

- their scuzzy Brooklyn-bred punk is vital here, bouncing

into life from the off, new album ‘Sunbathing Animal’ being

showcased almost in its entirety. Courtney Barnett and

George Ezra are ever-present. Secret sets are their lifeblood

as far as this festival goes, and they stand out as the most

talked-about new names when everything eventually dies

down. Jungle make a similarly huge impression - don’t bet

against ‘Busy Earnin’’ becoming a genuine anthem as festival

season progresses. Percussive, frenzied, funk-laced to the

extreme, they dress their early afternoon slot in late night

club attire.

Apart from the half hour delay and ever-present threat

of a sludge armageddon to wipe out everyone on site,

Glastonbury fights off hitches with complete triumph.

Headliners were baited with criticism before this festival,

but they use sniping attacks to their own advantage. New

names battle nerves and conquer on almost every occasion,

and even legendary acts play like their lives depend on it. It’s

difficult to imagine this ever changing. Glastonbury remains

the place to prove a point, and this year it was the festival

itself that had the biggest say. (Jamie Milton)

GLASTONBURY

Worthy Farm, Pilton

77

LIVE

chvRChes

T IN THE PARK

Balado, Kinross

K

inross is set to lose an institution

after 2014, with Scotland’s prime

festival T in the Park moving over to

Strathallan Castle as of next year. Luckily,

alongside the #byebyebalado hashtag to

celebrate this farewell, they’d also racked

up quite a bill for Balado’s final hosting

duty.

Charli XCX takes to the stage in scorching

heat, warming things up further with her

array of infectious pop ditties. From ‘Black

Roses’ through number one smash ‘Fancy’

with Iggy Azalea, she and her bandmates

get one hell of a summer party started.

In contrast, in the dark tented realms,

Drenge play to a humble and growing

number, flaunting the aggressive power

a mere duo can possess. Their grungy

T obviously

doesn’t

stand for

t-shirts, eh

Biffy?

twang resonates with those looking for

some rock amidst the pop paradise. Haim

haul a large crowd with a string of their

big hits and solid covers, including

Beyonce’s ‘XO’ and Fleetwood

Mac’s ‘Oh Well’. Royal Blood’s

sound proves a powerhouse,

reverberating off all possible

nooks of the Tuts tent.

Chvrches follow suit,

charming their way through

electro hit after hit, smashing

‘We Sink’ and ‘The Mother We

Share’. Lauren raises smiles with her

usual quirky stories, this time involving

being hit with a piss-filled cup while

watching Green Day here over a decade

ago. “The moral of the story,” she smiles.

78 diymag.com

Photos :Sinéad Grainger

“Don’t throw piss at people.” When it

gets a little bit darker, it’s clear who

the Friday rests on: Biffy Clyro. “I am

going home,” sings Simon Neil as they

launch into ‘Different People’, a fitting

sentiment as they soar through a

severely overdue homeland headliner.

Their frenetic energy makes it a sheer

delight to watch them pull endless

quality from their arsenal, with floral

pyjama bottoms the mere cherry on

top. Ten times at T in the Park, and with

as much pyro and fireworks as the stage

could likely handle, it felt like the set

they’d been building toward for years.

temples

By Saturday afternoon, the home

setting may have already swelled

to bursting point with pride at their

musical exports, but there’s more to

come as Twin Atlantic’s steady rise is

really put into perspective. Playing to

their largest audience yet, their blend

of primarily 2011’s ‘Free’ and upcoming

‘Great Divide’ is not only a showcase of

how far they’ve come, but that they’re

constantly evolving into bigger and

better things. Pharrell Williams,

however, doesn’t seem to notice that

it rained his entire set, proclaiming,

“Do we have the power to make it rain

again, Scotland?”. It runs like a greatest

hits album of a handful of artists that he

just happened to be along for the ride

on, Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ and ‘Happy’

topped off one of T’s most enjoyable

moments.

Sunday sees Bastille play a set that

capitalises on the sun, the energy

and the celebration of Balado’s final

soiree. It’s a party, and Dan Smith

is happy to join the fans in their

euphoric stupor, with sing-alongs

ahoy. It’s a feeling that continues through

the day as Franz Ferdinand test Scots’ vocal

chords through ‘No You Girls’ and ‘Do You Want To’.

