Interview mit Dead Ghosts

Von

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Dezember 4, 2013

Hey you are Dead Ghosts , it’s a real pleasure to do this interview with you for our blog! Let’s start with a quick introduction of you as a band ! Why Dead Ghosts?

Haha I can’t really say why. I was young, maybe 20 when we recorded a few songs and needed a name to put them under. I was really into Dead Moon, so I wanted a name like that, and we liked making music that sounded haunted. So somehow Dead Ghosts made sense at the time.

You are a Vancouver based Band but your sound reflects more the hot surfing.

We always liked the classics and old garage songs. A lot of those songs had surfy undertones as well. Early on it was classic stuff and the newer garage punk wave coming out around the mid 2000’s – King Khan & BBQ Show, Black Lips and Demon’s Claws were big influences.

Your first album „S/T“ came out end of 2010. Your second record, „Can’ get no“ came out this year under the label Burger records. Congrats! What did you do between this gap of three years ? Do you work beside being musicians?

Yes! We took some time off, worked, went to school. We never took it very seriously, it was always more of a hobby than anything. After we put out the new record we’ve started touring a lot more.

Back to ‘ Can’t get no’, what was your inspiration for this album?

Idk :(

What’s the story behind your third track „Summer with Phil“?

Someone asked me that a while ago, and it dawned on me that almost all our songs are about girls/love, or getting fucked up. But that song is sort of about seasonal depression. I named it after a friend of mine, Phil, he doesn’t suffer from seasonal depression, just sounded like a good title.

Which song took the most time to write/ record?

We have this song called „Roky Said“, it’s loosely about Roky Erikson from the 13th Floor Elevators. Initially the song was about Ray Davies. For some reason I was taking Kinks lyrics and using them, anyways it took a while, eventually it changed to Roky and it came together really quick.

According to you as a band, what is your favorite track from the album?

I don’t have a favourite. I hate them all equally.

Let’s get less serious now guys, what was the most freaky concert you have ever played until today? Which funny things happened there?

We’ve played a lot of really bad shows.

We played this house show in Eugene, Oregon on our first US tour. It was pretty awful. Like most shows booked, you don’t really know what to expect until you get there. We rolled up to this frat house of stoners playing beer pong. The opening band sounded like Korn. After we played we got really high and got Mexican food.

Your most hated song (for each member of the band) ?

Most hated Dead Ghosts song? We hate all our songs equally.

What are your plans for the future?

We’re going to do another record in a January – hopefully release it by the end of the year. The plan is to tour for most of 2014.

The last question is always the best : What would you call a perfect Friday night?

It’s a toss-up between playing music with my friends, and doing mushrooms at the beach.

Thank you Dead Ghosts! I wish you all the best for the future and good luck with you forthcoming record!

Hier könnt ihr euch den Song „Summer With Phil“ in voller Länge anhören:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRvafTLpLDE&w=560&h=315]

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Ale

M O N E Y

Von

Redaktion

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November 20, 2013

0

19.11.13 Karlstorbahnhof/Heidelberg Deutschland

Gegen 9 Uhr traten die sympathischen Jungs von The Austronaut’s Eye vor das doch spärliche Publikum und verkündete im großen Saal des Karlstorbahnhofes ihr vorläufiges Ende. Dies mag jetzt sehr dramatisch klingen, Fans der Band können aber beruhigt sein. Die Band wird mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit mit neuem Namen und neuen Songs einen zweiten Anlauf wagen. Sie hatten also die große Ehre die Konzertreihe „prêt à écouter 2013“ zu eröffnen. Nichtsdestotrotz muss man gestehen, dass man der Band aus Mannheim doch eine kleine Träne nachweinen muss, denn wer so professionell einen durchaus interessanten Mitschmatsch aus Indie und Electro abliefert, dem sei großen Respekt gezollt.

