Comfort in Sound

Madina Lake at Corporation, Sheffield

2011-11-18T17:34:00.001Z

Madina Lake made their return to Sheffield as part of their UK tour on Monday. It was the first UK tour for the band since Matthew Leone’s life threatening accident and it left an excellent feeling knowing the support he has.

The first band up were Super Happy Fun Club - 6/10
They put on a good, although nowhere near as ‘fun’ as their name implies which is a little disappointing. The music was good but some of the vocals seemed weak, however these are nice guys and deserve support, also have some of the best merch around.

The main support for the night came from My Passion - 9.5/10
This was a superb performance, having seen them play a few years ago the band now has a heavier sound that they pull off to an exceptional standard. The only thing I could complain about was Laurence’s sunglasses when he came on stage, thankfully he took them off after a couple of songs.

Madina Lake 8/10
This seemed like a slow start but once it got it was superb. The Chicago four piece blast out the likes of ‘Never take us alive’ and ‘let’s get outta here’ along with songs from their new album ‘World War III’. Occasionally it became emotion as Nathan Leone referred back to the life threatening accident his brother had and its good to see him back doing what he truly enjoys. Overall this was a great night, even if you aren’t sure about Madina Lake its still worth going.

Enter Shikari at O2 Academy, Sheffield

2011-10-20T18:50:00.003+01:00

Enter Shikari are back touring the UK for the first time in around 2 years. After going to the Sheffield gig of this tour you can take my review from 2 years ago, read it again and double up the awesomeness, that will give you some idea of how good these guyus are live. The point that they have gotten better, slicker and more insane is unbelievable. but, Im getting ahead of myself a little here.

Anyone who has tickets to see the Shikari boys on this tour, you're in for a treat. I can say that knowing it will be true no matter where you are. The support bands Let:Live and Your Demise are really good rock/screamo bands, I admit I dont know their songs but a lot of people got really into it and it warmed everyone in the audience up nicely. However, to the dance/dubstep ES fans these may not be for you.

Anyway, speaking of 'warming up' one of the first things I noticed once the 2000+/- people were crammed in and waiting for the band was just how hot it is! I was sweating before ES even came on stage!

The fourpiece from St Albans come on stage to masses of cheers and screams, launching straight into the first song Destabilise. With 2012 bringing the their third full album the tunes keep coming; Mothership, Zzzonked, Return to Energiser and No Sssweat to name a few. Recent releases Quelle Surprise and Sssnakepit are thrown in alongside songs off the upcoming album such as Arguing With Thermometers.

All made for a frantic, uncontrollable pace that you have to go with as if you're on a themepark ride. The pits appeared pretty vicious but anyone who fell down was helped back up which was good to see.

The music was loud and quite simply brilliant, the banter was funny ("Cool me down Steve!" For anybody who was there) and the show was superb. I cannot recommend going to see Enter Shikari highly enough, Karl Pilkington should add it to his An Idiot Abroad bucket list!

Zebrahead - Get Nice! Music Video & UK dates‏

2011-07-26T19:33:00.003+01:00

The title track from zebrahead’s forthcoming album ‘Get Nice!’ is now available to buy digitally and the accompanying video has also been unveiled. It can be viewed here. The band will be playing a one-off headline date at London’s Garage on Monday 8^th August. Tickets available at www.ticketweb.co.uk. This will follow a performance at Hevy Festival in Kent the day before with the likes of Four Year Strong and Funeral or A Friend.

Matty from the band says of the forthcoming trip to this part of the world – "I can't wait to get back to Europe! The fans are incredible! I wish I could take them all home with me and adopt them!"

The La Habra, CA-based punk inspired rock outfit zebrahead was formed in the mist of the Orange County punk explosion and since their incarnation they have had highs and lows, sold over 1.5 million albums to date, survived label changes, garnered a Grammy nomination and toured nonstop. Fueled by pure determination and a lot of beer the band is still going strong.

Get ready to Get Nice!

Interview with The First Floor

2010-05-03T16:02:00.003+01:00

Fresh off their second appearance at Sheffield’s O2 Academy, emerging South Yorkshire band The First Floor look set for big things in 2010. Formed in the summer of 2007, the band consists of Jonny Knott (Vocals/Guitar), Matthew Stewart (Guitar), Liam Ruane (Bass) and Tom “The Captain” Jones (Drums). This week I caught up with Jonny and Liam for an exclusive interview.

How would you describe The First Floor’s sound to someone who has never heard you before?

Jonny: Unpredictable, shouted alt-rock? I think so.
Liam: I always find it hard to compare our sound to another band. I don't mean to sound big-headed but I don't think there are a lot of other bands out there like us. I'd say if you put Biffy Clyro, Fightstar and Twin Atlantic in a blender, then sprinkled a little pop rock/punk on top you're not too far off us.

How do you guys write songs?

Liam: Usually our song writing process consists of either Matt or Johnny coming up with a guitar riff or chord pattern and work on it from there. The lyrics usually come afterward, although sometimes the lyrics and vocal tune can alter the song. We're always very picky about our song writing, we have loads of songs we've never played live or old songs we've scrapped just because we don't think they're good enough.
Jonny: We tend to go off the back of a guitar part that has something catchy, or a good rhythm, and songs can take us 3 weeks or 3 hours to fully write.

What was it like gigging with Twenty/Twenty?

Jonny: I don't know because we basically didn't. They rarely spoke to us...I think they have boundary issues. Playing the Sheffield Academy was a blast though and we get to do it again on the 13th May.
Liam: It's been an experience to say the least.... It's good to get a taste of a sort of 'big league' in terms of gigging. The Academy is a great venue to play and we've met plenty of nice people whilst playing there and it was nice of them to ask us back again

Tell us something people don't know about you?

Liam: Me, Matt and Tom used to play in a band before this, but Tom played bass instead of drums and I played guitar.
Jonny: We once attempted to cover Let's Get Retarded by the Black Eyed Peas....but it never made it to a gig.

What’s the best thing about being in a band?

Liam: The best thing would definitely be the gigging. There's nothing quite like getting a few hundred kids jumping up and down or clapping along to a song you have written like at the Academy, I get such a buzz from it. It's ace hanging out afterward and talking to people who like your music.
Jonny: Gigs! They are the only point of being in a band. Since we've started certain gigs have stood out as the best we've played, and now the good ones are becoming far more frequent, we're on the up.

Who are your personal musical inspirations?

Liam: My inspirations initially came from video games. I used to play Crazy Taxi on the Dreamcast which the soundtrack consisted of The Offspring and other punk bands. That got me into music. Just listening to bands in general who do something a little different to the mainstream stuff catch my eye a little more.
Jonny: None I’m completely unique. Fightstar, The Editors, Twin Atlantic and Johnny Foreigner.

What is your favourite album to listen to at the minute?

Jonny: Aim & Ignite by a band called Fun, or Common Dreads by Enter Shikari. I can't choose. Liam: I've been listening to Deaf Havana's album Meet Me Halfway, At Least a lot recently. They’re a sort of English Alexisonfire but a bit more poppy.

What is your favourite First Floor song and why?

Liam: My favourite song is Make a Scene. It's quite an upbeat powerful song that when I play it gets me pumped up and fuelled. It's quite unpredictable too, how the tempo changes quite dramatically at the start.
Jonny: Also Make a Scene, because I know who it's about and nobody else does.

What are your long-term hopes for The First Floor?

Liam: In the long run I'd hope for The First Floor to play more Academy gigs rather than the gritty bars we're used to. I think we have got what it takes to play some of these venues with bigger bands, it's just about being somewhere at the right moment and time. I'd also like to be given the chance to tour the U.K.
Jonny: Wembley! Or, to keep going, make more songs, make better songs, play better gigs. We only ever look as far as the next gig.

Do you have any news about future plans? Anything lined up?

Liam: Just looking for gigs over the summer at the moment, we're thinking of recording a music video too to help promote ourselves a bit.
Jonny: We're trying to hop on Tramlines festival in the summer, and next year we're planning to tour which we've never done before. So that'll be a fucking disaster...

The First Floor will be playing at the Atticus Black Tour live at Sheffield O2 Academy on Thursday 13th May alongside Canadian rockers Ten Second Epic, Blitz Kids and Cars on Fire. Tickets are £5. Check the band’s MySpace at www.myspace.com/thefirstfloor or search “The First Floor” on Facebook for further details.

By Joe Denny

Interview with Twenty/Twenty

2010-04-22T13:13:00.005+01:00

After forming Twenty/Twenty little over a year ago the three piece from Essex have been on the rise ever since. Sam (Vocals/Guitar), Jack (Bass/Vocals) and Sonny (Drums/Vocals) are headlining around the UK and bringing more fans than ever to their shows. Despite the pressures of the first night of a tour, starting in Sheffield, the mood was calm and collected.

When we are introduced the three guys seem in a relaxed mood but with a certain level of excitement just under the surface.

This is the first night of the tour, how have you prepared?
Jack: Well we’ve done a lot of rehearsals and stuff, it’s been quite tight because we’ve been quite busy at the moment.
Sonny with a grin on his face glances over to a stage hand “bit of a stressful sound check but its all good.”
Jack: But yeah lots of practice and its fine.

Why the gap in the middle of the tour?
Jack: Oh the month off, seems more like a year.
Sam: We originally booked it as a 2 week tour, but no matter where we put it, we couldn’t do it without clashes with people being at school. So, we've had to do this half in the Easter holidays and the second half over half-term.

It’s got nothing to do with a couple of birthdays over May?
Sam: Well they have got birthdays but no, it’s got nothing to do with that, it’s based on the fans and on the schools.
Jack: For the age group of our fans, they're doing their GCSE’s soon so we want to fit it around them.

And this show is nearly a year on from your first tour...
Sam & Jack: Yeah about a year.
Sam: Was it the beginning of June?
Jack: Yep June the 6th I think. That was with Saving Aimee.

Have you had any stand out moments since then?
Jack: There’s some shows that we played.
Sam: Tonight’s a bit like that, this is only the third time we've played here, second time we've headlined and I think it’s on the borders of selling out tonight so that was a bit of a moment.
Jack: It’s quite cool. For me the big January tour was a massive step for us in seeing the amount of people at our shows. It’s a good sign of the work paying off.
Sam: Tonight there’s about twice as many people as last time we played here. We’re expecting about 400, so I'm really excited.
Jack: It’ll be bigger so that’s good.
Sonny: It’ll be fun, it'll be a laugh, you know.

Fans of Twenty/Twenty will be in for a treat as Sam told us about the upcoming release of ‘Get down and live with Twenty/Twenty.’ ‘It is a live DVD that was filmed at the end of our last tour at London Islington Academy. It was our biggest London show to date, with about 700 people. There are new songs in there, it’s also just a chance for anyone that hasn’t got to see us live yet. And because it’s on our website it’s really good for all the fans abroad because we've only toured the UK. Whenever we do another tour we think of ways to make it better, or to exceed the last one. I think any band can play live, but it’s harder for bands to do it well. We do our best to make it entertaining and be a bit quirky on stage otherwise it’s just no fun.’

There’s lot of questions about how the name came about but, what other band names did you consider? Any really bad ones?
Jack: Yeah, we have like a whole folders worth of names, ‘cause we spent about two months trying to decide on one. Quite a lot of them we were happy with but we weren’t happy that we would be called it.
Sam: One of the last ones before twenty/twenty, which sounds a bit weird now was ‘Heads and Tales’ just to try and be quirky but that didn’t work.
Jack: What else... ‘New Era’
Sonny: Yeah, that one’s alright.
Sam: But none of them just clicked as well as twenty/twenty. I don’t think our name would be out as much if it wasn’t as memorable.
Sonny: When we first thought of it, we were just going to have it for the time being.
Jack: Yeah it was a temporary name.

So you're not trying to reserve the year 2020 for yourselves...?
All: That's true
Sam: How old will we be then, ten years from now?
Jack: So about 30...
Sam: It'll be a kind of blink thing wont it.

Sonny what's going on with you and Peter Andre? I saw that you tweeted him.
Jack: I saw that.
Sam: I didn’t know you’d tweeted him, what did you say?
Sonny: This is why I tweeted him, it was April 1st and Jack came over to me and went ‘pinch, punch first of the month’. I was like ‘Ha yeah, good one’. Two minutes later I check twitter and Peter Andre said the same thing, and I thought it was well weird. To be honest Peter Andre is a legend...
Sam and Jack crack up.
Sonny: He is though.
Jack: Sonny’s got posters of him in his room.
Sonny: That's a bit far...
Sam: That's where rumors start. The rumors about Sonny and Peter Andre all start from Jack.
Jack: Sonny’s made me like him more than I use to.
They both turn and look at each other before breaking out into laughter.
Sonny: He’s just a cool guy, they just make it a big thing. You wait, I am gonna get them back.
Do they gang up on you?
Sonny: Yeahhh...
Jack laughs.
Sam: No we don’t. You two gang up on me all the time.
Sonny: well... yeah...

Can you tell us any other secrets that people don’t know about you?
Sonny: I can tell you how much I hate these two...
Sam: Me and Jack were involved quite a lot at school with musical theatre, which sounds a bit weird but I think it might have helped us on stage and stuff.
Jack decides to get to the point: Basically we did a lot of drama in school.
Sam: But it’s something I’d like to do again. Whenever we do our video shoots we always have to do acting bits and I'm awful at it but I use to be good when I was younger and I’d like to get back into it. I use to be quite proud of it when I was younger.

Do you have any plans for the future?
Jack: We always have a plan.
Sam: We've got a lot of writing sessions coming up which we hopefully get our album finished. We've done the majority of it but we still need a few songs to finish it off. In the short term we’re doing lots of promotion for our get down live DVD and our single, worlds apart.

Expect to see Twenty/Twenty’s album out soon.

Damon Fowler

You Me at Six at O2 Academy, Sheffield

2010-04-06T14:53:00.006+01:00

Rating: 4/5
11/03/10 O2 Academy, Sheffield

Beginning the night with a rousing sing-along of Blink 182’s All The Small Things sets an appropriate feel-good tone, and it appears Sheffield is in good voice this evening, even before a band has hit the stage.

It’s barely 7:30 when We The Kings kick off, but this place is sold out and is already absolutely packed. The opening track from their new album Smile Kid, called She Takes Me High has an infectious chorus that gets the room bouncing and singing along as they exceed every expectation of an opening band.

Frontman Travis Clark has the crowd eating from his hand as he displays his impressive range during Secret Valentine. Other highlights include new single Heaven Can Wait, crowd favourite Check Yes Juliet and a cover of Jimmy Eat World’s hit The Middle; a nice touch for anybody not familiar with We The Kings.

A fantastic opening band playing unashamedly good pop punk anthems.

Next to take to the stage is Forever The Sickest Kids. The Texan six-piece are bursting with energy and the crowd are still in full voice as they surge forward during opening song She’s a Lady. Despite promoting their recent EP The Weekend: Friday, they only played one song from it, preferring older material from their 2008 release Underdog Alma Mater; not that the crowd seemed to mind.

Their most famous song Whoa Oh! (Me vs. Everyone) goes down well, but for all the crowd love them, this performance doesn’t feel like everything it could be. FTSK are a decent band, but their material is nowhere near as strong as that of the other two bands on show this evening.

When You Me at Six finally hit the stage, the crowd once again burst into life as the drum intro to Safer to Hate Her gets them bouncing with so much force the whole room appears to be shaking. After the first few songs, the sounds of air-raid sirens from the beginning of The Consequence blared through the room for just a little too long, before the simple black backdrop was dropped, unveiling a much more impressive stage, and the band waste no time in bombing around it. Most of the new album, Hold Me Down is showcased, and sounds awesome. The occasional nod to their debut effort Take Off Your Colours is well received, particularly The Truth Is A Terrible Thing and Jealous Minds Think Alike.

Another high point of the night was the tear-jerking Always Attract, the token ballad of their set. Mobile Phones, Glow-sticks and the occasional lighter (most certainly belonging to someone well under the age of 18) filled the air. Singer Josh Franceschi’s typically “emo” lyrics do well in the transition from upbeat rocker to this slow, mushy number.

The encore capped off a fine performance. Save It For The Bedroom and Underdog gave the fans their last chance to jump around and scream their lungs out. A heartfelt thanks for supporting them and allowing them to play on such stages was a classy touch from the genuinely humbled Surrey Quintet.

Words by Joe Denny,
Pictures by Damon Fowler,
Comfort in Sound

We The Kings second album and UK tour

2010-02-23T14:20:00.003Z

We The Kings "Heaven Can Wait"

We The Kings | MySpace Music Videos

We The Kings have a new album called 'Smile Kid' out March 8th with 'Heaven Can Wait being the first single from it. They're also going to be hitting the road to support You Me At Six on the following dates:

March 9 Birmingham O2 Academy
March 10 Kingsway Newport Centre
March 11 Sheffield O2 Academy
March 12 Manchester Apollo
March 13 Newcastle O2 Academy 2
March 14 Glasgow O2 Academy
March 16 Leeds O2 Academy
March 17 Nottingham Rock City
March 18 Southampton Guildhall
March 19 Norwich UEA
March 20 London Brixton Academy

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

WIll Simpson's Top 10 US TV Shows

2010-02-10T12:45:00.002Z

Bands have plenty of time on tour to watch TV and films and with Brigade getting on the road in April we asked frontman, Will Simpson what's his Top 10 American TV Shows

1. The Wire

I'd go as far as saying this is the best TV show I have ever seen. I'd heard people banging on about it for ages but never got round to watching it...now I can't get enough and will be gutted when I finish Season 5. It's the grittiest, most realistic drama I have ever seen and the script is incredible. I love the fact there's no music anywhere else apart from the title sequence - it just doesn't need it because the writing is so good. Plus it's got some unforgettable characters like Omar, McNulty and Stringer Bell and has featured one of the best lines ever spoken in a script... "Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet."