Fans are so well versed in their back-catalogue that

every opening strum is met with ridiculous excitement, so

much so it’s a wonder there’s any energy left fifteen tracks

in. Then, it happens. The final ever main stage performance

at Balado, and the crowds are there in droves to say farewell.

“T in the Park, I’ve missed you,” mumbles Alex Turner, almost

flirtatiously, as Arctic Monkeys rock up. Swaggering on stage,

they launch into ‘Do I Wanna Know?’, following soon with

‘Arabella’, featuring a random hat tip to Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’

in its midst. Bring it on, Strathallan! You’ve a lot to live up to.

(Heather McDaid)

NOS ALIVE

Passeio Marítimo de Algés, Lisbon

O

n the more intimate

Heineken stage,

Temples are one of

the first acts to play, perfectly

coiffed and blasting through a

shamelessly catchy set which

sends the writhing crowd into

a frenzy. By the time Arctic

Monkeys are about to assume

their headline slot, it seems like

the whole festival may have

popped along for the show.

A leather-clad Alex Turner

arrives on the main stage

to the screams and wails of

Portuguese teenagers, delirious

with excitement. It’s all well

and good, but perhaps less

so if you’re due to start at the

exact same time on the other

side of the site - which Kelis

is. Rounding off the weekend,

though, are long awaited

headliners The Libertines.

As the crowds wait with

baited breath for a potentially

shambolic reunion, both Pete

Doherty and Carl Barat are on

impressive form. Aside from an

awkward Otis Redding cover

and a few scrappy starts, it’s

as if the last ten years never

happened. Their set ends with

a five-song encore and a bit of a

cuddle - something that makes

a few audience members so

emotional that they decide

to jump into the nearest bin.

(Dominique Sisley)

79

LIVE

JACK

WHITE

Hammersmith Apollo, London

F

or a man with such a strict obsession

with colour, Jack White is one hell of

a chameleon. The stage set may be

entirely blue – even if coincidentally, so are

the lights in the lobby bar area – but this

is a crowd ranging from young children

on parents’ shoulders to white-haired

women; of t-shirts emblazoned with

Smashing Pumpkins’ Zero, The Orwells,

My Chemical Romance, the weekend’s

Glastonbury Festival and even defunct

Sheffield noiseniks Wet Nuns, to take a

small sample. Jack White is a man who’s

as at home covering Hank Williams as he

is Metallica, Kanye West – or as tonight’s

snippet shows – The Dead Kennedys,

fitting in a touch of ‘Holiday in Cambodia’.

Obviously, then, switching between his own

solo material, songs recorded by The White

Stripes, or those from The Raconteurs or The

Dead Weather is as instinctive as breathing

in or out. ‘Hotel Yorba’ is given its now

customary hoedown treatment allowing it

to fit in seamlessly alongside ‘Temporary

Ground’ from this year’s ‘Lazaretto’, while

‘Ball and Biscuit’ and ‘Icky Thump’ remain

angst fuelled-blasts of thrashing guitar.

‘Steady, As She Goes’ has become an old

friend surprisingly missed, surpassed only

in surprise by ‘Hello Operator’ getting an

airing. This isn’t a ‘Lazaretto’ tour, not even

a Greatest Hits set; it’s ‘an evening with Jack

White’.

His band cocooning him in the centre of

the stage, he flits from member to member,

interacting in different ways; the vocal duets

with violinist Lillie Mae Rische; the calland-response

with drummer Daru Jones;

the occasional interrupting of Fats Kaplin’s

theremin. Setlists still appear arbitrary,

White whispering in the ear of each –

completed by keyboardist Ikey Owens and

bassist Dominic Davis – to dictate the next

song. In a week when arguably the most

powerful man in the British music industry

is boasting of the album’s demise, it’s not

the inevitable ‘Seven Nation Army’ sing-along

that’s tonight’s highlight (though the

violin riff of ‘High Ball Stepper’ more than

rivals that for post-gig chants), the thrash

of ‘Sixteen Saltines’, or even the idea that

Mariah Carey was once invited to perform

backing vocals on a White Stripes song.