Nach ein paar Stücken und etlichen netten Worten vom Frontmann Julian Scharp machten sie dann die Bühne frei für den Hauptact des Abends. Und es waren wohl nicht wenige erstaunt, als sich dann so kurz vor 10 der Tontechniker, als Jamie Lee herausstellte, das Publikum begrüßte und mitteilte, dass er nun eine A Capella-Version vom The Pogues Klassiker “A Pair of Brown Eyes” zum Besten gab. Nach dieser sehr intimen und auch mitreißenden Version, betrat dann auch der Rest der Band die Bühne.

MONEY spielten einen Song nach dem anderen unaufgeregt herunter und versuchte durch reine Instrumentalität und rohe ,aber keineswegs aggressive, Stimmgewalt das Publikum überzeugen zu können. Nach ein paar Songs und der Single „Hold Me Forever“ war wohl auch dem Letzen klar, dass die Band aus Manchester sich nicht mit Bands wie The Stone Roses oder Oasis aufzählen lässt und wenn dann nur gemessen am Alkoholpegel von Jamie Lee. Dieser rannte nämlich nach dem dritten oder vierten Song kurzerhand zur Bar und genehmigte sich zwei Gläser Scotch (natürlich nicht on the rocks!). Mit Lees steigender Laune, die durch die zwei Schnäpse bedingt waren, schien es irgendwie mit der Laune der restlichen Bandmitglieder bergab zu gehen.

Wenn man den begnadeten Musikern überhaupt etwas vorwerfen möchte, dann ist es die Tatsache, dass man als Zuschauer und Hörer manchmal den Eindruck bekommt, als würde sich alles um den Frontman drehen. Nachdem Money das Publikum dann durch ihre unfassbar egreifenden Effekte und auch den Falsetto-ähnlichen Vocals eingewickelt hatte, wurde klar, dass die Band schon am Ende ihres Gigs angekommen ist. Und da Betrunkene ja scheinbar immer ehrlich sein sollen, tat es gut zu wissen, dass Frontmann Jamie Lee es sich nehmen ließ eine letzte Zugabe zu spielen, um das Publikum zu beglücken. Nach einer schönen Ballade von „fat guy“ Daniel Johnston, namens „True Love Will Find You In The End“ entließen MONEY das Publikum in der Gewissheit, dass hinter der Band aus Manchester mehr steckt, als nur ein vielsagendes Cover Art mit Jesuspose.

Hier gibt’s den Song „So Long (Godisdead)“ in voller Länge:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWSRrGGDLBk&w=560&h=315]

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Yannick

Interview mit HAUS

Von

Redaktion

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November 18, 2013

0

Hi, Haus! How are you? First off, could you briefly introduce yourselves?

Hi there, we’re the HAUS lads, we are Jack Bushell, singer, Ashley Mulimba, guitar, Lyle Simpson, drums, Ellis Mortimer, bass, Daniel Hylton Nuamar, also on Guitar, and Sam Kelly, guitar.

The word ‚Haus’ means something like ‚home’ or ‚house’ in german. What’s the story behind the band name?

Good question actually, well we the boys and I were doing a bit of soul searching in Morocco, in the Summer of ’10, and whilst stopping in Marrakech we were having a cuppa tea with a shamen, and mid-conversation, he entered this trance, absolutely overcome with shamanic verve. We kept trying to snap him out of it, and Sam even threw tea in his face to rouse him, but nothing would suffice. So about 40 minutes later we’re all sat about, waitig for him to snap out of it, he was riding the astral plain to ecstasy, when suddenly he woke up and whispered ‘House’. After that we decided we’de call the band HAUS, and spell it in german as to not confuse it with the Hugh Laurie show of the same name. We get asked that a lot actually, and the story is pretty dull, so we’re gonna invent new ones for every interview we do.

If you had to describe the band in a couple of words, what would they be?

Cocky, charming, sickly-sweet.

In your band description you say that you want ‚cuddle your fans with your music’. Could you tell us more about that?

We’re very social people, so we kind of find it strange transitioning from the social to the performance, so we like to engage in our audience. We’re very much about stage presence and not creating this theatrical wall of seriousness between the audience and us. What I’m trying to say is we shy away from clichés and generally taking ourselves too seriously.