2. 24

I was blown away by 24 the first time I saw it as i'd never seen a show with such a wicked concept as being in real time and also was shocked when season 1 finale was not a happy one and, despite numerous amazing twists throughout, my jaw hit the floor in the final sequence as you expected everything to work out in the end. The show was ground breaking and since then elements have been copied many times but rarely beaten. It's gotten more and more ridiculous with every season but I still love watching copious episodes back to back and it always has me hook, line and sinkered. It'll be a sad day if Jack Bauer bites the dust.

3. Breaking Bad

I've only just started watching this after our manager tipped me off about how good it is. I'm just finishing Season 1 and it's more than lived up to expectation. I love how dark the concept is yet it perfectly balances the emotional content with black humour and intrigue which makes it addictive. If someone had told me superb show would be made about a chemistry teacher whose wife is pregnant, has a disabled son and works two jobs finds out he is dying of lung cancer but doesn't have good enough insurance and ends up trying to sell crystal meth to disastrous consequences...I would have laughed in their face.

4. Curb Your Enthusiasm

Larry David is a genius it's as simple as that. I'm reluctant to admit i've barely seen any Seinfeld but his own outing into acting in a comedy is nothing short of hilarious. All the actors are brilliant (his actual friends also playing exaggerated versions of themselves) and it's made even sweeter by the fact that it feels so improvised. "Self-centred, misanthropic and regularly difficult, Larry creates awkwardness and discomfort in social situations. His problems are often caused by his neuroses and obstinate faith in his understanding of ethics and etiquette." In short, Larry David is misunderstood and I can't wait to see the 7th season.

5. Sex And The City

I don't care what you may say I am neither gay nor extremely effeminate - this show is awesome. I've seen all six seasons and it has been pure entertainment at it's best from start to finish - there isn't one bad episode. Plus i've learnt a few things too. The acting is fantastic (with only one exception is all those years - Geri Halliwell's cameo in 2003 was truly horrendous) and the film was good too. The character development throughout the seasons was great and it comes in a nice pretty box set for the ladies to own next to tattered copies of The Wire. I'm looking forward to the film sequel, see you in the cinema men.

6. American Dad

All the guys in the band love this show. I can't believe some of the scenes they get away with like Whitney Houston on her knees begging for crack offering her dishevelled mouth to Stan. The comedy is awesome and has some of the funniest most quotable lines I have ever heard. I've never seen our guitarist James crying with laughter as much as he did when he first saw the dog that Stan buys Steve to help get girls. Roger and Stan are fantastic characters and both played brilliantly by the show's creator Seth McFarlane. It's the perfect show to watch on tour and the best piss take of America done by Americans i've ever seen.

7. Flash Forward

The first season is half way through right now and on hold as it's being shown at the same time all over the world and America like their mid-season breaks...damn it. Can't wait for the second half - it's another cracking new concept where each character glimpses themselves six months into the future and is left to deal with what they saw and whether their future is already sealed. For some they may be being cheated on, for others they might be dead...sweet stuff. Also the cast is dominated by Brits which is a refreshing change and we're leading up to the exact date of the flashback in real time - April 29th 2010 people!

8. Scrubs

My brother and I piss ourselves when we watch this show. Some of the humour is very slapstick but other parts are much more subtle and really clever. J.D's comical daydreams are always amusing and it tugs nicely on the emotional heartstrings too without making you want to vomit on the TV. Plus the character of the lawyer is unbelievably funny and he sings in a barbershop quartet as if his lines alone aren't good enough. I've been interested in hospital doctors' experiences ever since I read 'Bodies' by Jed Mecurio and this brilliantly balances ridiculous humour with real-life experiences and is still going strong.

9. Dungeons & Dragons

A childhood classic and one of the best cartoons I have ever seen. I love good sci-fi/fantasy and this ticked all the boxes. But the one thing with this show I've struggled to let go of all my life was the moment the children missed the perfect chance to return to their world and would have done had it not been for the frickin' unicorn tripping up...unbelievable. D & D had it all - violence, magic weapons, a scary villain called Venger and numerous desperate attempts to return home from a roller coaster ride gone very wrong. They don't make cartoons like this and Cities of Gold anymore. What I still don't know is if they ever made it home?

10. The Sopranos / Heroes

Ashamedly I am yet to watch these two shows which are both recognised as classics (most notably The Sopranos which is undisputed), but I shall be remedying this travesty later this year once i've finished all of the above! Until then i'd be a fool not to have them on the list...

APRIL WED 21 CARDIFF BARFLY
APRIL THU 22 LONDON BARFLY
APRIL FRI 23 BIRMINGHAM ACADEMY 3
APRIL SAT 24 MANCHESTER ROADHOUSE
APRIL SUN 25 GLASGOW KING TUT'S

By Damon Fowler

The Who to release Greatest Hits and perform at Superbowl XLIV

2010-02-03T16:20:00.002Z

The Who are releasing ‘The Who: Greatest HITS / Greatest Hits Live’ to coincide with their performance during the halftime show of the 2010 Superbowl XLIV.

The band will take to the stage on Sunday, 7th February to perform a twelve-minute medley of their hits during the halftime show. Halftime at The Super Bowl is always a hugely anticipated event and, this year, will be broadcast worldwide in more than 230 countries and territories with The Who being seen by one of the largest television audiences in history.

The band will be performing classic songs from the forthcoming ‘Greatest Hits / Greatest Hits Live’ album during the halftime entertainment beginning with their first single ‘My Generation’ and concluding with a track from the most recent album ‘Endless Wire’; this spans the group’s entire recording career from 1964 to date.

The Greatest Hits CD/download also includes classics such as, ‘My Generation’, ‘I Can’t Explain’, ‘The Kids Are Alright’, ‘Pinball Wizard’, ‘I Can See For Miles’, ‘Substitute’ as well as featuring the three theme songs to the CSI series – ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, ‘Who Are You’ and ‘Baba O’Riley’.

The album will be available from Monday 8th February 2010.

Interview with Gavin Bain, Hopeless Heroic

2009-11-23T12:55:00.005Z

An interview with Gavin Bain, lead singer of Hopeless Heroic

So what have you been up to recently?
We’ve just shot the music video for the single Guinea Pig Syndrome with Richard Poet who was special effects editor on the new Batman movies. We’ve just finished playing a whole bunch of shows and are now concentrating on finishing the songs and pre-production for our debut album, ‘Become the Monster’. We’re all writing and producing so it’s a very creative time.

What’s the best thing about being a musician?
Creating magic with instruments. When a song comes together and then really connects with people in a live arena. Hearing fans singing your tunes back to you and showing you that they love and believe in what you’re doing. It makes everything worth while.

And what’s the worst?
Its non stop 24/7 work, a lot of pressure and no sleep, raising money and spending more than you earn. But it’s all worth it to be in the studio or on the road with your best friends being creative and having a laugh.

Who are some of your inspirations?
My Chemical Romance are some of the hardest works guys I’ve ever met and they don’t have any attitudes at all. I think they did 300 odd shows a year for a couple years and that to me is immense and truly inspiring. Billy Talent show a lot of love to their fans and make great music and Story of the Year put on the best live show I’ve ever seen. Rage Against The Machine are my biggest inspiration, apart from making incredible music, they were and will always be super cool.

How have they influenced your music?
Apart from the music I’m inspired by musicians who work hard and don’t have bad attitudes.

What is your favourite album to listen to at the minute?
I’ve been living inside the new Fall of Troy record ‘In the unlikely event’. I’m also taking in the new Billy Talent and Taking Back Sunday records as well as the EP of my close friends Delica Black, which is sick.

Is there anything you want to talk about or any stories you have but never get asked?
Our guitarist Grant is the funniest man alive and has had a pretty crazy life. He once woke up in a graveyard with his trousers around his ankles after passing out with the runs at the end of one crazy night. That’s about the only story I could tell that you’d be able to print or display. He gets himself in such funny situations.

And what can people expect in the future?
We are about to Release our EP Mechanical Lions EP on Nov 23rd and holding the launch party at the legendary 100 Club in Oxford Street on the 26th November. After that we go in to the studio to finish our first album which will be released on the 1st of April 2010.

Comfort in Sound

Nirvana live at Reading DVD

2009-11-16T10:11:00.001Z

Since Nirvana last took to the Reading Festival stage a whole generation has been born and grown up. Finally after all the bootlegged copies, this legendary gig is available on DVD and CD.

The first thing you notice is how the Reading Festival main stage has changed. Only seventeen years ago and all the huge video screens and fancy lighting rigs are gone. Despite its differences, there is something that tells you this is the Reading Festival, and not just the DVD case. The next noticeable thing is how young Dave Grohl looks.

Nevermind is performed nearly in its entirety, along with other Nirvana classics. And there’s something about it that you just can’t look away. Whether it’s Kurt Cobain in a medical gown or if its Grohl throwing his symbols at his drum kit, it’s a mesmerising performance.

Truly a great DVD whether you’re the most diehard of fans or just like a few Nrvana songs.

Comfort in Sound

Bowling For Soup at O2 Academy, Sheffield

2009-11-10T15:06:00.003Z

Rating: 4/5
23/10/09 O2 Academy, Sheffield

Only the coldest hearted person couldn’t smile at a Bowling For Soup gig. Despite having families, businesses and being in the band for 15 years, they really haven’t grown up at all. And that's what people love about them as the ‘Party In Your Pants tour’ rolled into Sheffield.

The Leftovers were the first support band up. As they’re signed to Bowling For Soup lead singer Jaret Reddick’s record label, it could explain why they’re on this tour. However, after a few songs it was clear to see they are here on merit as well as connections. The songs off recently released album ‘Eager to Please’ are fun for everyone to jump around to. The Leftovers have a retro sound tinge, it’s the sort of thing that makes you think of a 1960s American diner. They were an enjoyable band to watch, and although their American banter with the crowd grated at times, it was still a good way to start things up.

MC Lars was next up, accompanied by British band Failsafe, who provided the musical side of things for the king of nerdcore. Behind all of the bands was a big projector screen showing band logos or videos to accompany the songs. With MC Lars I could have spent the whole gig just watching his videos, it was a show all of its own. Musically Lars’ rapping may not be to everyone’s tastes but he samples songs that everyone knows, so the least people did was some light head banging.

Zebrahead drew a huge crowd and as they came on to the stage it looked like they could be the headliners from the frantic reception of the Sheffield crowd. They have a party attitude and co-frontman Matty Lewis lets everyone know with the occasional shout of “Happy Hands” and the whacky waving arms fly up around the academy. Zebrahead played an amazing set, the sound quality was top and many were thankful for some good high energy pop punk. The best highlight was a cover of Avril Lavinge’s ‘Girlfriend’ featured on Zebrahead’s upcoming female covers album ‘Panty Raid’. And, the (for legal reasons, not a ‘wall of death’ but) “wall of sunshine, rainbows and lollipops” followed by hugs and dosey does, deserves a mention.

After a slight delay Bowling for Soup took to the stage and launched straight into ‘The Bitch Song’. On a night that had been all about having fun and partying no one does it better than Bowling For Soup. It was a comedy act as much as a rock show, everyone laughing at little comments like guitarist, Chris talked about how he’s going to have sex with every member of Zebrahead. Jaret saw a blown up condom being punched around the room and says “That is the biggest condom I have ever seen, I feel sorry for the girl that has to deal with that!”. The fun and frolics continued all night.

Aside from the comedy some music was also played. BFS play a good collection of material from their new album ‘Sorry for Partyin’ including songs ‘No Hablo Ingles’ and ‘Hooray For Beer’. But mix in some older stuff that the faithful fans will appreciate. The night was topped off with hit song ‘1985’, toward the end of the song Jarrett stops and tells everyone to sing the chorus. Everyone knew it and heartily obliged, it went a step further as the next request was to sing it with an Antonio Banderas accent. Everyone gave it their best. The last request was for a falsetto version and most people again tried their best, some guys decided it was best not to join in that one. It brought to an end a great night, everyone was thoroughly partied out.

Words, pictures and video by Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Luke McDuffee, Framing Hanley

2009-10-26T13:18:00.004Z

We talked to Luke McDuffee, bassist/backing vox of Framing Hanley.

So what have you been up to recently?
We've been touring almost non-stop for the past 14 or 15 months. Most recently we've been doing some shows in the south-eastern US, which is our home region.

What’s the best thing about being a musician?
Knowing that I get to do what I love while making people happy at the same time.
The worst is the hangovers.

Who are some of your inspirations?
Paul McCartney, Robert DeLeo, and Les Claypool are my biggest influences.

How have they influenced your music?
McCartney and DeLeo taught me how “less is more” doesn't necessarily mean just playing root notes, and Claypool reminds me that “weird” and “creative” are often related.

What is your favourite album to listen to at the minute?
Bring Me The Horizon's Suicide Season. It keeps my days brutal.

Tell us something people don't know about you?
I'm a Reverend in the Universal Life Church, which I think is hilarious. It doesn't come up much in conversation though.

And what can people expect in the future?
A new album early next year. Prepare your ears for glory!

Comfort in Sound

Video for Creed's new single "Overcome"

2009-10-20T12:27:00.007+01:00

Creed's new album, 'Full Circle' is set for release on November 2nd, With 'Overcome' being the first single (released on November 9th) via Virgin Records.

Comfort in Sound

Eastpak Antidote Tour at Rock City, Nottingham

2009-10-12T16:02:00.008+01:00

Rating: 5/5
10/10/09 Rock City, Nottingham

For many the East Pak Antidote tour is a dream line up: The Ghost Of A Thousand (TGOAT), Four Year Strong (FYS), Anti-Flag and Alexisonfire. It seems like a tour put together by the music gods, themselves. Four bands that are having a real impact on today’s music scene. No doubt the live show will always match up to expectations, tonight they graced the infamous Nottingham Rock City stage.

TGOAT kicked things off at a ruthless pace, with a circle pit opening from the very first strum of the guitar. As TGOAT are arguably the heaviest band on tonight, it’s not much of a surprise. Frontman, Tom Lacey endeared himself to the crowd, apologising for the early doors opening, so now ‘we’re missing The Simpsons’. Lacey himself looks like a rather gentle and passive person when you see him but on stage is a different story. His screams were loud, powerful and raw, and to make sure you were listening he jumps into the circle pit himself.

‘Knees, Toes, Teeth’ was the best song of the set, a tuneful beast of a song, mixing Lacey’s screaming and softer vocals, and carrying an ‘anthem’ feel about it. TGOAT are the only British band on this tour and before the last song Lacey calls “Let’s show these Americans how it’s done,” sparking some crowd surfing from Lacey. By the end of the set the audience adored him and the rest of the band.

Next up were Four Year Strong. Expected to be the softest band of the night with some pop infused rock but they turned up the guitars and drums and showed they’re not pushovers. The circle pits carried on from TGOAT and even grew in size. Throughout their set they wheeled out big tracks like ‘Heroes get remembered, legends never die’ and ‘Abandon ship or abandon all hope’.

Anti-Flag announce their arrival on stage by telling everyone to raise the ‘peace’ sign high in the air. Musically, Anti-Flag are a great rock band and that come across, however love it or hate it they are a political band. On the agenda tonight is the economy, with Justin Sane (guitar/vocals) saying how the bail-outs should go to the poor. The message is good but a bit hypocritical as people paid £15+ to get in, then another £15+ for any merch. When they played music everyone loved it, especially a cover of The Clash’s ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ and the circle pit still didn’t rest!

Rock City must have been close to bursting when Alexisonfire took to the stage. They jumped straight into ‘Heading for the Sun’ from their latest album ‘Old Crows/Young Cardinals’ and quickly followed it up with fan favourites in ‘Boiled Frogs’ and ‘We are the Sound’. The sound was amazing with George Pettit’s and Dallas Green’s vocals mixing perfectly. By then the circle pit was vicious and took up most of the floor. Definitely a circle pit worth of such an intense performance.

One particular highlight of the set was when Alexis were joined on stage by Chris #2 from Anti-Flag, when the song finished Chris and Wade (AOF guitarist) kissed and hugged. Wade went on to express how that had made his dream had come true.

Overall, this was truly amazing performances from all four bands. The audience didn’t disappoint either, with energy flowing between them and the bands all night. It’s fair to say that a few people had some bruises after it.

Words, Pictures and Video by: Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

The King Blues at Corportation, Sheffield

2009-10-07T16:25:00.009+01:00

Rating: 4/5

The King Blues have nearly sold out every show on their current UK tour, Sheffield is no different. The Londoner’s attract an eclectic array of fans as they mix ska, punk, reggae and numerous other styles together.

Imperial Leisure was the first support up. Just from looking you could guess what they would sound like, the trumpet players are a bit of a giveaway. That’s right they’re a ska-rock band but don’t judge too soon. The songs were lively and really hit home tonight, maybe the feel good factor that seems to come with every King Blues gig was in the air.