During ‘I’m Slowly Turning Into You’, an ‘Icky

Thump’ album track, a record frequently

cited as indicative of The White Stripes’

demise, Jack White stepped back from the

mic. The crowd sang every single word back.

That, George, is the power of an album in

action. (Emma Swann)

Why so blue?

Photo :David James Swanson

80 diymag.com

Photo: carolina faruolo

PARQUET COURTS

ULU, London

Masters of their craft.

“Y’all should hear what they say

about us,” jokes Parquet Courts’

Austin Brown, after feigning

surprise at the rowdiness of

this particular London crowd.

Whoever ‘they’ are, ‘they’ are,

of course, thickly laying on

the praise. Parquet Courts’

discography is nothing if not

enviable; last year’s ‘Tally All

The Things That You Broke’ as

near-perfect an EP as they come,

sandwiched between equally

impressive debut ‘Light Up

Gold’ and most recent release,

‘Sunbathing Animal’.

And ‘they’ will definitely be just as

enthusiastic about the Brooklyn

four-piece’s live status, too. After

the Mazes-Veronica Falls mashup

that is 60s psych-indie-pop

newcomers Ultimate Painting,

and the darkly magnificent thrash

fest of The Wytches have been

and gone, the headliners’ postpunk

racket is taught as hell.

Veering constantly and

consistently between frantic,

immediate and intense with

impeccable ease, Parquet Courts’

gorgeous Strokes-meets-Wire

cacophony delights both

crowd-surfers (including one

Jack Cooper) and chin-strokers

(the audience is mostly male;

and of a certain age at that) at

once, with the extended wigout

that accompanies ‘Into the

Garden’ seamlessly melting in

to the mayhem of ‘You’ve Got

Me Wonderin’ Now’ that causes

bassist Sean Yeaton to delve in to

the audience.

“Just wanna say to the house

security,” yells frontman Andrew

Savage, after the first of the

crowd-surfers are dragged out,

“we can hold our own up here.

But if you’re gonna bolt up,” he

quips to the audience, “you’d

better be more entertaining than

us.” Not likely. (Emma Swann)

SLEIGH

BELLS

Village Underground, London

leigh Bells are loud. They’re

Sgloriously loud. They’re earblisteringly

loud, and it’s incredible.

Taking to the London stage for the

first time since the release of their

last album (it really has been a while,

guys) the band’s intro music seems

somewhat quiet at first. It’s only as they

crash headfirst into opener ‘Minnie’

that it becomes apparent they just

hadn’t actually plugged in yet. Filling

the cavernous Village Underground

with sound is no mean feat but for

this duo (who tonight come complete

with two extra live members for good

measure) its seems effortless. Alexis

Krauss dances around stage – all leather

jacket, fingerless gloves and studs – as

her long hair whips back and forth to

the beat, and she plays the definition

of cool. Delving deftly through their

back catalogue, the gloriously noisy

renditions of ‘Bitter Rivals’, ‘Kids’

and ‘Infinity Guitars’ sound massive,

before ‘Sing Like A Wire’ kicks in with a

breakneck force that’d be impossible to

recreate on record. By the time their set

draws to an all-too-soon close with ‘A/B

Machines’, their mission is complete:

Sleigh Bells have laid waste to our

eardrums, but in the most satisfying

way. (Sarah Jamieson)

Straight A’s for the

noise rock pair.

Photo :emma swann

81

INDIE DREAMBOAT

Of the Month

DOMINIC

GANDERTON

Superfood

FULL NAME Dominic Charles

Ganderton. I’ve got a saints’

name as well, Roch. At school I

had to pick a name, and I didn’t

take it very seriously and was

just looking through in year five

or whatever it was, and was like,

yeah, Saint Roch, patron saint of

plague victims, that’s me!

FAVOURITE COLOUR:

Pastel green.

DRINK OF CHOICE

Rum and ginger beer.

BEST CHAT-UP LINE

I’ve never had to use a chat-up

line! I’d probably just go over and

mumble.

FAVOURITE CITY:

Berlin.

DIY

82 diymag.com

83

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