Who or what influences your sound?

To be honest we all listen to a lot of hip hop, house and techno. Some of us in the band really don’t listen to indie at all, its just what happens to come out most prominently when we make music, if we all listened to indie, then our music would be too uniformed, we like to think our six-combined tastes diversify our output, if that makes sense?

You often get compared to bands like The Maccabees or Foals, right? Do you listen to this kinds of bands a lot?

I think all of us at some point in our formative years had respective Maccabees and Foals ‘phases’. We’re still fans, we still follow that and we look back on those phases very fondly indeed, but like a lot of indie bands we like to keep progressing with our tastes, keeping an open mind. And ear. Open ears.

What’s your favourite release of the year so far?

Great question, well, a few of us really enjoyed Kanye West’s ‘Yeezus’ when it first came out, but I think if theres one unifying album its most probably ‘Overgrown’ by James Blake, we were playing that for a good month or two.

If you weren’t in a band what would you be doing?

Jack would be finishing his studies and pursuing a career in T.V, so pretty much what he’s doing already, Ashley would probably be at uni and the boys would be carrying on their full time jobs, and session musician-ing. We’ve only been together 18 months if you think about it so its not quite got to the stage where we’re arranging our 5-year plans around it, but we’re taking everything as each day comes

You’re still unsigned, right? Do you consider it as an advantage or a disadvantage?

Definitely an advantage at the moment because we’re all about building a fan-base first and not being completely reliant on a label, but in the future it goes without saying that it would be an advantage, our music has quite a wide, catchy, sugar-sweet appeal and we like to focus on aesthetics aswell so we’re definitely eager to be heard by as many people as possible

What can we expect from you in the future?

The future of HAUS is definitely going to be more consistent shows outside London, hopefully some festivals and definitely a release on the horizon. I hope we haven’t ruined the mystery of it all by telling you all that!

Is there any chance that we’ll get to see you in Europe soon?

We’re not so sure yet, theres been talk of Oslo, and Hamburg, but certain decisions being made in the coming weeks will begin to definitely move things in that direction. That’s all we’re saying.

And then, last but not least, what’d you call a perfect Friday night?

Cheers for the interview, it’s been a pleasure! Perfect Friday night for us would be going for a pint in our favourite pub, the Defectors Weld in Shepards Bush, and then either going to see a band play or going out and finding a club. That said, some of our best nights have been when we finish a gig, get a few pints in, get some Boris bikes out, and cycle the night away.

Cheers for the interview, it’s been a pleasure!

The pleasure was all ours darling, catch you in a bit.

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Yannick

Interview mit Tom Knights von The Mono Polys!

Von

Redaktion

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November 9, 2013

1

Hi guys! How are you? What about a quick introduction of The Mony Polys and you as members of the band?

Hello, I am Tom Knights and i am the singer and guitarist of the band.

What’s the story behind the name of your band? Are you guys that much into monopoly?

The name was such a hard decision. Basically, just before our first ever gig, we were still nameless and i think one of us had recently been playing monopoly, but none of us are huge fans of the game….However, it is important to break the word up „mono“ and ‚polys“ pronounced ‚pollies“…..rather than the game. There has already been a debate about our name on BBC Radio 1 so thats really cool.

Your first album ‚Pavilion’ was produced by Joel Stoker oft he Rifles. Could you tell us more about this collaboration?

Joel didn’t actually produce Pavilion, We produced it with our manager. It was more of a process from the management to say ‚ do you really want this then make an album‘. We had a limited budget, which shows at times but it gave us enough confidence to say ‚lets go for it‘ and we were delighted it received national air play. Our manager approached Joel to see if he would be interested in producing our new ep Blossom. This is Joel’s first attempt at producing and we are delighted with the results, a great genuine guy and its great knowing someone who has achieved exactly what we hope to do.

How would you describe your sound in a few words?