One highlight of Imperial Leisure’s set is when they get an over 18, female member of the audience on stage. She’s encouraged to take her top off with frontman Dennis joining in, stripping down to his underwear. When the girl didn’t return the courtesy he jumped straight into the next song and the havoc of the circle pit.

After that exciting start P.O.S had a lot to live up to. To say the crowd was sceptical of the rapper is an understatement. Through the first song the majority of people seemed uninterested. But, his charm, humour and banter with the audience bring them round. P.O.S’s songs are good but rapping was not on the menu tonight so no one was too sure what to think. Kudos must go to P.O.S though, by the end of his set the whole crowd had changed their opinion from the start and everyone was jumping with their ‘rapper’s hands’ in the air bobbing up and down.

It had been a long time since The King Blues last played in Sheffield and it was good to have them back. Musically every song carries with it a feel good vibe, and through their music The King Blues got across their political message. They have strong opinions like any good punk rock band, and slate the British National Party (BNP) throughout. Their message of togetherness and equality got resounding cheers of support all night long. With the passion they ignite, I doubt theyve ever had a bad show.

New song ‘Headbutt’ got the audience involved, with frontman Itch playfully using the line ‘when she kissed me it felt like a...’ and the audience screamed back ‘Headbutt!’ Mixed in with the popular ‘Let’s Hang the Landlord’, ‘My boulder’ and ‘Save the world, get the girl’ is a cover of Dizzee Rascal’s recent hit ‘Bonkors’. The audience sung along all night, they were clearly a dedicated bunch of King Blues fans.

For an encore Itch gave the option of “an old peom, or a new poem”, it was a clear win for the old and so Itch recited ‘What if punk never happened’. It’s truly awe inspiring to watch. If Itch ever decides for a career away from music then motivational speaking could be the way to go.

Words, Pictures and Video by: Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Danny:Riot, RIOT:NOISE

2009-10-05T07:54:00.005+01:00

Riots are a form of civil disorder characterised by disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence and noise. The result in music terms = RIOT:NOISE. Forming in early 2008, it was less than 6 months later they were on tour in the US, an impressive feat for five guys from Bristol. What could get better than that? How about a model appearing in one of your videos? Yep RIOT:NOISE have done that too, Sammie Pennington appeared in their video for single ‘Never Wrong’. We talked to drummer Danny:Riot.

So what have RIOT:NOISE been up to recently?
We have been really busy! In August we previewed our EP and Video at a sold out home town gig so at the moment it’s all about drumming up interest in the EP release on November 16th, playing anywhere and everywhere! We have also been asked to support GUN on their November/December UK tour which is fantastic. If there’s one thing we love to do as a band its touring.

Who give you musical inspiration?
Personally, my main inspiration is anything that rocks! From Led Zep to Def Lep! GnR have played a big part in my life, that's not to say I aim to sound anything like them in my drumming style or song writing, but I grew up in the era when GNR were filling stadiums around the world every night – that inspired me to want to play in a band.

How have they influenced your music?
All of the bands/drummers that have influenced me have one thing in common...a strong beat that drives the song from start to finish, something I hope I have brought to our music. To me it isn’t about being the best technically, it’s about being solid and reliable.

What is your favourite album to listen to at the minute?
AFI Decemberunderground. It’s a couple of years old now but the soundtrack to my life at the moment.

What’s the best thing about being a musician?
Creating something from nothing! When we go into the studio and write there's such a buzz when that initial idea finally comes together and a new song comes to life. RIOT:NOISE has also given us all the opportunity to share the stage with some of our musical heroes, and play at some of the best venues in the UK. We also got to tour the US for just under a month! Travelling around America with your best mates and playing gigs every night…… could it be any better?

What’s the worst?
The wages! Is there any other profession in the world where you could get paid 'a couple of drinks' for a three hour drive and providing entertainment for an establishment’s punters? We are fortunate enough to be in a position now where we often get given a set fee, but we know lots of bands that have fallen for pay-to-play scams in all it’s different guises – and that is shit!

How did it come about getting Sammie Pennington to appear in the video for ‘Never Wrong’?
We had some mutual friends and we crossed paths with Sammie and her friends at a few wild nights in London and ended up drinking the night away and generally having a great time. When it came to casting the leading lady Marty remembered that Sammie was a trained actress and we made contact with her and she was well up for starring in the video. Turns out that the video director (Nigel Crane) had worked with Sammie before and so everything was very easy to coordinate.

Did that feel like a rock star moment for you?
It was one of many things that have happened. Throughout the time in this band we have had loads of those 'rockstar moments'. What's it like shooting a video with a top glamour model and a room full of barely clothed sexy ladies? It's better than shooting a video in a room full of men moshing!!! There was free alcohol for all the extras, and by 4pm it was all getting a bit out of hand..... we had a cat fight, some drunken puking and plenty of ladies complaining about being in their heels for 12 hours. Shooting a video isn't easy - but when you finish for the day and then you're sat in a bar with Sammie Pennington and a load of other ladies......... yeah, that was pretty cool.

We have loads of other 'rockstar moments' - our US tour had everything from the band being spanked by a mecian lady with a studded belt, to a random midget in a bar wanting to entertain us with a striptease, to members of the band disappearing with a couple of strippers from Vinnie Paul's club in Dallas and returning with very big smiles.

Is there any stories or subjects you never get asked about?
I rarely ever do any interviews/press on behalf of the band so I could go on for hours! On a serious note if I had to say something it would be that there are so many great bands out there at the moment working there ass off for very little reward (financially), so the next time a band you know is out on the road go see them!!! Buy them a drink, buy some merch, and if possible offer a bed/floor/shower for the night – ‘cause sleeping in a van aint no fun! Oh, and make sure you go and tell the drummer how fuckin great he/she was!

I have so many stories about my band mates that I shouldn’t tell…… let’s just say I have bailed each and every one of them out of the shit on many occasions when they have been drunk and I have been the designated driver. My brother does a lot of roadie work for us and between the two of us we have enough dirt on the rest of them to blackmail a small fortune out of them, or write a very interesting book!

And what can people expect in the future?
We are gonna hit the studio early next year and hopefully start work on the full length album. Then we’ll get back on the road asap and then………

Good evening Madison Square Garden, we are RIOT:NOISE!!!!

Comfort in Sound

Interview with Tommy Gleeson, Slaves To Gravity

2009-09-30T12:23:00.004+01:00

After releasing their debut album ‘Scatter The Crow’ last year, Slaves To Gravity are looking to follow it up with a new album on the way in the new year. The album comes out of turmoil with their drummer reacently leaving and the band holding auditions for a replacement. Still spirits remain positive, we talked to singer and guitarist Tommy Gleeson:

So what have you been up to recently?
Well, we’ve just finished recording a new album with producer Bob Marlette and mixing is due to start soon over in L.A. The record has turned out great and exceeded all our expectations. I think it’s a big step for us in the song writing department. We’ve also been auditioning drummers. Jason, our brother and drummer for the last 3 years (and 4 years before that in another band) has decided to leave to spend more time with his family after his dad suffered a bad stroke at the beginning of the summer. It’s been a rollercoaster year but we’re looking forward to getting the engines fired up again and hitting the road, which we’re doing in October/November with Aussie band The Butterfly Effect.

What’s the best thing about being a musician?
For me, it’s about being able to indulge my greatest passion. You get to meet some amazing people and you can communicate with them on a very visceral level through the music you make, which is not something that’s easy to express in most other lines of work. I feel very blessed to be able to do what I do.

And what’s the worst?
It’s a toss up between the lousy hours and the shitty pay. It’s hard being away from home for months on end and there’s very rarely a pay-cheque at the end of the day once expenses have been accounted for. You really have to be in love with the process, because there’s a lot of the logistical side of it that really sucks. Also, as a third downside, you’re working in an industry that doesn’t exist without you, yet you are at the bottom of the food chain, which can be very frustrating.

Who are some of your inspirations?
I started tuning into stuff outside of my parents record collection around the time that grunge was blowing up. Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam etc. Guns n’ Roses where another big formative influence. I listen to a lot of different stuff now. Django Reinhardt, Steely Dan, Tom Waits, David Bowie, The Beatles, The Stones, Pantera loads of stuff old and new.

How have they influenced your music?
I think I’m primarily drawn to people who have interesting songs, a slightly twisted vibe, style and an element of mystery about them. I like textures and dynamics and odd combinations. I also like lyrics that stretch beyond rhyming ‘rock star’ with ‘guitar’. I think a lot of those 90’s bands had a real honesty about what they did that got hijacked by MTV and turned into something really ugly. It’s a shame because the lasting impression of that whole scene is of lumberjack shirts and the whole caricature of ‘grunge’ instead of the really great songs and ideas that came out of that time. Those bands also had an underlying darkness that ran through their music and their aesthetic, which rubbed off on me.

What is your favourite album to listen to at the minute?
I’m listening to the new Pearl Jam record actually. That, and Imelda May’s Love Tattoo which is great fun. She has a kick ass voice.

What have you always wanted to talk about in an interview?
Did you know that Printer manufacturers print invisible yellow dots on consumer's prints that check to see if a person is printing counterfeit money. If you call your printer manufacturer and ask them to "please stop spying on you", they will send secret services to your address to find out why you care about your privacy.

And what can people expect in the future?
The new album is out early next year and we’ll be touring a lot in support of it. Hopefully we’ll be able to release in the states as well which is something we haven’t done yet. The plan is to really kick things up a few gears in the next 12 months, expand our fanbase and keep on building the church, to quote Steve Vai.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Mikey Serpico's Top 10 Arnie Films

2009-09-27T19:20:00.006+01:00

Rock bands often have a lot of time on the road and watching films is a great way to stay entertained. Non know the road better than Scottish rockers, Serpico who can often be found touring relentlessly. So Serpico frontman Mikey told us his top 10 Schwarzenegger films.

10 - Kindergarten Cop
Arnie has to go undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a psycho drug dealer. Arnie... as a kindergarten teacher - how incongruous and hilarious would that be!?! Directed by Twins director, Ivan Reitman, it works in a similar vein, taking Arnie and putting him into an unfamiliar setting. It's even more weighted towards the family-friendly comedy vs. action than Twins, but covers both bases pretty well and would cement Arnie's position as a major mainstream star and more than just an action hero

9 - Twins
I'm pretty sure the pitch for this film went "Arnie and Danny DeVito are twins!" and the movie got green lit from that most ridiculous of premises! It's a good fun action comedy and the first of Arnie's foray into more mainstream commercial fare that helped widen his appeal from just a muscly killing machine to the man who could marry into the Kennedy dynasty and eventually become The Governator.

8 - Conan The Barbarian
Credited as the film that really launched Arnie from bodybuilder to movie star, he's in his element as a greased up, loin cloth wearing, broad sword wielding fantasy character. Despite winning a Razzie for Worst Actor in 1983, Conan introduced America and the world Arnie's incredible physique and unique talents. As far as these kind of sword and sorcery films go it's far and away the best, not that it's saying that much!

7 - True Lies
Coming on the back of the box office bomb that was "The Last Action Hero" many thought that Arnie's star might be on the wane as excess of the 80s turned to the grungey reality of the 90s - but teaming up with James Cameron again proved to be a winning formula for the Austrian Oak. The cast is great with Jamie Lee Curtis who transforms from dowdy suburban housewife to super fox in an unforgettable strip-tease, Tom Arnold is a nice comic foil and Tia Carrerre and Art Malik are suitably evil baddies. Combining some cool action with a fast and fun plot, True Lies is one of Arnie's most under-rated films.

6 - Total Recall
Some quality trashy high concept sci-fi from Paul Verhoeven (who also directed Robocop, Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers - so awesome trash all round then!). Based on a short story by sci-fi king Philip K Dick, Arnie has to go to Mars and kick some ass in zero G! There's the super evil baddie Cohaagen, the woman with 3 boobs and some crazy mutants - what more could you want?!

5 - Commando
"Hey Bennett... let off some steam!" This is a one-liner-tastic affair where Arnie has to go and save his daughter from some baddies of some variety... blah blah, who cares!? Arnie runs around killing people, spouting some of his most classic catchphrases including the immortal “But you said you'd kill me last!"... "I lied!" This is a great tour bus movie!

4 - Terminator
The first time we're introduced to Terminator Arnie and the immortal line "I'll be back!", which is a genuinely global catchphrase... and so closely associated with Arnie that he regularly uses it in his political speeches in his role as The Governator of California. Made for a tiny budget of $6.5million, it still looks pretty incredible and launched the career of James Cameron, who'd go on to direct Aliens and Titanic! Also launched one of the biggest grossing movie franchises in history... which isn't too bad for and Austrian bodybuilder and a director whose only previous feature was Piranha II: The Spawning!

3 - The Running Man
A lesser known Arnie film but one of my favouries, based on an early Stephen King novel (before he was even called Stephen King!) It's a very prescient satire on consumerism where the biggest rated show is a real life 'Gladiators' where Death Row inmates fight for their freedom. The concept has been recycled in recent films like the Death Race remake and Gamer... but this is the original! It has some nice ideas combined with Arnie violence - nice combo!

2 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
The zenith of Arnie's movie career is just beaten into #2 slot, but it's still a cracker. He's just so perfect as a cyborg... obviously it was a real stretch of his acting talent. The special effects still look awesome all these years later and it remains a bench mark for action/sci-fi films in terms of spectacle. Hasta la vista, baby!

1 - Predator
The universe's ultimate hunter becomes Arnie's prey! So many classic scenes... and just Arnie kicking ass in the jungle. Can't ask for much more than that!

Comfort in Sound

Joke backfires on Pete Wentz

2009-09-16T23:46:00.006+01:00

Pete Wentz pays the price as Gabe Saporta revealed his phone number on the net. The ordeal for Wentz originated with his attempted to get one over on his close friend Gabe Saporta (lead singer of Cobra Starship) at this years VMA's. The Fall Out Boy bassist sported a T-shirt with Saporta's phone number and email address on it. However, MTV didn't allow it and Wentz had to put masking tape over the details.
Wentz was determined to not let this one go and got onto his clothing company Clandestine Industries. Copies of the t-shirt were printed up and put on sale with Saporta's number and email address blurred on screen but not on the actual product.

Saporta quickly got in touch with the clothing site and had the shirt taken off sale. Wentz still wouldnt let it go and went a step further by un-blurring the phone number. However, his plan backfired as Saporta had replaced his number with Wentz's. His voicemail filled up in no time. Saporta, Wentz and the employees at Clandestine are good friends so no malice was involved, it was just a prank that went to the extreme.

Wentz unleashed his frustrations on twitter:

"@gabrielsaporta @billbeckett @jensenclan88 very funny. youre all fired haha i literally cant use my phone."

"i literally cant use any function on my phone. steam is coming out of my ears as i try to make calls."

Comfort in Sound

Green Day win at VMAs and announce UK/Euro tour support

2009-09-14T14:08:00.007+01:00

Los Angeles based band Prima Donna have been selected by Green Day to support them on thier upcoming UK and European tour. Kevin Preston , Prima Donna lead vocals, occasionally joins Green Day in their alter-ego band Foxboro Hot Tubs.

In other Green Day news they took home three VMA awards(Best Rock Video, Best Direction and Best Cinematography) for their clip for "21 Guns". They also performed "East Jesus Nowhere" during which they were joined on stage by a mass of their fans.

Green Day, supported by Prima Donna will be playing the following dates:

09-28 Lisbon, Portugal @ Atlantico Pavilion
09-29 Madrid, Spain @ Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad
10-01 Barcelona, Spain @ Palau Sant Jordi
10-02 Toulouse, France @ Zenith
10-04 Paris, France @ Bercy
10-05 Cologne, Germany @ Cologne Arena
10-07 Berlin, Germany @ World Arena
10-08 Hamburg, Germany @ Color Line Arena
10-09 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Forum
10-11 Stockholm, Sweden @ The Globe
10-12 Oslo, Norway @ Spectrum
10-14 Dortmund, Germany @ Westfalenhalle 1
10-16 Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Ahoy
10-17 Antwerp, Belgium @ Sportpalais
10-19 Glasgow, Scotland @ SECC
10-20 Belfast, Northern Ireland @ Odyssey Arena
10-21 Dublin, Ireland @ The 02
10-23 London, England @ The 02
10-24 London, England @ The 02
10-26 Sheffield, England @ Sheffield Arena
10-27 Birmingham, England @ LG Arena
10-28 Birmingham, England @ LG Arena
10-30 Manchester, England @ MEN Arena
10-31 Manchester, England @ MEN Arena
11-01 London, England @ Wembley Arena
11-03 Munich, Germany @ Olympiahalle
11-06 Vienna, Austria @ Stadthalle
11-08 Zurich, Switzerland @ Hallenstadion
11-10 Milan, Italy @ Datchforum
11-11 Bologna, Italy @ Futur Show
11-12 Turin, Italy @ Palaolimpico

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Senser - How To Do Battle

2009-09-10T12:18:00.004+01:00

Senser - How To Do Battle 2/5
[Imprint Music]

Despite good expectations from Senser’s latest release, ‘How To Do Battle’ it just doesn’t shine. It's unfortunate as the songs aren’t bad, but none stand out and make this album something to rave about. Kerstin Haigh’s vocals do offer an extra dimension but the songs simply aren’t good enough to take advantage of this. If Senser are looking to go to battle with this album, I wouldn’t be confident of victory.