I would say we are pop music thats gone wrong! Our songs are quite catchy, but all have a darker edge to them. Our manager calls it ’suicide pop‘.

What can we expect from ‚Blossom’?

The ‚Blossom‘ ep is a huge development from Pavilion, and see’s 2 new members join the band. Brothers Isaac on drums and Luke on Bass/Guitar. This has given us a lot more depth and makes our sound bigger, louder and stronger!

Erm, we have just filmed a music video for our song „Insomnia“ which is one of the songs from Blossom. We have actually recorded the track in French as well and maybe in the future will record one of our tracks in german, i know this is something i would personally like to do and something we are keen to do….where possible make our music accessible to everyone, especially in Germany when you think how it it has contributed to music. Recently i was in Berlin for a few days, it gave me the opportunity to write sopme music and I’ve come away with a demo called B.E.R.L.I.N which i would hope will be recorded early next year.

That should hopefully be released in the next few weeks! As well as that, i will continue to keep writing songs and i expect the next instalment of songs to be much more experimental than the last, i have a few ideas already.

You’re first video for ‚Growing Old’, has been critized a lot on youtube, despite the fact that it’s a really good song. Do you have any explanations for that?

Growing old didn’t go down well at all haha, i think the main reason for that was because people just didn’t understand that we were having fun in the video. They heard this Joy division-esque bass line and thought i had to be dead serious and miserable, but we just wanted to enjoy our selves from the start. Are people who take life seriously, taken it too seriously and just couldn’t see the irony of being in a big hole lol lol. All the negativity actually ended up getting us about 10000 views, which probably wouldn’t have happened if we had released a boring video.

Which of your influences would you love to hang out with for a day?

I would love to hang out with anyone who has as much as a passion for music as i do. No matter whether i like their music or not, They’d definitely have some advice to give me.

Which artists have you been listening to lately? Any insider-tip for this year?

I haven’t actually listened to much music over the past few months. But i will always recommend The Cure, in particular the album Faith. Also someone that i absolutely love is Ducktails, he’s the guitarist from a band called Real Estate, but his music is so much more soulful and simple if you ask me! Check his new EP called Wish „Hotel“ out.

Let’s get less serious! What is the funniest thing to happen to you at one of your gigs?

Last November supported the Rifles on tour with. The whole tour was a laugh, but for me the highlight for me was the night we played Bristol. We somehow ended up getting free beer and defiantly made sure we made the most of that. On our way back to London we decided to go out, but the beer got the best of us and we were fast asleep within minutes and never made it out. Not very rockstar of us. i don’t think we can ever forget our first gig at Nottingham, not so much for the gig which was ok but travelling back to London. Travelling down the M1 at autobahn speeds and suddenly hearing BBC DJ Janice Long playing ‚Pavilion‘ on national radio. We couldn’t believe it and our manager nearly crashed the car. It could have been over before it started.

If you weren’t in a band what would you be doing?

If i wasn’t in a band, I’d be looking for people to be in a band with me or desperately trying to work out how to perform some songs on my own!

And last but not least, what’d you call a perfect friday night?

A perfect friday night for me is going to see a band that i’ve never heard of before, and loving them. Then i love going home and writing some music inspired by my evening.

Thanks for the interview! It’s been a pleasure. I wish you all the best!

Thank you for speaking to us! Make sure you check our website out at the-mono-polys.com and spread the word about us!

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Yannick

Temples

Von

Redaktion

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November 7, 2013

0

05.11.13 Rockhalcafe/Esch-sur-Alzette Luxembourg

Im Vorfeld zum Sonic Visions-Festival haben die Veranstalter ihren Fans mit Temples bereits einen kleinen Appetizer serviert. Für viele war es an dem Tag wahrscheinlich der einzige Lichtblick. Das Wetter war es nämlich nicht. Dementsprechend war also auch das das Café gefüllt. Die paar Schaulustigen mussten sich dann eine halbe Stunde gedulden, bis die vier Jungs von Temples dann endlich auf die Bühne getreten sind.