Senser released their first album in 1995. It went platinum and was followed by tours with Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tool. Unfortunately forteen years later the metal/rap genre is a bit more competitive with established acts such as Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and even more coming through in recent years. The politically charged lyrics of Senser don't carry the music to support it, and this latest release may easily get lost in the masses of alternatives available.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

John Be's Top 10 Guitarists

2009-09-09T12:56:00.003+01:00

My Passion's guitarist, John Be gives us his top 10 guitarists of all time:

1. Matt Bellamy (Muse)
Matt is my number one because he combines every aspect that I like in guitarists! He has everything! He has also written some of my favourite riffs EVER! Origin of symmetry is riff after riff after riff, the man is like a melody machine! Everything he touches is tuneful, and that’s what I like in a guitar part. On top of all this though he also has an amazing voice and is a phenomenal pianist and all round musician! Some people are worth of jealousy!

2. Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit)
The reason I’ve got Wes so high, is because he has come up with some of the most amazing riffs of the age, usually simple but executed brilliantly, along with having an amazing guitar sound! And then what really puts him above the rest is the stage show he puts on! All the makeup and mental-ness on stage is phenomenal! I LOVE a guitarist with that kind of charisma!

3. Van Halen
Do I even need to give a reason? As far as technical ability no-one can match Van Halen! Just listen to eruption! Amazing!

4. Tom Morrelo (Rage Against The Machine)
His riffs just can’t be beaten! He has such a unique style, which has been a massive influence to the My Passion guitar sound! I listened to rage a lot when I was growing up and still now when those riffs kick in it sends shivers down my spine.

5. Mick Tomson (Slipknot)
He has one of the best guitar sounds I’ve ever heard! Just listen to All Hope is Gone! I can't even imagine how they get guitars to sound so fat, maybe it's all in the tuning! I think that metal guitar can get a little dull, as far as most of it is the same old same old, but Mick seems to get something fresh and new and exciting out of it, I got into slipknot quite late on, Duality was the song that caught my ear, but since then he has been a big inspiration to me!

6. John 5 (ex-Marilyn Manson)
When I was just starting to play guitar I used to watch videos of Marilyn Manson live and was just amazed by john 5. He doesn't move around a massive amount but your eyes are drawn to him on stage. Technically speaking he isn’t far away from Van Halen, you have to YouTube him!

7. Mick Ronson (David Bowie)
The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust had a massive impact on my life. Mick had a lot to do with that! Watch any footage of Bowie live at this time and you'll find him as big a character as Bowie himself! Along with his stage presence he also has a great voice, and has come up with some of the most famous guitar parts of that age!

8. Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle)
I was a bit of a goth child, still am at heart I suppose, and A Perfect Circle are probably the best that dark rock has offered up in my lifetime, especially in Mere de noms, Billy has such a good guitar sound! when using plain distortion it's phat as any metal band achieves but then when he starts using affects it swirls around your head and is one of the most beautiful guitar sounds I’ve ever heard.

9. John Mitchell
John is one of the best guitarists I’ve ever seen play live! He produced our album at Outhouse studios and every now and then would grab one of our guitars and just shred! But that was nothing compared to when we went to see him live playing in his band Itbites! At points in the performance his hands were just a blur! The man is a Genius! And not just at guitar as a producer singer and all round musician! I’m in awe!

10. Jonny greenwood (Radiohead)
Jonny has written some of the most beautiful guitar parts I’ve ever heard, street spirit and paranoid android etc, and he deserves to be in my top ten just for that, but he also has such a weird way of looking at the guitar, his solos are pure feel! He manages to make guitar solos, (which let’s face it can be boring as!) weird and exciting!

Comfort in Sound

Nirvana live at Reading to be released on DVD/CD

2009-09-03T19:15:00.005+01:00

Nirvana’s historic August 30, 1992 headlining appearance at the UK’s Reading Festival is one of the most bootlegged concerts in the annals of rock’n’roll. Now, fans will have an opportunity to own a pristine copy of that entire performance. The DVD will feature the following songs:

1. Breed
2. Drain You
3. Aneurysm
4. School
5. Sliver
6. In Bloom
7. Come As You Are
8. Lithium
9. About A Girl
10. Tourette's
11. Polly
12. Lounge Act
13. Smells Like Teen Spirit
14. On A Plain
15. Negative Creep
16. Been A Son
17. All Apologies
18. Blew
19. Dumb
20. Stay Away
21. Spank Thru
22. Love Buzz*
23. The Money Will Roll Right In
24. D-7
25. Territorial Pissings

*not included on CD

Nirvana's legendary never-before-released 1992 Reading concert will be available on CD and/or DVD from November 2nd, followed by a 2 LP version on November 16.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Simon Rowlands' Top 10 Horror films

2009-09-02T12:43:00.003+01:00

The My Passion bassist gives us his top 10 horror films of all time:

1.The Shining
It’s a classic and it still has the power to scare you so much you want to jump behind the sofa, no fancy effects just dark, sinister suggestions that leave you fearing everything!

2. Donnie Darko
This is another film I find so disturbing, but you can’t turn it off! One of the oddest films I've ever watched!

3. The Happening
When I watched this movie I had no idea what to expect, and it was so chilling in a way that you didn’t notice at first, left you feeling a bit numb and scared but you didn’t know why. It’s so brutal in a way that’s so realistic.

4. Saw 1
The first one is just groundbreaking, when I first saw it I was cringing and recoiling almost every scene, Love it!!!

5. Hostel
I remember me and the boys watching this one together in Laurence’s house and all being so freaked out by the whole movie, I love the way it starts off as almost a teen flick and then just flips! Then you’re in this whole world of fucked up people!

6. Wolf Creek
This one is on par with No.5, It’s a totally fucked up film that pushes you that little bit too far.

7. Shaun Of The Dead
I know it’s not a real horror movie but I love it! It’s so funny, I don’t think zombie movies are ever that scary anyway so it’s great to make fun of them!!

8. Bubba Ho-Tep
This one you gotta see to believe! Elvis and JFK versus The undead! It’s so bizarre but I love it.

9. 28 Days Later
I love British films, and when you combine that with the whole country being wiped out and overrun with flesh hungry zombies. It’s always going to be a winner.

10. Rec.
This Spanish film was so good, it’s everyone’s worst nightmare being locked up in a place with the undead chasing you. No escape. I love the way it all starts off as an innocent documentary and soon turns south.

Comfort in Sound

JET - Shaka Rock

2009-08-31T11:28:00.003+01:00

JET – Shaka Rock 6/10
[Real Horrorshow Records/Five Seven Music]

JET release their third studio album on the 7th Sept with Nic Cester (Vocals/guitar) calling it the band’s ‘most honest so far’. The band worked as co-producers with Chris “Frenchie” Smith on the album and unfortunately it doesn’t make a good first impression. First track, ‘K.I.A.” cringe worthily features kids providing backing vocals.

However, when you get into the album, tracks ‘She’s a genius’ and ‘Black Hearts (on fire)’ show JET coming into their own. The simpler songs, without much production really stand out, especially ‘She’s A Genius’ and ‘Seventeen’. These show off some awesome guitar solos and catchy melodies that can hook listeners.

Chris Cester (drums/vocals) says. “I can say the band is thrilled by Shaka Rock in every conceivable way. There are moments on this record that are just pure... and moments that just rock harder than we ever have before.”

To put it simply, for fans of pop/rock music then this JET album is definitely worth a listen. It doesn’t do anything new for the genre or for JET either, but they do what they do well and a lot of people will enjoy it.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

V Festival Review

2009-08-25T13:40:00.004+01:00

Although V Festival may be the most mainstream and Pop orientated festival around, there were still some great rock bands to liven the place up. So if you want to know how Lilly Allen, James Morrison or Elbow went down you may want to look elsewhere.

Saturday 22nd August, Chelmsford

Raygun (8/10) are the first band to make a real impact in the Union Tent with their catchy pop/rock sound. They come blasting out with recent single ‘Just because’ which gets the crowd and front man Ray Gun into a bouncy and excited mood. Maybe guitarist, Adj, got a bit too excited as he mounts Ray during the set. As long as no one was hoping for some serious music then Raygun are enjoyable and entertaining.

Jet (6/10) seem to have been around for awhile and yet not have much of a back catalogue. This is the case when they take to the 4Music stage. Playing songs that are enjoyable but quickly forgotten, it’s obvious everyone’s waiting for one certain song. ‘Are you gonna be my girl’ goes down a storm and is a highlight of the day, but the rest of the set lacks, still they manage to please the crowd.

The Killers (5/10) headline the V stage and the expectations of a band from Las Vegas to put on a show are huge. To put it bluntly they don’t deliver. For every song the crowd knows and is excited by, it’s followed by an unknown without the hooks you’d expect. This seriously hinders The Killers getting into any sort of rhythm with the crowd and in the end their set feels drawn out and underwhelming.

Sunday 23rd August, Chelmsford

The King Blues (10/10) are maybe the best thing to hear to get you up and excited for the rest of the day ahead. Despite having an early slot on the 4Music stage, they attract a large crowd and The King Blues reward those present handsomely. ‘Save the world, get the girl’ goes down especially well, it’s plain to see that TKB have the passion and desire to be a huge success, not only that, they have the songs to back it up. Even singing the last song in Italian doesn’t stop the all round feeling of pleasure at seeing this band perform.

Biffy Clyro (7/10) are the most notable and token ‘rock’ band on the main stage this year. This is also the first time all weekend it sounds as though the volume on guitar and drums has been turned up, which is a refreshing change. Biffy have amazing song, even with album tracks sounding like hits. Lead vocals and guitarist, Simon Neil gives it his all and the aggression and energy is plain to see. The only thing that detracts from Biffy Clyro’s set is the lack of crowd interaction, although that may be due to them not having a big crowd compared to the pull that the mainstream acts have.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Broadway Calls - Good Views, Bad News

2009-08-17T12:44:00.005+01:00

Broadway Calls - Good Views, Bad News 7/10
[Side One Dummy Records]

Straight off the bat Broadway Calls’ second album comes at you much rawer than most other pop-punk out there today. First track ‘Midnight Hour’ sets the tone for much of the album, no frills just a guitar, a bass, drums and vocals. It’s a very simple format which Broadway Calls use very well, delivering a sound that's all too rare these days.

Originally signed by Billie Joe Armstrong, they have a resemblance to early Green Day, mixed in with some Jawbreaker and Alkaline Trio. “We’ve always written songs that we wanted to hear, and that’s definitely true with Good Views, Bad News” said Ty Vaughn (Guitar/Vocals).

Tonight Is Alive hits as the anthem from the album, a feel good song with front man Vaughn repeating the line ‘I’m singing for all of you.’ The mature sounding ballad of ‘At The End’ concludes the album and shows the variety of songs they can offer.

You can catch Broadway Calls playing a couple of shows in London (25th August) and Manchester (26th August) with The Offspring and also at Leeds/Reading Festival this year.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Tim Minchin

2009-08-11T13:43:00.008+01:00

Tim Minchin is an award winning Australian, singing, piano playing, comedian. After performing his show ‘So F**king Rock’ around the world, he’s back with a new tour called ‘Ready For This’. He’ll be offending and entertaining even more people with his songs on religion, sex, death and more. You may be wondering why we interviewed a comedian rather than a rock band like usual. The simple answers is that Tim; looks like a rock star, sings like a rock star, plays piano like a... rock star, and is eye wateringly hilarious! Any of his songs stand up to any ‘serious’ music out there and with his new tour lined up to start in September, Tim’s asking ‘Are You Ready For This?’

Are you looking forward to touring the UK again?

Yeah I am, very much actually. It’s been a little while and when I don’t perform for awhile I get the feeling that... it’s ridiculous, my job and that I don’t know how to do it. You sort of get disconnected from the person you are on stage so any length of time not being on stage I find really difficult. It’s been quite a while now so I'm desperate to just fucking get on with it. I really miss singing, I'm looking forward to singing again because my voice gets out of practise. For the ‘Ready for this’ tour we’re arking the show up a bit in terms of stupid lights and such which add a great deal to what I do. You could argue that I rely on it but I just really enjoy that pseudo-rock star nonsense, this tours a bit bigger than my previous one so we are gonna go a bit ape shit on that stuff.

Do you get the big tour bus now that you’re a rock star?

Haha we very briefly considered it, I think if I had a girlfriend or some girlfriends and my road manager was in my condition. We are taking full crew this time, it would almost be worth it, but my tour manager and I both have family so we try to get back to London every night we possibly can. I think I missed that stage, it’s kind of devastating although I never dreamed I’d get to that stage, and I think I’d fucking hate it as well, I think the idea of a whole load of people having fun every night after gigs would really annoy me. I like to get to sleep.

Why did you choose to live in London rather than Australia?

When I get asked that question in Australia it’s loaded with a slight accusation of desertion. London’s the capital of comedy in the world, and I got into comedy very late and I really thrust myself into it in 2005. I spent years in Australia having quite a fun career doing lots of different stuff; acting, composing and playing in different bands, but I was pretty poor and getting a little bit over the complete unpredictability of income and everything. So when I came to Edinburgh in 2005 I was having all these meetings with people saying fine here’s a DVD deal, ‘I'm a promoter and we’ll give you concerts’, ‘I'm an agent and want to represent you’ I said ‘Fuck, there’s my career’. But my wife has been my partner for years, since we were very young and she’s witnessed me banging my head against the industry doors for many years. So when one of the doors opened we didn’t hesitate at all really. Didn't even cross our minds that we were somehow deserting our cultural industry, we just went ‘fuck that’s where the work is, let’s go’.

You said ‘you wanted to get the comedy stuff off your chest before going back to serious music ‘ is that still the plan?

Yeah that was the plan. I’ve always written satirical or ironic songs compulsively. All these rock stars are generally middle class, that's why they can afford to be rock stars. And these people have the ability to turn that life into a poetical musical whinge. That ability to turn normal life into poetry is what's created the greatest artists ever. I seem to get half way to doing that before going ‘oh get your hand off it you idiot,’ and I start mocking myself. I was writing stuff for my band back in 2001 and it was pretty bad, just a demo album made in my lounge room, anyway that didn’t cut it. So I put all the comedy songs into more a cabaret style show. Then I’ll have these two careers in parallel rather than trying to make them all one. Then of course the comedy just completely overwhelmed everything else and it actually suits me hugely. From playing keyboards in bands in pubs to ten people, I’m now playing grand pianos to 1500 people and for me there’s no credibility lost in writing satirical music. My songs are still well constructed or, dare I say it, better constructed than a lot of pop music out there. I still get to sing about what I want and do what I fucking want.

You start very nervously in the live shows, why is this?

I'm having to re-examine that right now because that material from ‘So Fucking Rock’ I'm still using on tour because I wrote it just before I recorded that DVD. And suddenly now that ‘So Fucking Rock’ has been on tele there are 160,000 people that have seen that material so I need to change it. I’ve been doing a bit of writing, and I’ve always started very uncomfortably in all my shows long before ‘So Fucking Rock’. Generally I've always started with a big intro plus a song so that's it’s just quite an intense theatrical experience, then I tend to do a bit of vanity playing so everyone knows what we’re doing. I've always found it works to go from this intensely controlled theatrical opening to being completely uncomfortable and stumbling. The whole idea that I'm bad at starting is obviously just a choice, because it’s funny... I think. I don’t know whether ill come out and just be a bit more confident. I think for my character it’s very important that he stays a little bit nervous because what I do with the music is very high status at times, it’s very showy and preachy and big so it’s a good contrast in status. This disguise, acting like a rock star with the shirt open, comes back to going ‘anyway, I had this thought’ sort of thing rather than going ‘bah bah bah I'm the shit’.

Seeing you live undoubtedly adds to the experience, are there any more DVDs set to come out?

Well the show I'm touring now I just taped in Australia, I'm not sure if it’ll come out in the UK though. I have a huge problem with live comedy DVDs, I don’t watch them myself. Comedy is about the atmosphere, it’s about sitting in an audience where consciously or not everyone has committed to having a fun night. You can watch any comedy show in the world, the greatest comedians of all time, you could watch any comedian, anyone, and not laugh, you don’t have to laugh. Without the commitment to enjoy it you're not going to have a good time. It’s like watching a magic show, if it was in your lounge it’d be shit. Once stuff is on DVD I think it becomes much more an examination of the material at a distance that doesn’t work the same way. Having said that I think its brilliant that people can get souvenirs, it’s best if they see a live show first but either if they can’t see it live or they've been and want to remember it then they’re brilliant things to have.

You wrote a song about Phil Daoust (Guardian newspaper journalist) did he ever get back to you?

Haha no, poor Phil. I worry about Phil, I'm sure he doesn’t care. But, it was very important to me that I used his name, not because I wanted to hurt him but because it’s shocking. Even though people had never heard of him just the knowledge that it’s actually a person and I'm actually saying ‘I want to make his children watch him eat his own face meat’ is sort of funny. And the fact that I'm so angry to become murderous about a stupid review is quite funny, because it’s so pathetic. I thought about changing the name but it wouldn’t have worked. People have got to go away and go ‘god, he wrote about a real guy’. I don’t think he’s necessarily heard the song, he did comment on it. Someone told him when I first started performing it and he said ‘oh it’s nice to be remembered’ and all that sort of bullshit. It would be a pity if he was upset by it, I would understand and if he rang me up and said ‘you’ve had your revenge, can you stop playing that now’ I would. But it’s just part of my show now, and people find it very funny.

What kind of music do you normally listen to?

To be honest I don’t, which is terrible. About once a month I go ‘fuck, you must listen to more music’ and I fail. I listen to classical music in the car, jazz if I have people over. Every now and then with my iPod if I run out of science podcasts or nerdy podcasts, I either play some disco song to make me feel happy or just have a listen to something new. I spent the last two months writing a musical and if they’re not in my head I prefer it to be silent. I need to leave space because if I'm writing a children’s musical I don’t want too much punk in my head or whatever. I know that's really un-cool. I had to write that ‘what's on my iPod’ article and I just made it all up.

You can catch Tim Minchin around the UK between September and October, and if you can’t make it his DVD ‘So F**king Rock’ is available from HMV stores and at HMV Online.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Kerrang! The Album '09

2009-08-04T12:02:00.004+01:00

Kerrang! The Album '09 7/10
Rhino

Kerrang!’s annual album release tends to be one of the better compilation album you can find and the 2009 edition brings together some of the best songs yet. CD1 focusing on the pop/rock side can boast the big names of Green Day and The Prodigy but every nearly every song on it is a gem. Billy Talent’s latest release, ‘Rusted from the rain’ is a particular highlight. You find yourself having a need to listen to this song after the first time you hear it. Although these Canadians now have three albums of material this could be their best song yet.

There is the odd inclusion of Paramore’s ‘Misery Business’ from the 2007 album ‘Riot’. Not to take anything away from a great song but why include a song from two years ago on a 2009 album, especially when Paramore have more recent material from the Twilight film. Other than that the first CD continues to reel out great music with Alexisonfire, Madina Lake and The Blackout.

It’s nice to see Cobra Starship’s ‘Pete Wentz is the only reason we’re famous’. Despite not getting much expose in the UK Cobra have built up a great fan base and many will be happy to hear this bouncy pop number.

The second CD is much heavier in comparison with the likes of Slipknot and Dragonforce kicking it off, and what a way to start. The Ghost Of A Thousand and In Case Of Fire are two young British bands who put out great albums in the past months and their contributions really stand out.

Papa Roach and Fightstar make an appearance with two of the tunes for what’s left of the summer with ‘Lifeline’ and ‘Mercury Summer’. Brilliantly winding down the album is Sheffield’s latest big things in Rolo Tomassi and Bring Me The Horizon.

Two great CDs but, the likelihood is if you like the first disc, you won’t be too fond of the second and vice versa. This is the problem with Kerrang! The album ’09. Obviously there will be people that love both discs and people that hate both but they offer a good mix. Maybe you’ll find a new band you like that you wouldn’t have listened to, which is always good.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Darran Smith, Funeral For A Friend

2009-08-03T11:34:00.007+01:00

Just finishing a European tour with Linkin Park, Funeral For A Friend are coming back home to rock the UK. The Welsh quintet have a tour lined up to begin in October and they shall be one of the few rock bands to release a greatest hits album. The album is entitled 'Your History is Mine: 2002-2009' and shall be released on September 28th, along with four brand new tracks. We talked to FFAF guitarist, Darran Smith.

A Greatest Hits album is surely a great sign of a bands achievements, what does it mean to you?
It definitely means a huge amount to us as band, and kind of a landmark in our career but by no means a sign that we're slowing down or finishing up...you're gonna see plenty more from us!

Do you own any greatest hits albums yourself?
I most definitely do own some but Tom Jones 'Greatest hits' is my favourite! haha

How did the idea to release Your History and Mine come about?
Basically our old record company Atlantic approached us about putting out a 'Best of...' album and wanted us to get involved with the plans and idea's connected with it, so we have...personally I’d preferred to have waited another few years!

What is the band up to at the minute? Any album plans?
We have actually written and recorded 4 new songs for the 'Best of..' album..So we have been busy and at this moment in time we're presently on tour in Europe with Linkin Park. But for sure there will be another album next year at some point!

It's been a few months since Gavin joined, how has he fitted in with the band?
He's fitted in perfectly...we'd known him for a long time from our local scene anyway, but he's a great attribute to the band...Great musician and songwriter!

You've had a fair few line-up changes over the years, does it still feel like the same band?
We changed a couple of members after only a few months of the bands formation so we were still working the line up out at that point...Gareth on the other hand was with us for pretty much most of our career & an old friend of mine anyway so he's definitely missed! But we have a strong vision within the band and it still feels the same.

You've got a tour lined up in a few months time, are you looking forward to it?
Yep, it begins in October and we're really looking forward to it...its gonna be like a celebration of our career up until then with a lot of familiar faces in the crowds!

What are the best and worst things about being on tour?
Obviously playing the shows, meeting the fans & getting to see some amazing places around the world is the best part but the boredom & travelling to play that hour and a half on stage isn’t fun and missing our family & friends is hard!

In the past you've played small intimate shows, is this something you like or prefer to the bigger audiences?
I enjoy playing both to be honest...the intimate shows are fun & exciting but bigger ones are also cool, having lots of room on stage & seeing a huge crowd in front of you can be really overwhelming!

What can fans expect from the October tour?
A few surprises as far as song choices...that’s all I’m gonna say! ha But as usual it'll be exciting with plenty of sing-alongs!

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

'The Most Powerful EP In The Universe'

2009-07-22T22:45:00.004+01:00

Only forming around a year ago, the Leeds based trio that make Dinosair Pile-Up are anything but modest. Releasing a couple of singles and selling out their first London show at the Camden Barfly has lead to the release of their debut EP, entitled 'The Most Powerful EP In The Universe'.

Entering the studio in May with producer James Kenosha (Pulled Apart By Horses, Grammatics) the EP is set for release on August 17th. Sticking with their independent outlook, it will be released on the bands own Big Brain Records label in conjunction with small indie, Friends Vs Records.

It is to soundtrack what is a very busy festival season ahead, with sets at T In The Park and Oxegen down and Boardmasters, Bestival and Reading and Leeds festival (Radio One tent) still to go.

Tracks on the EP are 'Summer Hit Single', ‘Beach Bug’, ‘Opposites Attract’, ‘Melanin’ and ‘Cat Attack’.

LIVE DATES:

Jul 30 London Water Rats
Jul 31 Manchester Deaf Institute
Aug 7 Newquay Boardmasters Festival
Aug 28 Leeds Festival
Aug 29 Reading Festival
Sept 11 Bestival

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Kerrang! The Album 2009 tracklisting announced

2009-07-21T14:46:00.004+01:00

Spanning two explosive CDs, CD 1 focuses on rock and punk and includes the huge ‘Know Your Enemy’ by Green Day, Billy Talent’s new single ‘Rusted From The Rain’ and the raucous ‘Juggernauts’ by Enter Shikari. CD 2 hones in on the world of metal and features ‘Sulfur’ by Download headliners Slipknot as well as the epic ‘Heroes Of Our Time’ by Dragonforce.

CD1

1. Green Day – Know Your Enemy
2. Billy Talent - Rusted From The Rain
3. My Chemical Romance - Desolation Row
4. Paramore - Misery Business
5. You Me At Six - Save It For The Bedroom
6. The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell
7. New Found Glory - Listen To Your Friends
8. Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day
9. Theory Of A Deadman - Hate My Life
10. Spinnerette - Rebellious Palpitations
11.Alexisonfire - Young Cardinals
12. The Blackout - STFUppercut
13. Madina Lake - Let’s Get Outta Here
14. Taking Back Sunday - Sink Into Me
15. The King Blues - Save The World, Get The Girl
16. Swound! - We Are A Danger
17. Chiodos - Lexington (Joey Pea-Pot With A Monkey Face)
18. Cobra Starship - Pete Wentz Is The Only Reason We’re Famous
19. Metro Station - Shake It
20. Enter Shikari - Juggernauts
21. The Prodigy - Omen

CD2

1. Slipknot - Sulfur
2. Dragonforce - Heroes Of Our Time
3. Killswitch Engage - Starting Over
4. Mastodon - Divinations
5. Marilyn Manson - We’re From America
6. Gallows - London Is The Reason
7. Ghost Of A Thousand - Bright Lights
8. In Case Of Fire - Enemies
9. Disturbed - The Night
10. DevilDriver - Pray For Villains
11. Shinedown - Sound Of Madness
12. Papa Roach - Lifeline
13. Fightstar - Mercury Summer
14. Static-X - Stingwray
15. Lamb Of God - Set To Fail
16. Cancer Bats - Engine Skull
17. Blakfish - Economics
18. Outcry Collective - Dead in The Water
19. The Dead Formats – Dirty White Shoes
20. Rolo Tomassi - I Love Turbulence
21. Bring Me The Horizon - Football Season Is Over

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Innerpartysystem leave Island Records and announce new fans site

2009-07-08T22:03:00.005+01:00

Innerpartysystem have made the following statement following recent developments:

“Hello everyone, We know we’ve been a little elusive as of late with news, but we have a few really big updates.

First off: Innerpartysystem is no longer on Island Records. There’s really nothing else to be said there. There are some really amazing, overworked, underpaid, stressed out people who love music, working very hard there… and there are a handful of people who just didn’t really understand this band, and didn’t know how to react when ‘Don’t Stop’ wasn’t ‘Just Dance.’ Our bad there.

There’s a particularly badass crew at Island UK, who really fought and worked the hell out of this brand new, no name band from America, and we’re sincerely thankful that we've had the team by our side to help build such a strong foundation. At the end of the day, our label teams made this past year possible, gave us the freedom to make the album we wanted to make, and provided the opportunity for us to build our (albeit extremely modest) studio and stage show. So thank you!

This is a very exciting time for us. We also realize that now, more than ever, we need to directly connect with our fans. There’s no amount of marketing money that is more valuable than IPS being able to directly communicate with you, and let you know exactly what’s going on in our world. With that in mind, our tech guru/ soundman extraordinaire, Andy, has put together innerpartysystem.net. Innerpartysystem.net is a forum site specifically for IPS fans where we can communicate with you directly, and most importantly, use it as a place to give you free exclusive music, videos, and whatever else the gods of the interweb may dream up.

To celebrate the launch, we’re posting a free download of our ‘Official Warped Tour/Summer Mixtape,’ featuring most of our remixes from the past year, artists we love, and a few new surprises. For the audiophiles, we’ve also posted stems for you to remix and DJ including: ‘Obsession,’ ‘Heart Of Fire,’ ‘Last Night In Brooklyn,’ ‘New Poetry,’ and ‘Don’t Stop.’ Fans of IPS, we appreciate you. We need you. We wouldn’t exist without you. We can’t wait to share new music with you later this year, and we hope to see tons of you all this summer on Warped Tour.
Until next time.

-IIIII”

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Panic At The Disco split in half

2009-07-07T03:05:00.007+01:00

Panic at the Disco guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker have announced they are leaving the band "to embark on a musical excursion of their own."

Ross and Walker posted on the band’s website, "Though the four of us have made music together in the past, we've creatively evolved in different directions which has compromised what each of us want to personally achieve."

The two remaining members, Brendon Urie (vocals) and Spencer Smith (drums) issued the following statement:
"It's been an amazing journey being in a band with them, but sometimes individual tastes take friends in different directions and you can't ignore it. They are some of the most talented guys we know, and we're sure that whatever they do next will be great.

That said, Panic At The Disco is alive and very very well. We are working on new songs that we are excited for you to hear. Our dates with Blink and Fall Out Boy start in a little less than a month, and we wouldn't miss those for the world."

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Paramore set date for new album

2009-06-27T00:15:00.006+01:00

Paramore have announced new album 'Brand New Eyes' will be released on September 29th. It will be the bands third studio album and follow up to 2007s 'Riot!'

You can preorder brand new eyes starting July 7th on paramore.net. The first single from the album will be 'Ignorance', it will be available for download at all digital retailers from July 7th.

Here is the tracklistings for 'Brand New Eyes':

01. Careful
02. Ignorance
03. Playing God
04. Brick by Boring Brick
05. Turn It Off
06. The Only Exception
07. Feeling Sorry
08. Looking Up
09. Where the Lines Overlap
10. Misguided Ghosts
11. All I Wanted

Comfort in Sound

Serpico - Neon Wasteland

2009-06-25T17:07:00.004+01:00

Serpico - Neon Wasteland 8/10
[WeSaySo Records]

Scottish quintet, Serpico, announce themselves to the rock world with their debut album and they could be around for a while yet. Their metal, punk, rock driven sound hooks you in and you'll be singing along in no time.

All songs, including first single 'We Own The Night' are really good rock tunes and feature some standout guitar solos especially in 'Alkaline Nights' and 'Last Honest Cops.' The most notable song is the anthemic 'Kultura' a treat to see live and you can feel the energy coming through.

It's possible some of you have already seen Serpico, the band preferring the classic route of extensive touring and promoting rather than being a MySpace band with 'some fancy haircuts.' Taking to the road in 2007 and rarely being off it, Serpico have provided support for AFI, Aiden, Kill Hannah, Elliot Minor and Black Stone Cherry amongst others. This was topped off with a set at this year's Download Festival.

'Neon Wasteland' is an impressive first showing from Serpico, and hopefully there will be more to come.

Comfort in Sound

Papa Roach - Naked And Fearless Acoustic EP

2009-06-23T19:17:00.003+01:00

Papa Roach - Naked And Fearless Acoustic EP 8/10
[Interscope Records]

Although only three songs long this is a beautiful acoustic EP from Papa Roach. If you were wondering, the three songs it features are latest single 'Lifeline', 'Had Enough' and 'Carry Me' and all are done very well. The softness of the acoustic guitar, really lets you appreciate Shaddix (Vocals) voice more so than normal and the whole band shine on this trimmed down version of their latest work.

'Lifeline', the single released on the same day as this EP, is a great song with its easy to sing-a-long with chorus and catchy riffs, none of which is lost in the acoustic version. Overall a great show from the California boys of just how talented they are.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

A behind the scenes look at Papa Roach

2009-06-20T00:19:00.006+01:00

Papa Roach are offering you a behind the scenes look at their development over the last ten years in this new video. This comes as the band are releasing not only a new single, 'Lifeline' but also an acoustic EP 'Naked and Fearless' on Monday (June 22nd).

'Lifeline' is the second single to come from the California quartets latest album 'Metamorphosis.' The album returned Papa Roach onto the rock map playing second headliners on the 2nd stage at this years Download Festival.

"We bring it live," Shaddix (Vocals) says. "Listening to a record is one thing, but when you come to one of our shows, it's like the last tribal experience. Playing shows every night is what we're built for. We make a club feel like an arena, and we make an arena feel like a club."

See the behind the scenes video here.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Alex Rosamilia, The Gaslight Anthem

2009-06-18T17:11:00.001+01:00

The Gaslight Anthem had an amazing 2008, coming from nowhere to give us; one of the best albums of the year (‘The 59 Sound’), amazing live shows and a few festival appearances. This year they will be following it up with more festival appearances and taking to the same stage as one of their idols when they support Bruce Springsteen at Hard Rock Calling. We talked to guitarist Alex Rosamilia:

Not even two years ago you were an unknown to most people, since then everything’s skyrocketed, how have things changed for you?
Since we've started touring full time, I've also been floating full time when we're home. Aside from that, I don't think much has changed at all.

Do you get much time to have a rest from all the work?
Nope. But, I spend most of any spare time these days with my girl and her 3 dogs.

What’s going to be the best thing about playing with Springsteen?
That maybe people would stop asking us about playing with Springsteen.

How do you feel going back to Reading/Leeds Festival after the amazing reception last year?
I'm excited. That was my first real festival experience ever, as a player or a spectator, and now to go back and play there again, it'll be interesting to see if it’s any different now that we're "veterans" at this stuff.

Do you like being in the UK?
Yeah we like it a lot. It’s one place that I've always wanted to go to, even as a kid. To be able to have the opportunity to keep going back now is pretty amazing.

You’re a band that everyone seems to like, what do you think makes your music appeal to everyone?
I think that we're not trying to ‘do’ anything. We've never gone for a gimmick or niche, we've just played what came natural to us. I think a lot of bands try too hard to be one specific thing sometimes.

It’s nearly been a year since the release of ‘The 59 Sound’, are any plans afoot for a new record?
This winter we're going to go back in the studio and will see what happens....

You can see The Gaslight Anthem at most UK Festivals this year including Reading/Leeds and Glastonbury. For full details and news check www.thegaslightanthem.com

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Nine Inch Nails Frontman decides to call it quits

2009-06-16T23:47:00.004+01:00

Trent Reznor, the only official member of Nine Inch Nails (NIN), announced on Saturday at Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee that NIN have played their last show. During the set he said "It just dawned on me that this is our last show ever in the United States." He continued "Don't be sad. I'll kepp going. But I think I'm going to lose my... mind if I keep doing this, and I have to stop."

NIN have been around since 1988, but in a recent interview but Reznor said in a recent interview he would quit playing soon due to his own mental health and to "make Nine Inch Nails a precious thing."

Outside of the US, NIN will be playing at T in the Park between July 10 - 12.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Song of the Week: Avenged Sevenfold - Unholy Confessions

2009-06-16T19:04:00.003+01:00

'Unholy Confessions' comes from the Californian five-piece’s second studio album ‘Waking The Fallen’ released in 2003. This album was the first to feature Johnny Christ on bass replacing Daemon Ash. This album is said to be the last A7X album to feature their metalcore sound although there are more clean vocals than their first album ‘Sounding The Seventh Trumpet.’