Ab dem ersten Gitarrenriff hat sich der Saal dann aber wenigstens bildlich gesehen deutlich erhellt. Die Band tritt mit einer unfassbaren Energie auf, die einen im ersten Moment fast erstarren lässt. Die zaghaften Versuche von Frontman James Edward Bagshaw mit einem „How are you guys?“ das luxemburgische Publikum zu animieren scheiterten leider kläglich. Als die Band dann mit „Colourful Life“ den ersten bekannteren Song hat anklingen lassen, hatte einen Moment lang den Eindruck, das Publikum würde auftauen. Irgendwann so nach „Prisms“ haben sie es dann doch sein gelassen und sich voll und Ganz auf ihr musikalisches Können konzentriert.

Zwischendurch haben sie dann auch mal so nebenbei einen neuen Track rausgehauen. Es ist gut möglich, dass dies die neue Single der Band sein wird, der der Song doch einen großen Eindruck auf’s Publikum gemacht hat. Einen großen Vorwurf kann man Temples also eigentlich kaum machen. Im Gegenteil, also vom Handwerklichen her, kann man der Band eigentlich nur eine glatte Eins geben. Als die Briten dann nach ihrem vierzig-minüten Set mit „Shelter Song“ abgeschlossen haben, war auf einmal auch das Publikum kurzzeitig zur Stelle und forderte sogar ganz zaghaft ein Encore. Dies wär dann doch des Guten ein wenig zu viel gewesen.

Hier gibt es den Song „Sun Structures“ in voller Länge zu hören:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCxao4jFLHI&w=560&h=315]

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Yannick

Interview mit Storms

Von

Redaktion

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Oktober 29, 2013

1

Hi guys! How are you? What about a quick introduction of STORMS and you as members of the band?

George: Hi, I’m good thanks. Well we’re a 4 piece guitar band based in London. Felix plays lead guitar, Yacob plays bass and provides backing vocals, Ben plays the drums, and I sing and play rhythm guitar.

Your first EP ‚Visions‘ sounds brilliant. I hope it’s more like an appetizer for a following album?

George: Thanks man. Yeah, we’re gonna release an album next year. For me, the three tracks on ‚Visions EP‘ aren’t even in our top three best songs so I’m really excited about the prospect of recording our debut album. We wrote this song called ‚Swell‘ last month which is my favourite, we’ve got a new track called ‚Undress‘ that Felix wrote which I’m really excited about, and yeah, I just can’t wait to record them properly. I guess now all we need is to find a producer who is right for us, ‚cause at the moment we’ve producing ourselves, and I think a top class producer would take it to the next level.

How would you describe your sound in a few words?

George: Grunge Pop – a mixture of 90s brit pop & grunge, but with a modern stamp on it.

‚I Had A Vision Last Night‘ is a great song! It reminds me a bit of The Stone Roses? What’s the song about?

George: Stone Roses? That’s interesting, the guitars are quite Stone Rosesy I guess. The song is about dreaming of a better place, escapism, and freedom. We stole the ‚I Had A Vision Last Night‘ line from Bill Hick’s book ‚Love All The People‘. Felix and I were writing the song in his bedroom, I had written the chords for the verse, and we were struggling to come up with a opening line or melody. I happened to have the book on me at the time so I just flicked to a random page for inspiration and the first line was ‚I Had A Vision Last Night‘. We went with that line, I went downstairs for a cup of tea, and when I came back up 5 minutes later Felix had pretty much written all the verses and he was in the middle of writing the chorus.

Does one of you write most of the songs you perform or do you work on the music together? George: It really varies. Sometimes Felix will have an idea or a song that’s fully developed, sometimes Felix and I will write together, sometimes Yacob and Felix will write together, sometimes Yacob and I will write together, and sometimes we’ll all write together at band practice. The most important thing is that there are no egos, we all get on really well, we all want what’s best for the band, and that’s to write the best songs possible.

Which of your influences would you love to hang out with for a day?

George: Hmmm.. I’m thinking maybe Snoop Dogg (Or is it Snoop Lion now?), I’d love to see if digs my impression of him… however, I’m not so good on the weed, I’d probably fall asleep and waste the whole day with him… Yeah, fuck that, I’m gonna go with Noel Gallagher. Ol‘ Parker from Thunderbirds would be be a right laugh wouldn’t he!

Which artists have you been listening to lately?

George: Wolf Alice, Broken Hands, Jagwar Ma, Mac DeMarco, Azealia Banks, Temples, Splashh, Big Deal, Foxygen… I love Vampire Weekend’s latest record too.

Which album changed your life?

George: It’s out of The Verve – Urban Hymns or Radiohead – The Bends…. I’ll go with The Bends.

Any insider-tip for this year?

George: I think Superfood are ones to watch. They have this tune which is also called ‚Superfood‘, it’s quality. It’s like a mix of Beck, Blur, and Radiohead. I can’t wait to hear their album next year.

Let’s get less serious!

If you weren’t in a band what would you be doing?

George: Playing chess with old people.

What are your musical guilty pleasures? (we all have one..)

George: I love songs like ‚New Radicals – You Only Get What You Give‘ and ‚Livin Joy – I’m A Dreamer‘. But should I be guilty about that? Maybe, I dunno… The first album I ever bought was ‚Mike and The Mechanics – Beggar On A Beach Of Gold‘ if that’s what you’re after? Haha, I was only 7 years old at the time though.

What’s your favourite sports team? (If you have one)

George: West Ham. COYI!

And a last one. What’d you call a perfect Friday night?

George: Listening to tunes and getting on it with friends round my mate Gubbo’s house.

Thanks for the interview, I really appreciated it. I wish you all the best for the future! Fingers crossed for a following album!

George: Thanks man. All the best with you too, we must do this again after the album comes out.

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Yannick

Interview mit Darlia

Von

Redaktion

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Oktober 15, 2013

0

Hi Darlia! Congrats for the „Queen Of Hearts“ video. It’s great!

Thank you!

But first off, what about a quick introduction of yourselves and the band?

Sure, we’re Darlia. A 3 piece from England – Blackpool. We live in Manchester now. Nathan – guitar and vocals, Davey – bass and Jack – drums. We’ve been going for less than a year but I (Nathan) have been writing songs my whole life.

How would you describe your sound in a few words?

Turn It Up

Your first EP „Knock Knock“ is coming out on the 28th of October. What can we expect from it?

Expect… Lots of tailored noise.

Which artists have you been listening to lately?

We’ve been listening to.. Black Sabbath, Smashing Pumpkins, Jeff Buckley.

You often get compared to bands like Nirvana and other grunge bands. Which bands or artists have influenced you the most?

As the songwriter, there are no definitive influences from artists or bands – everything in the world and what gets to me is where it comes from. As for the sound of our music, that’s down to how it naturally occurs.

Who would your dream gig be with?

Supporting Pixies would be amazing.

Let’s get less serious! What is the funniest thing to happen to you at one of your gigs?

We love this question. So many great stories are made while gigging. One gig, as we were cleaners at the time – we had to be at the venue to soundcheck at 5pm. Our cleaning shifts finished at half 6. We had to hide our guitars / basses and equipment in bin bags and hide from CCTV cameras and make it look like we were taking rubbish out when we ran into the car and drove to the gig and left our shifts extra early.

What are your musical guilty pleasures? (we all have one..)

Cyndi Lauper and Kate Bush.. Don’t tell anyone.

What’s something about Darlia that nobody knows yet?

There’s a big deal about us playing in London – when the right time is etc. The thing is that nobody knows, is that before this took off we actually got a Megabus down to London from Blackpool – which was a total bus journey of about 12 hours. We played in front of 3 or 4 people and got the bus back again!

And lastly, what would you call a perfect friday night?

Scented candles + liquor.

Thanks a lot for this interview! It’s been an honour.

Cheers! Thank you very very much!

***

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Yannick