The video for ‘Unholy Confessions’ was recorded during a live performance by the band at the Music Box of the Henry Fonda Theatre, the actual song was then dubbed over. A7X’s record deal with Warner Bros Records requested a video for the song. The band didn’t like how the original concept from a year before (2003) turned out and so went back to the start. Mixed in with the live footage is clips of fans getting Avenged Sevenfold tattoos, playing guitar and piano and Johnny Christ posting the band’s stickers all over Hollywood Boulevard outside where the live footage was filmed.

If you haven't heard this great song before then check out our MySpace page (link on the right side of the page).

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Enter Shikari to play 'secret' set at Download

2009-06-10T13:06:00.002+01:00

Friday 12th June at 5.30pm, Enter Shikari will throw concern for life and limb to the wind and perform a set in the intimate Tuborg tent at Donington's Download Festival.

This comes with the upcoming release of their second album "Common Dreads" released on Monday June 15th. The band will also be doing signings at stores around the country including HMV in Glasgow and Manchester, Reflex Records in Newcastle and Jumbo Records in Leeds.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Shannon Lee, SpiderBaby

2009-06-09T12:24:00.005+01:00

SpiderBaby, a four piece from Brighton have weaved their spidery debut album and are preparing for its release in the coming months. The Power Pop/Rock/Electro band released a debut EP last year 'The Death of Spiderbaby' and their fan base has been growing ever since.

We talked to the bands self proclaimed Singer/Rhythm Guitarist/Songwriter/Keyboard player/Bass player/Dancer/ Clearer upper/Fluffer, Shannon Lee:

With your debut album release just around the corner, how are you feeling?
*touches self..* I feel good! (laughs)
No, I feel, as do the rest of the band, very excited! The material on the new record is the best yet! The production blows 'The Death Of SpiderBaby' away totally!

Tell us about the album. Which songs do you think are your best?
The spec was to make an album that you put on before you go out to the sweatiest indie/electro/rock club! It had to be an album that made you dance with lots of throbbing bass & scuzzy guitars. We've always made a very strange type of dance music but with 'Where The Strange Ones Go' we wanted to take it that step further.

It truly is the best material that I've certainly written. As a band we really sweated blood on this thing! Easy cop out to say that all of the material is awesome (which it is!) but personal faves are 'Scream My Name', 'Scary But So Much Fun' & 'Erotic Nymphos In Love' (that you can hear on our MySpace page) but it changes day to day. There are 11 tracks on the record, so plenty for everybody.

How would you describe SpiderBaby’s sound?
Every listener has a different interpretation. We like that.

Where did the name ‘SpiderBaby’ come from?
It's a cult 1960s B-movie. If you get a chance to watch it, do! Its lots of fun!
We are sometimes asked if we're named after the Father Ted sketch. Hahaha!

Which artists do you look up to and get inspiration from?
Each band member has their own influences which probably has a lot to do with the sound. Start off with Prince, Kiss, NIN, Grace Jones & Serge Gainsbourge & you're headed in the right direction.

It’s been a few years since starting SpiderBaby, are you happy with how things have gone so far?
We started in mid-2006 after having played in various bands. We pretty much self released our debut single 'Lovebuzz!Teenage Odyssey' within a month of being together. We had a different female vocallist & Jonti wasn't in the band. Jonti joined in November 2006 & we played our debut gig a month later, with a UK tour in January 2007. It didn't work out with the original singer, we got another girl who remained with us for 3 months before Ashleigh joined in October 2007.
From when Ashleigh joined to now, things blew right through the roof! You could effectively say that SpiderBaby as you know it, have been together since October 2007.
Am I happy with where we're at? Absolutely! I think the industry has changed so much, record labels are no longer as important as they once were. Any band can release their own material & promote to a very good level. SpiderBaby has a rabid fan base (& no, I don't mean they froth at the mouths, folks!) in that they love SpiderBaby with a passion! Our debut EP physically sold out with little to no mainline advertising & our downloads on iTunes still sell brilliantly every month! Our friends don't care about anybody that doesn't 'get it'... they just hunger for everything & anything SpiderBaby!
Even if SpiderBaby never sell a million records, we are blessed to have such a devoted, loyal SpiderBaby family.

Have you hit any stumbling blocks along the way?
Plenty including drug abuse, alcohol dependency, inter-band relationships, clinical depression & even a run in with religious groups (over our song 'Crucify') but the good times far outweigh the bad!

You very recently made a new music video, how did it go?
It was for the song 'Erotic Nymphos In Love', we filmed it this past weekend. It was a long day but with so many scantily clad pretty people walking around, how could I ever complain?

Lastly, what can people going to see SpiderBaby expect?
You can't promise much in this world, but I PROMISE, you come & see SpiderBaby, you'll get more sex, blood, lust, romance, dancers & melodrama than any other band can deliver!! We will make you sweat!!
Oh, & did I mention the dwarfs..?

Check out SpiderBaby's MySpace at www.myspace.com/spiderbabyband

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Song of the Week: Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care

2009-06-09T00:04:00.003+01:00

“I Don’t Care” was Fall Out Boy’s first single from their most recent album “Folie à Deux.” It was released in September of 2008 and was included in the ‘100 singles of 2008’ according to Rolling Stone.

Patrick Stump (Vocals/Guitar) has said the track is about the superficiality and selfishness that is associated with pop culture. It’s a political song, but not in the traditional sense.

The video for the song features guest appearances from former Guns N’ Roses member Gilby Clarke, Mark Hoppus from Blink 182, Pharrell Williams from N*E*R*D*, Gabe Saporta from Cobra Starship, Spencer Pratt and Sarah Palin.

Fall Out Boy’s bassist, Pete Wentz, posted a blog about the product placement in iTunes edited version of the video, which Fall Out Boy had not approved. Wentz said “Imagine seeing this edit only after you buy the video off of iTunes and realizing that no one even had the balls to call you and tell you they were changing the video and cutting parts.”

Wentz went on to say “this will probably end up deleted by me or someone else", by the next morning, the post was replaced with an image of Popeye and Bluto, with the word "censored" taped across their mouths.

To hear the song check our MySpace profile.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

White Belt Yellow Tag single and tour news

2009-06-02T19:56:00.006+01:00

Have you heard of 'White Belt Yellow Tag'? It's the combination of Justin Lockey from Yourcodenameis:Milo and Craig Pilbin and they are set to have a big 2009.

The pair began writing just over a year ago after meeting in a studio in Newcastle. Lockey, had steadily been building a considerable reputation as a producer, working on singles and demos for the likes of Late of the Pier, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, White Lies, Enter Shikari & Everything Everything among others.

Pilbin had a bunch of songs he wanted to try out with Lockey, yet it soon became apparent that the producer/writer relationship was too restrictive as both began contributing in equal measure; the results were instant, falling somewhere between the glacial flow of Slint and the uplifting majesty of Doves.

By early 2009 they had most of their debut album complete with news on it coming soon. In the mean time not only is their a new single, called 'Tell Your Friends (It All Worked Out)' released on Juky 13th on vinyl and download but you can also see them on tour this month:

June
4th London Forum (supporting The Gaslight Anthem)
7th Middleborough Town Hall
8th Nottingham Bodega
10th Bristol Louisiana
11th Hertford Marquee
13th Oxford Cellars
15th Swindon The Vic Inn
16th Northampton Roadmender
17th Cheltenham Frog & Fiddle
18th Leeds Cockpit
19th Liverpool Korova
20th Manchester Ruby Loung

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Rancid - Let The Dominoes Fall

2009-06-02T14:11:00.005+01:00

Rancid - Let The Dominoes Fall 6/10
[Hellcat]
The last time we heard Rancid was way back in 2003 when they released Indestructible. Now their seventh studio album comes packed with more than enough to make up for wait. And when I say more than enough I mean quantity, nineteen tracks in total.

Looking at the track listings you would assume that there would be some filler which is unfortunately true. Still it's all listenable. It's Rancid, not at their best, but still good. Tim Armstrong (guitar/vocals) said “The crew is back doing what we do best... We approached every element of this record as a team, and the result is my favourite Rancid record to date.”

Rancid may be considered a typical ‘punk’ band and that's something missing from this album. But, to ignore their ska and country elements is an oversight, most notably in ‘Up To No Good’ which features Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Booker T. You definitely pick up a country feel in ‘Civilian Ways’ which is a stand out track, a mostly acoustic song inspired by the soldier’s journey of Armstrong’s brother to Iraq and back home again.

The final song ‘The Highway’ really gets Armstrong’s point across “just wanna play one more song and make some music with my friends.” And Rancid really get that feeling of playing for the joy of it across. It an enjoyable album, maybe not worth the six year wait though.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

The Gaslight Anthem announce new single and video to go with it

2009-05-28T14:01:00.004+01:00

New Jersey’s favourite sons The Gaslight Anthem return to the UK this summer twice, for a headline show at The Forum in London on June 4th and again supporting “The Boss” at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park. Tickets for The Forum show are priced at £15.00 and are available from www.livenation.co.uk. Tickets for Hard Rock Calling are already sold out. The band will also be playing the Radio 1 / NME stage at Reading and Leeds festivals.

June 15th also sees the release of the title track ‘The ’59 Sound’. This single will be available via download, as well as in 7” and CD versions. The B-sides include Gaslight’s brilliant cover version of ‘State of Love and Trust’ by Pearl Jam and ‘We Came to Dance’ off the band’s first full-length 'Sink Or Swim'. Below is the official video for the new single.

The Gaslight Anthem is regarded as one of the hardest working bands in rock n roll, performing over 200 shows in the last 8 months.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Song of the Week: Billy Talent - Fallen Leaves

2009-05-21T19:36:00.003+01:00

'Fallen Leaves' was the third single to come from Billy Talent's 2006 release. This album had less anger than Billy Talent I and focused on more real life issues.

'Fallen Leaves' itself was about two friends who nearly died as a result of heroin addiction. The lyric "Just one more hit, and I'll be fine. I swear to God this'll be my one last time!" reflects the tragedy of the speakers life.

Originally the song was called 'Falling Leaves' but as the lyric in the song is "Fallen leaves, fallen leaves, fallen leaves on the ground". Billy Talent realised this didn't really make sense and so changed it to it's current name.

The song holds the record for fastest song to fall from number 1 in the MuchMusic Countdown. Despite this it is a huge favourite when seeing the band performing live. With Billy Talent III coming soon, a tour can't be far away and I recommend seeing these guys if possible.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Tom Lacey, The Ghost Of A Thousand

2009-05-20T18:20:00.006+01:00

The Ghost Of A Thousand are looking forward to the release of their second studio album coming out on June 1st. A lot has changed since the release of their debut album back in 2007 and we caught up with Tom Lacey (Vocals) from TGOAT:

So are you all prepared for what looks like will be a very busy summer for ghost?
Always, we love being busy and to be honest we've not toured much in the last year so we're itching to get back on it.

What are you looking forward to most in the upcoming months?
Just playing all our new songs to new people, getting out into Europe has been one of our main goals since we started and we've now got the chance to finally achieve it. We're delighted to be playing so many big Euro festivals.

How come you have made the launch party gigs in London and Brighton free entry?
We're just nice like that...we want them to feel like parties rather than ego worshipping gigs so we just felt that making them free and giving away lots of free clobber would make people loosen up and come and say Hi more readily.

You’re playing the lockup stage at Reading and Leeds this year, even though you played in 2007 do you still get nervous about it? Especially with stories of bands being bottled off, etc?
If I get a bottle in the face it’s going straight back at the person who threw it, but fuck it man, if people want to come and cause trouble we're more than capable of handling ourselves ha ha! We're moving targets anyway so they'll have a tough time.

What can be expected from the upcoming album?
More riffs, more melody, more heart, and more good times. It’s a bleak fucking record in places but the end goal is to salvage some good from all the shitty things you have to deal with in this life, so hopefully that is portrayed well by the album.

It’s said to be ‘sadder’ than ‘This is where the fight begins’, in what way is it?
We had a really rough year personally the year we wrote it and alot of that seeped through into the music and lyrics...I try not to bring too much personal stuff into what we do but it was inevitable that it would become more apparent as we wrote the record so we just went with it.

Where did the name ‘New Hopes, New Demonstrations’ come from?
It’s about proving to other people that you can make a good thing of your life, hence the demonstrations part, the new hope is just trying to be optimistic about very negative things, it’s almost ironic because the last song on the record is pretty blunt and leaves you on a bit a of a downer, but we kept it just because that’s the kind of people we are, we have to try and put a positive spin on these things, it’s in our nature.

Do you have a favourite track from the album?
‘Knees, toes, teeth’ is my favourite at the moment just because it sounds like AC/DC if they listened to Converge as kids!

What was it like recording in Stockholm with Pelle Gunnerfeldt?
Pelle was an inspiration, a funny little dude, but we loved him and his beautiful studio. We had 5 weeks out there with no pool tables, no lounge, nothing, we'd just work all day and watch films at night until one by one we passed out. We work better without mates dropping in every second, so it was perfect.

What’s the weirdest thing to happen to you in the band so far?
It blows my mind that kids love our band and can get so passionate about us, that in itself is insane and humbling at the same time!

Listen to and keep up with The Ghost Of A Thousand on their MySpace.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Blink 182 announce tour details

2009-05-14T00:24:00.007+01:00

Blink 182 have finally announced details of their reunion tour to Rolling Stone magazine. The support acts will be Weezer and Fall Out Boy, although it is not clear if this will apply to a UK leg of the tour.

Along with the promise of new songs Blink's bassist/singer, Mark Hoppus said 'We used to walk onstage and forget our parts. We wanted to play fast and look cool. This time, we want to be more artistic... We want to use the entire arena as a lighting rig and stage.'

Rumours were that All-American Rejects would also be on the tour, and that's not yet impossible. A spokesperson from Interscope said an official announcement (about the tour) will be released in the coming weeks.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

The Ghost Of A Thousand to play two free shows

2009-05-08T21:23:00.008+01:00

The Ghost Of A Thousand (TGOAT) will be playing two free gigs to support the release of their new album ‘New Hopes, New Demonstrations’. The Brighton based band’s album is to be released on 1st June and follows their debut album from 2007 ‘This Is Where The Fight Begins’.

The free gigs are take place on 30th May at Audio in Brighton (16+) and 1st June at Bloomsbury Bowling in London (18+). “Absolutely everyone is welcome, unless you have swine flu” said Steve Sitowski, frontman for Outcry Collective who will be supporting TGOAT at the London gig. Not only are the London gig free but there will be giveaways from Epitaph, Jagermeister, Vans, Criminal Damage and Rockstar to help make this a night to remember.

If you can't make these gigs then you can see TGOAT supporting Gallows on their current UK tour, or supporting Alexisonfire at their Borderline gig.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Madina Lake at The Corporation, Sheffield

2009-05-08T20:48:00.002+01:00

Madina Lake celebrated the release of their new album ‘Attics to Eden’ with a gig at Sheffield’s Corporation on Monday. With Kill Hannah pulling out of the main support slot, the crowd welcomed their replacements The Audition who themselves had a new album released on that day.

Yashin start off the night followed by Flood Of Red, both are good young bands and are well received, Yashin a little more so than Flood Of Red. However, due a long queue and slow entry a lot of people missed one or both of these bands.

The Audition really step up the atmosphere coming on stage and straight into ‘Warm Me Up’, a great song that starts up the mosh pit which continued all night long. The Audition’s songs, even if you don’t know them, are very catchy, great pop/rock hooks and some great Bass playing from Timothy Klepek. The only downside was that Danny Stevens’ vocals were difficult to hear and make out from the rest of the noise.

Madina Lake appear on stage to a huge reception of clapping, cheering and general excitement. Fans had the chance earlier in the day to meet the band at an album signing, which shows how far they have come in such a short time, since forming in 2005.

The atmosphere, as Madina Lake plays through songs such as ‘One Last Kiss’ and ‘Let’s Get Outta Here’ was amazing. Nathan Leone leaping into the audience got everything going as the mosh pit grew in size and energy from one song to another. People who arrived to see what all the fuss over Madina Lake was about may not have liked the music but it doesn’t matter, the feeling of having a great time dragged all in. Three or four large balloons provide another high point, especially when guitarist Mateo Camargo swung his guitar head at one popping it and sending tickertape everywhere.

Recent release ‘Never Take Us Alive’ is a huge high with the whole audience jumping up and down. The night ends with a quick encore of ‘Me Vs. The World’ which the crowd loved. Madina Lake may not musically be to everyone’s tastes, but going to one of their gigs is a great experience that anyone can appreciate.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Song of the Week: Mindless Self Indulgence - Shut Me Up

2009-05-05T21:13:00.008+01:00

This week’s song is ‘Shut Me Up’ by Mindless Self Indulgence (MSI) and comes from their 2005 album ‘Straight To Video’. This album was the first to feature Lyn-Z on bass and on the sleeve of the album was “A warning for those of you lazy self absorbed and/or just plain inattentive parents”. The warning went along the lines of parents should look at themselves before blaming everything on MSI’s lyrics.

The band assigned themselves the genre of ‘Industrial Jungle Pussy Punk’, and mix musical genres from shock rock, electronica, punk and industrial.

The single itself was released in September 2006 and reached number 7 in the Billboard Hot Single Sales chart. The video for it featured a store clerk who days after going to a MSI gig, goes insane and explodes. To hear the song just go to our MySpace page.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Dan Wiese, Kill Hannah

2009-05-04T13:08:00.008+01:00

Kills Hannah fans were disappointed to hear a few weeks ago of the band pulling out of their UK tour with Madina Lake. But, through the disappointment of missing the Chicago based boys, came the promise of a new album coming soon. We asked guitarist Dan Wiese about the recent happening and this new album:

A lot of fans were disappointed with you having to pull out of the UK tour; can you explain what happened and why?

Obviously, that was at least as disappointing for us as it was for the fans. We adore the UK and had our hearts set on that tour and putting on our best shows ever. But, as fate would have it, we were offered a recording contract that required us to deliver a finished record by June 1st. This gave us about 5 weeks to find studios and hire engineers and mixers, not to mention arrange, produce and perform a full albums worth of new music. It was a very tough choice but we simply could not afford a single day of not being in the studio. The up side to all this is that there will positively be a new kill Hannah record in stores this summer!

After your headline tour last year many fans were confused at the announcement of you supporting again. How did it come about?

Basically, that tour lineup was formed by our friendship with Madina Lake. We looked at it as a good chance to get back over to the UK and play a short set of new material for the fans. It was never meant to be a full on Kill Hannah tour. It would have been great, short and sweet, and a sort of appetizer before our next headlining tour.

How would you say the tour went last year, with the bus fire and all?

The Hope for the Hopeless tour was amazing. It consumed the greater part of a year of our lives and there are absolutely no regrets. It was our first headlining tour of the UK and Europe and it was a dream come true. Of course the bus fire was traumatic and difficult to recover from, but we've always been about survival and I can't even say that the fire was the worst thing that has happened to us.

Which was your favourite UK venue?

That's such a tough call. I absolutely love the Astoria, Rock City in Nottingham, and the Academys in Manchester and Birmingham, but I can't ignore Liverpool and Newcastle. What can I say, I love them all!

Who has been your favourite band to tour with and why?

Over the years we've been lucky to tour with so many of our friends and, again, I can't pick just one. I love being on tour with HIM, Shiny Toy Guns, Velvet Revolver, Alice In Chains, and 30 Seconds To Mars.

How’s Jonny now after he missed the last tour?

He's fine. He finally got his driver’s license.

How has work on the new songs been going?

I couldn't be happier with the new music, truthfully. The songs are coming alive in the studio and are going to sound huge live. Get ready.

What can we expect from the new album?

I think that the new album will show the range of the band unlike any of our previous albums. It’s moodier, darker, and more exciting and beautiful at the same time. I don't want to give away too much, but this is going to be a great summer. It will hopefully be released in August.

What’s it been like to have a break from touring to work on new material, after you’ve been on the road for so long?

It’s quite an adjustment actually, to be in the same city for more than a day. But, the rest has been good for us. The most important thing is the new music, and I think a little time off the road was necessary for this album to come together the way it has.

And when can we expect you back in the UK?

Hopefully soon. Making up the missed shows, including those missed from the bus fire, is top priority.

Lastly, why is Elias still only credited as ‘live drummer’ considering how long he’s been with the band now?

Well, Elias hadn't played on our previous records, so we wanted to make that distinction so as not to discredit our previous drummer. But, Elias is on this new one so one day we may get around to changing that... one day.

To hear Kill Hannah visit their MySpace page.
Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Song of the Week: Madina Lake - Never Take Us Alive

2009-05-02T21:55:00.006+01:00

This weeks song, 'Never Take Us Alive' comes from Madina Lake's second studio album, the soon to be released 'Attics To Eden'. The seriously catchy song is the first single to be taken from the album. If you hadn't heard of Madina Lake before now then you're very likely to soon as this song is everywhere.

For those new to the Chicago based four piece Madina Lake are made up of Mateo Camargo (guitar), Dan Torelli (drums) and the Leone twins, Nathan (vocals) and Matthew (bass). The twins took part on a special edition of Twin Fear Factor where they won $50,000, this money then went straight into the band to pay for recordings and their first demo in 2006.

Madina Lake are currently on tour in the UK with the Audition and Flood of Red, promoting their new album which is released on Monday the 4th of May. Just go to our MySpace page to hear the song.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Green Day announce UK tour

2009-04-27T15:01:00.006+01:00

Green Day have anounced dates for their UK and Irish Arena tour. The tour will support their next album, 21st Century Breakdown which is released on May 15th.

Dates include:
Glasgow SECC (October 19th)
Belfast Odessy Arena (20th)
Dublin O2 (21st)
London O2 Arena (23rd and 24th)
Sheffield Arena (26th)
Birmingham LG Arena (27th and 28th)
Manchester MEN Arena (30th and 31st)

Tickets go on sale on the 1st of May at 10am.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Underoath unveil new video

2009-04-23T15:16:00.005+01:00

Underoath have revealed the new video for 'Too Bright To See, Too Loud To Hear'. The song comes from the Florida groups album 'Lost In The Sound Of Separation' which was released in September last year. The video, exclusive to MySpace received over 100,000 view in a couple of days, you can see it here.

Underoath recently played Give It A Name and are currently touring Europe.

Damon
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Rob Rolfe, Enter Shikari

2009-04-22T17:34:00.005+01:00

Enter Shikari seem to be everywhere right now, the list of upcoming gigs keeps growing and currently includes, Leeds/Reading festival, Radio 1's Big Weekend and playing other venues around the UK, not to mention having headlined this years GIAN. Not only do fans have the opportunity to see the St. Albans four piece but a follow up album to 2007‘s ‘Take To The Skies’ is not far away. We talked to drummer Rob Rolfe aka Sgt. Rolfy:

Obviously, the big Enter Shikari news is that you’re playing Reading/Leeds this year, are you excited about it?

Of course, it’s going to be the first time we'll have played a main stage in front of our home crowd which is going to be fantastic. Reading was the festival we all went to as punters before we ever got any success with the band and looking back at all the historic names that have graced its main stage, it's such an honour to be up there with them. It will be looking at the whole festival from a very different perspective (also the dressing room will be nicer!).

With all the gigs and festivals your playing how does it feel to be so in demand?

It’s great to be getting such support from everyone, from the fans to the labels, from the press to the promoters, we're so lucky to be in this position and just hope that we can deliver from our side to match the overwhelming boost we've been given by everyone.

What can fans expect from your upcoming shows?

Well obviously we're going to be playing some new material along with the popular older stuff (I can't wait till the day we can stop playing 'sorry you're not' and get away with it). It’s been quite a break from the live scene for us which we've never really had before. It was well needed but I think it's come to the point now where we're all getting a bit restless and itching to get back into the action which I think will definitely come through in our performances.

How have the new songs that you’ve played gone down with the crowd so far?

Really well, we've had great reactions from them. They're great fun to play and are easy to get down and have fun to. We’ve been playing some of them quite a lot in the UK so people are starting to get to know them and know the lyrics, it's always easier to lose yourself in and have a fun with a song that you know so I think the more people hear the new stuff the more intense they'll get live.

Who’s been the best band that you’ve toured with and why?

That's a tough one, I mean, we did the big day out tour in Australia which is a touring festival with rage against the machine headlining which was awesome, one of the best tours we've done. I think they've been the favourite band for each of us at some point in our lives and to be on the same bill as them was just immense. But, then it's great to be able, when headlining, to pick our own support acts and one whose music personally for me I absolutely love was yourcodenameis: milo. But, then again I have to mention the friends that we made touring with bands in our first few years like flood of red, fell silent and so many more. Such great bands, great fun to tour with and now really good mates of ours. Tours are always made more comfortable and enjoyable by the quality of the people, not the quality of the band (although it helps).

You’ve played shows all over the UK now, so… which is you’re least favourite accent?

Geordie easily. We always request the same bus driver because he's such a great guy who's a Geordie. Well technically he's not, and he'd kill me for saying so. He’s actually from Sunderland... but I can't tell the difference. Shouldn’t be saying that either, I think there's a bit more than just a rivalry between then and Newcastle. Oh well, sorry.

What’s your favourite venue in the UK?

Possibly the barrow lands in Glasgow, the crowd there are always nuts and I get to drink buckfast. The Irish are always a great crowd too though, the ambassador in Dublin is a great venue, especially since they got a new sound system put in but the security can sometimes be dicks.

Has the band changed in any way since the release of ‘Take to the Skies’?

That’s really like asking someone on their 18th birthday if they feel any older. I guess we must have matured as people, like a fine cheese or wine and it's come through in our music writing. I feel we're more confident and competent as song writers and I personally think Rou's vocals have come a long way from the first album. if you're thinking that we might have changed from the success that we got with take to the skies I wouldn't say that's the case at all, we all still live at home with our parents (much to their dismay), we're too close to our roots to lets things go to our heads.

What can we expect from the upcoming album?

Well people that have heard it say it's much more diverse than the first album, which is good because a lot of people would expect you to go more commercial middle of the road type stuff. We’ve had a lot more time with this album to experiment with recording techniques as well as instrumentation. There’s a lot of different styles and sounds on here that weren't on the first and I’m pretty sure you won't be expecting. I don't want to give too much away but i think people will be pleasantly surprised.

What was it like staying and recording at Arreton Manor? Did anyone witness any ‘ghostly happenings’?

It was awesome, Andy's got an amazing house set in beautiful scenery. On the very last day we were there he took us on a full tour of the house and showed us every part, some of it dating back to the 500's. He’s a massive collector of antiques and coats of armour which are scattered all around the house. The most famous ghost story of the house is about a little girl who was thrown out of a window by her elder brother and there was a point, late at night after a couple of glasses of wine and slices of cheese when Rou woke up to see a little girl at the end of his bed which quickly disappeared when I turned the light on to go for a piss... pretty spooky.

Can you give us any news about future Enter Shikari plans?

Lots and lots of touring, hopefully we'll be able to travel as much as we did for the first album again, and we've also got a lot more material waiting to be laid down in the studio if we ever get the time, but we're certainly going to be very busy touring this album first.

Hear Enter Shikari on MySpace or visit www.entershikari.com
Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Lizzy Devine, Vains of Jenna

2009-04-21T17:03:00.006+01:00

2005 saw the formation of Swedish Rock ‘n’ Roll band Vains of Jenna. When Jackass star Bam Margera saw them live he started up his own record label, Filthy Note, just to sign them to it. Following a move to LA and the release of their debut full length album Lit Up/Let Down in 2006, a second album is not too far away. We talked to lead singer Lizzy Devine:

How did you all meet and decide to start Vains of Jenna?

Me and JP used to play in a band many years ago. JP did one show with that band, then he decided to move to Norway to make some money. Some years went by and I met JP at a few festivals. We talked about starting a band again. Nothing really happened for a while. Fast forward another year. Me and JP got our shit together and started VAINS OF JENNA. We convinced JP's brother Jacki to play drums with us. Jacki was playing in another band at the time. The guitar player in that band was Nicki. So we asked him to come to a few rehearsals. Five minutes in to the first rehearsal we all knew this was the band for us.

Has the band changed at all since you started out?

Line up wise: Not really! We had a guitar player for two weeks before Nicki joined. But that never really worked out. Then we tried out a second guitar player after being a band for a year. For some reason we thought we would sound better if I just sang. That wasn't the case. I love playing guitar and singing at the same time. And without the guitar I almost felt naked. So that guy lasted 2 rehearsals.
Besides that, it's always been us four.

If we talk music wise: Yeah, we change all the time. First album is really raw and has a lo-fi punk feel to it. Then we released Enemy in Me, which was totally different. More modern and way better
produced. The new album is gonna be another change for the band

Do you prefer spending time in Sweden or LA?

I love LA. I don't need Sweden at all.

What can you tell us anything about the new VOJ album?

I think it's amazing. We recorded the album together with Brent Woods, who was the guy that produced Enemy In Me. The songs on the album sound awesome. We got some kick ass rock tunes,
some big sounding arena rock songs and some experimental shit on there.
It's COMPLETELY different from Lit Up/Let Down.

While other Swedish bands that used to be categorized as Sleaze bands aim for more of a metal sound these days. We decided to go for what we love. Rock ‘n’ Roll. Well written songs suited for big stages. It's still aggressive at times but also beautiful at the same time.

We have been so influenced by bands like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Muse, Chris Cornell, A7X, GnR etc. etc. The songs don’t sound like any of those band’s songs but you can just hear the influences. It's gonna be an awesome rock album. But we'll see what the fans think. Some might hate it because we don't sound 80's (which we never did), or that we don't tease our hair as much as we did anymore. I don't think people will be disappointed. Compared to Lit Up Let Down this is a masterpiece (which is not too hard to do, haha).

You’ve had a lot of support from Bam Margera, what’s it like working with him?

Bam has been amazing. He helped launch our career in a bigger/faster way than we could ever imagine. He loved the band after seeing us live, that's why we decided to work with him. We like taking chances, and he did by signing us. There's always something crazy going on when you hang with him. He's a really cool guy and a lot of fun. There's always a lot of beer flowing when he's around. Even though I don't drink that much its fun seeing other people wasted.

For people that haven’t heard of you how would you describe the sound of VOJ?

It used to be very punk. More attitude rather than pro-production. Like a fist in your face-kinda thing. Now, with the new album, it’s still in your face but well written songs at the same time.

We used to be better live than on record. Now, I think it's a match. I'm sorry if this comes across cocky. I just know we're a good band. Haha

If you like a good time, pick up Lit Up Let down. And don't start listening until you've had about
4 beers. Come to a show and let go of your sorrows. Just go crazy.

What music do you listen to?

We all listen to different things. But it ranges from Elton John to Slayer. Classical music to Grind Core. Country to Digital Music. Anything goes.

What did you think to the UK tour last year?

We all think the tour was great. We didn't have any expectations. We've been gone from Europe for a few years. So we didn't really think anyone would care. But the fans were awesome. And the band we toured with were the coolest dudes ever.
VIKING SKULL!!
We’ll be back, for sure! I don't know when, but we'll be back!

Which band that you’ve been on tour with has been your favourite to hang out with?

VIKING SKULL!!! Those guys are awesome. Artimus Pyledriver is an American band that was fun to hang with as well... The guys from GWAR are also amazing people.

And which was the best to see?

The drummer from Artimus, Travis made their shows great. Fuckin' insane drummer. Then seeing RATT and Poison every night for 50+ shows wasn't too bad either. GWAR is fuckin' insane live, always fun.

Where’s your favourite place to play a gig?

Anywhere were people enjoy it. It's hard to pick one place. It could be a small dirty club or a big amphitheatre. It doesn't matter.

Hear Vains of Jenna on MySpace
Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Billy Talent III News

2009-04-20T17:38:00.005+01:00

Billy Talent have completed work on their latest album, Billy Talent III, the follow up to 2006's Billy Talent II. The new album was recorded in studios in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Billy Talent III is tentatively scheduled for world-wide release in July 2009. A video for the album’s first single, “Rusted From the Rain” will be shot in Los Angeles in mid-April with director Wayne Isham.

You can access more information about Billy Talent III by logging on to Billy Talent III. Leading up to the album’s release, the new website will be constantly updated with behind the scenes video footage of the band in the studio and on the set of their video shoot as well as the latest photos. You will be able to pre-order Billy Talent III on the site as well.

This news comes as Billy Talent announced a couple of dates for London and Newcastle to go with their Download Festival appearance.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Song of the Week: 30 Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie

2009-04-20T15:50:00.006+01:00

This is going to be a new piece. Ever Monday we will have a song of the week, from old classic tunes to new bands you may not have heard of. You’ll be able to hear the song on our MySpace page (link on the right) and get a bit of background on it on here. Hope you all enjoy, and to start with it is 30 Seconds to Mars’ A Beautiful Lie.

This song comes from the bands second studio album of the same name and was the fourth single to be released from it. 30STM’s fans in the Echelon and The Mars Army got to chose between A Beautiful Lie and The Fantasy as to which they preferred because the band could not decide.

The video for the song, directed by Angakok Panipaq, has a strong environmental message and shows the band playing on the edge of an iceberg. Jared Leto (Vocals/Guitar) has said that the video will be environmentally safe and for every download of the video, money will go to an environmental charity.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Six, Here's To Tragedy

2009-04-20T15:05:00.007+01:00

Here's To Tragedy are a young 'guitar driven electronica' band from Nottingham. Only forming in September of last year, they've already come a long way following support slots for My Passion and The Filthy Dukes. They comprise of Six (Vocals), Peppa (Bass) Nïçk (Guitar) and Thomas O (Drums). We talked to frontman, Six.

Where did your name come from?

An elaborate dream in which I ended up having to flee from the government. While doing so, on the top of a huge office type building I randomly see Bruce Willis chillin’ by himself drinking Champagne. I run over to him, all out of breath to ask for a glass and try to explain the situation and he stops me "I know, I know." He pours me a glass "Let’s make a toast my friend, 'Here's To Tragedy'!"

How did you get together to form Here’s To Tragedy?

Me and Peppa began writing potential tunes in February last year and kept doing so until September '08 when we got a live band together. Our original idea was to do some unique acoustic covers of our favourite bands with a few of our own songs thrown in at open mic nights. We lost interest in this when I found out I was pretty sick at writing electronic music and before we knew it, our acoustic tracks were sped up tenfold and we was on to something seriously different.

As a young band you must have seen bands breaking through and becoming successful, does this inspire you?

Only being together the short amount of time that we have, we've not exactly seen anyone "break through" but I’d definitely say certain acts are on the brink of doing so which really excites me. There’s an exciting feeling in the air right now that anything could happen, and I like to think we could be one of the reasons for that.

How would you describe the sound of Here’s To Tragedy to someone who has never heard you before?

Glammed-Up, Guitar Driven Electronica with huge hooks and old school Rock ‘n’ Roll attitudes

Who are your musical inspirations?

We grew up listening to everything from Depeche Mode to Blink 182, Savage Garden to Morrissey. This I would say is a definitive factor that has helped shape our sound.

Which band that you’ve been on tour with has been your favourite to hang out with?

We had a fantastic night with The Filthy Dukes last month, those boys really know how to party, and fittingly so do we. We were knocking back the cocktails and wine like it was goin’ outta fashion!

And which was the best to see?

My Passion for sure, Lawrence is truly a great frontman.

Do you have a favourite place to play?

We had an unreal response at The Priory in Doncaster last Feb. My Passion’s fans were really on board with us and I think we won them all over, which was a great ego boost!

What plans do you have for the near future with Here’s To Tragedy?

Our goals for the end of this year are pretty huge so we are gonna be spending all our time playing as many shows as we can and recruiting everyone that crosses our paths. And of course it’s gonna be a party all the way up, so this summer should be fantastic and I'm looking forward to making lots of new friends.

What are your long-term hopes for Here’s To Tragedy?

With the right management and team behind us I truly think the possibilities are endless. We have written so much material in the past year it could set us up for a life time and the ideas are still flowing so in that department we are set. So long term we just hope to have the means to get Here's to Tragedy to the masses.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Guitarist leaves Does It Offend You, Yeah?

2009-04-06T17:18:00.011+01:00

Guitarist, Morgan Quaintance, has left 'Does It Offend You, Yeah?' as he looks to have more creative control with his other band, 'Plugs.'

Quaintance has said "It just came to a natural end really" in response to his departure. "Plugs is my band and Does It Offend You Yeah? was never really my sort of band aesthetically. I didn't really have much choice, I just sort of had to go along with a lot of the stuff that was happening, whereas in it's like we write the music, we produce it, we do the artwork, we've directed our own video - it just like feels like a creative outlet for me."

'Does it Offend You, Yeah?' are currently working on their follow up to 2008's 'You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into' in their home of Reading.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Rivers Cuomo to release live DVD/CD

2009-03-31T23:30:00.007+01:00

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has announced plans to release a new CD/DVD called 'Live At Fingerprints.' The release looks at Cuomo's visit to Fingerprints Record Store and features live tracks performed by Rivers from Weezer and his own solo albums. It is due to be released on the 28th of April 2009.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Jon Barmby, Brides

2009-03-31T19:31:00.007+01:00

Brides only formed in May 2007 but have already been featured in Rocksound and Kerrang! and they recently released their first studio mini-album 'Ocular.Unveil'. The four piece from Brighton signed to 'Visible Noise Records' the label that boasts the likes of 'Bring Me The Horizon' and 'Bullet For My Valentine,' and Brides could be the next to make the step up.

We talked to Brides drummer, Jon Barmby:

Where did the name ‘Brides’ come from?

Its quite a funny story to be honest, back when we started out in college we were high a fair bit and found B-Movies hilarious. Back then we were a bit more comical in regards to our music and myself and Ant where looking through a list of B-Movie horror films and we came across 'The Brides Wore Blood' we thought it was pretty funny so went with that for the name of the band. Over time as our sound developed we did too and grew out of naming songs ridiculous things such as 'White Bear' and 'James Brown brings the beatdown'. To co-incite with our fresher more unique sound we shortened our named to just 'Brides' it works better for what we where after and I mean 'The Brides Wore Blood' - that is just the shittest band name I have ever heard!

And, what about the name for Ocular.Unveil?

Ocular.Unveil came from a lyric on the record, which states 'Dawn that ocular veil' and we thought that summed up the record quite well as most of the songs are written from someone's perspective. We thought it worked better to contrast it as 'Ocular.Unveil' as it too is the unveiling of a band in a sense, this is our first release and we wanted people to see what we are all about. It's really just about opening your eyes to new things and things already around you, gaining a wider perspective on the world.

Brides is still a relatively young band, how does it feel to already be in major magazines like Kerrang and Rocksound?

It's amazing, we have our press agent Austen to thank for that, he has been great and helped us out a lot with the release. Of course as a young band, nowadays you grow up reading magazines such as Kerrang and Rocksound and to be in them is a great achievement let alone have full pages in them. The press has been a great part of this whole release - its always interesting to hear what people have to say about your music and the response we have got has been overwhelming. Overall, these things we don't take for granted - a lot of bands nowadays don't even know that they are getting exposure from a certain magazine but we fully appreciate any bit of publicity we get.

How would you describe the sound of Brides to someone who has never heard you before?

It’s a mixture of punk, rock, hardcore and progressive music. We like to keep things open and experiment layering different genres. We take different aspects of music that we like and put them together to create what I hope is a working mixture. If you like, either A Wilhelm Scream, Hot Water Music or Polar Bear Club and want to find some fresh music then give us a try! You might like it.

Who are your musical inspirations?

We are inspired by most things to be honest, from a number of genres within music to everyday things. The wider your inspiration is the more chance you have of creating something fresh and unique. We tend to look at aspects of different bands we like and take inspiration from that - The vocal depth of Hot Water Music and Polar Bear Club to the instrumentation of A Wilhelm Scream, Misery Signals and even some older work such as Fleetwood Mac and Dire Straits. Everyone in the band likes to take inspiration from different things that way when we put it together we can create a more unique sound.

The band had to change lead singer just under a year ago, did that set you back at all?

Yes and No, it set us back in the sense that when Max joined the band it was 4 months prior to the recording of Ocular.Unveil and we had already demoed the record with our previous vocalist but the time came for a change that we all wanted and we got Max on board. So Trist then set about re-writing and re-working the entire album vocally with Max and due to the added commitment of Max and his determination we where able to finish demoing just before heading into the studio. It helped a lot as we all were happier and more relaxed going into the recording process knowing what we had to do and that includes Max who after a very short period of time had done an enormous amount to contribute towards the making of this record. It was the better move for the band and, as a result, we have a record that we are all so proud of.

Your label, Visible Noise looks after some big acts, like BFMV, BMTH etc. What was it like signing to them?

It was fantastic, we couldn't have asked for any better really. The story goes we where demoing the record with Max as mentioned above around July last year, so we where working on the demos one day and Julie from Visible Noise had seen that we where heading in to record in October and wanted to hear some demos. So we sent her over what we had got down and as we finished each song we sent it through, fortunately for us she loved it. I might add at this point that the reason we where demoing was not only to sort out final parts on songs but also that at the end of the process we had a list of labels to send the record to in hope that they would like to help us out. It's quite funny as Visible Noise weren't even on that list, as we didn't even consider them a possibility. So we met with Julie down in Brighton and after four bottles of wine and countless Chicken wings later we knew that this was the label we wanted to work with. I think we where in that meeting for around five hours and only around three of them we spent discussing music - the rest of the time we talked. That was really nice as it gave us a chance to get to know the label, besides the great roster of bands they have they are great at what they do and we feel very lucky to be a part of that.

Which band that you’ve been on tour with has been your favourite to hang out with?

I would have to say our good friends from up north Lavotchkin, those guys are the best. We have toured with them a number of times and they are also our oldest friends from playing music, we met a few years back when we played up their way in Newcastle. We ended up staying with them while up there on tour - they are just a great bunch of guys who share the same passion for music that we do! Last year when we where on tour together we stayed at our house on the Brighton leg of the tour and D-Rail came down as well so we had a few drinks after the show and the guitarist of Lavotchkin - Ben decided to let someone hit him across the arse with this titanium motorcycle bike lock, I think it was Lavotchkin's bassist Hubb that got the honour of doing it and I kid you not it left the most severe injury across his arse cheeks! We got sent through a photo of it a few days later and it was outrageous plus he couldn't sit down for like a week, which we found hilarious considering the next day they had a 7-hour drive back north to Newcastle. Also the first night we met these guys we shot cymbals with an air rifle in guitarist Martin's kitchen, Good times.

And which was the best to see?

We have played with all be it not on tour, A Wilhelm Scream, it's very rare that bands get to play with their favourite band at all and we had the honour of doing it a few times last year which was awesome. Also Failsafe, when we played with them in London they where absolutely awesome.

What can fans expect from the upcoming tour in April?

Just an energetic passion filled 30-40 minutes, this is the first string of shows we have really had a chance to do since working on Ocular.Unveil so it will be a lot of people's first time hearing these songs live which will be great fun. We are just looking to have a good time, meet some awesome people and play to hopefully some great crowds!

Do you have a favourite venue to play at?

I would say The Underworld in London, its a timeless classic, its simple but does the job and the sound is actually pretty decent which is hard to come by at some venues across the UK. We are back there in April with Devil Sold His Soul on the 22nd, which we are dead excited about.

What are your long-term hopes for Brides?

My only wish is that we take this band as far as it can go, we all love what we do and long may it continue. We are just looking to tour as much as possible as well as playing with some great bands and keep writing music that we enjoy, that's what being in a band should be about. We have already started work on the next record but as to how it will sound - we don't even know yet! The more influenced we get the more the sound will develop and that's going to be exciting to hear.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Leeds/Reading Festival lineup announced

2009-03-30T19:30:00.004+01:00

The Leeds/Reading 2009 Festival line up has been announced today with Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead headling the three days. This year seems to see a more mainstream turn for the popular Festival.

Other acts include; The Prodigy, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Maximo Park, Yeahyeahyeahs, Placebo, Ian Brown, Vampire Weekend, Fall Out Boy, The Courteeners, Brand New, Deftones, Enter Shikari, Funeral For A Friend, Gossip, Glassvegas, Gallows, The Maccabees, Jamie T, AFI, White Lies, Friendly Fires, Florence And The Machine, The Gaslight Anthem.

This will be the second year in a row that The Gaslight Anthem have made an appearance at the Festival, after a hugely successful 2008, with the release of their second album 'The 59 Sound.'

To see the lineup and have the opportunity to get tickets visit http://www.leedsfestival.com/

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

The Sounds at O2 Academy 2, Sheffield

2009-03-29T20:59:00.003+01:00

The Sounds formed in Helsingborg, Sweden in 1999. They consist of Maja Ivarsson (vocals) Felix Rodriguez (guitar), Johan Bengtsson (bass), Jesper Anderberg (keyboards) and Fredrik Nillson (drums). Last night (28th March), they found themselves in the confined quarters of O2 Academy 2 in Sheffield.

The night got off to a bad start, doors were put back thirty minutes due to ‘technical issues’ and then once inside it took another hour of waiting before we got the support band. Eventually we got to see the support band, an upbeat and lively band from Sheffield called Orange 38.

They had catchy songs, the vocals of Paddy Orange and Sophie Bramley-West worked well together, and they were genuinely likeable - Something that was very important in front of a crowd waiting for an hour and a half more than scheduled. As the only support act It’s not a long wait till The Sounds take the stage.

The Swedish quintet started out with ‘Living In America’ which got the crowd in a good mood and ready to jump and dance. After a couple of songs, front woman, Maja Ivarsson said we will be treated to some new songs tonight that we will like, because she likes them. The new songs include; ‘4 songs & a fight’, ‘No one sleeps (while I'm awake)’ and ‘Dorchester Hotel.’ All have that similar The Sounds vibe but Maja is right, the audience does like them.

Amongst playing the songs they are best known for like; Queen of Apology and Painted by Numbers, at the mid point of the gig things were slowed down with ‘Night After Night.’ Only Maja and Jesper Anderberg were left on stage, the latter on keyboards. Everyone sings along to this song and there is no better feeling than hearing hundreds of voices unified in having a good time, it’s maybe the highlight of the night.

The night is finished off with ‘Tony the Beat’ a great song to round off the night, and by now most people have let the delayed start slip from their memory. At the end of the gig Maja said they will be back later this year, I would recommend going to see them as it proved a fun and enjoyable night.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Sean Smith, The Blackout

2009-03-26T18:29:00.010Z

The Blackout is the latest rock band to breakthrough from Wales, following the likes of the Lostprophets and Bullet For My Valentine, amongst others. Interest began to gather with their debut album ‘We Are The Dynamite’ in 2007 and since then they have gone on to sell out the London Astoria, only the third unsigned band ever to do so.

They are now looking to release their second studio album, ‘The Best In Town’ and are also playing Download and Give it a Name Festivals as well as Warped Tour, and have their own headline tour. These are busy times for the boys from Merthyr Tydfil.

We talked to joint lead vocalist Sean Smith:

What has it been like for you following the success of ‘We Are the Dynamite’?

I’m not sure about success but it’s been fun and it blows our minds that we're playing bigger venues than we ever dreamt of playing, nobody thought we'd play the Astoria let alone sell it out.

Who did you listen to when you were younger?

I got into rock late I guess, I was 16 when I first got into it and it was through Limp Bizkit and Guns n Roses, mainly cos they had swearing in their songs, cos everyone knows, swearing makes you bad ass!

How does Best In Town sound in comparison to We Are the Dynamite?

The Best In Town is amazing, I listen to it everyday and if I wasn’t in this band id be jealous of the knobs that wrote it!

You’re on the Download bill this year along with some legendary bands like Def Leppard and Faith No More, how do you feel about this?

Faith no more are one of our favourite bands and biggest influences so it’s amazing that we get to be near them let alone play the same stage. Its gonna be an amazing weekend!

Which are you looking forward to most: Download, or Warped Tour?

Hmm that’s a tough one, Download has an amazing line up but is only 3 days, whereas Warped will be a month of us having japes and nobody understanding what we're saying...so it’s a draw!

When will you be touring the UK again?

MAY MAY MAY with Silverstein, Hollywood Undead, and the Urgency and We are the ocean are doing a few dates.

Which band that you’ve been on tour with has been your favourite to hang out with?

There's been loads but just cos of how rad the last tour was From First To Last were lots of fun and the best guys, but then you have our brothers from other mothers Lostprophets. I'd like to see them fight and whoever wins can hold that title!

And which was the best to see?

Well I was a big fan of Lostprophets before I got introduced to them, so seeing some of your idols play you’re favourite songs every night is fantastical!

Can you give us any news on The Blackout's future plans?

WORLD DOMINATION!!!! ARRRGGGGHHHH!

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Green Day announce release date for 21st Century Breakdown

2009-03-25T18:53:00.005Z

Green Day have revealed that their next album, ‘21st Century Breakdown’, will be released on May 15th. Front man, Billie Joe Armstrong, has said the album is “divided into three acts” and “follows a young couple, Christian and Gloria through the mess and promise of the centaury so far.”

This album will be the follow up to 2004’s ‘American Idiot’, and is the bands eighth studio album since forming in 1987. In other Green Day news under the ‘Tours’ section of the bands official website there is a message saying "World Tour coming soon!" Green Day fans are looking set to have an exciting summer. The first single from the new album will be ‘Know Your Enemy’ set for release in late April.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Muse announce plans for an Autumn tour

2009-03-25T14:29:00.005Z

Muse have revealed that they will do an autumn tour this year. The band announced on their website: “We are pleased to confirm that Muse will be touring in the UK, Europe and North America this autumn. Full details… will be announced soon.” The last time the band played in the UK was headlining V Festival in August of last year. They shall also be supporting U2 in a number of their North American shows through September.

The Devon band are currently working on their fifth studio album and follow up to 2006‘s Blackholes and Revelations. The new album should be released in conjunction with the upcoming tour.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Gene Simmons talks about future KISS plans

2009-03-25T08:08:00.006Z

Gene Simmons announced on his website that KISS are recording their first new album for ten years. KISS formed in 1972 and Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar, lead vocals) has said the new album will have a “real 70’s KISS sound”.

In Simmons’ statement, he goes on to say:
“We’re rehearsing for the South American Stadium Tour, which starts April 1st. Then we head to start the Canadian Tour. Check out kissonline.com for all the latest news.

We are also finishing Season IV of Gene Simmons Family Jewels. We debut in June on A&E.

Our Simmons records co-venture with Universal Music is doing well and we are about to announce some of our first signings.

Simmons Comic Group (our venture that has titles like: Dominatrix, Zipper and Gene Simmons House Of Horrors) is about to make a big announcement.

Simmons Books/Phoenix Books did well with my Ladies of the Night book, a Best Seller on the LA Times Best Selling list.

Moneybag clothing line is gearing up with lots of new, cool stuff. You'll soon see it out there.

We did a DR. Pepper commercial, which should be on the air at the beginning of the month…”

The upcoming KISS album is expected to be released in the Summer.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Depeche Mode announce short Winter tour

2009-03-24T11:46:00.005Z

Depeche Mode have announced a short Winter tour of the UK and Ireland. The band who start their ‘Tour of the Universe’ on May 10th have announced five new dates for fans to get a chance to see the Essex band, who formed nearly thirty years ago.

Details of the new dates are as follows:

Dublin O2 The Point (December 10)
Glasgow SECC (12)
Birmingham LG Arena (13)
London O2 Arena (15)
Manchester MEN Arena (18)

Depeche Mode are also set to release a new album ‘Sounds Of The Universe’ on the 20th of April. It will be their twelfth album with ‘Wrong’ being the first single from it.

Tickets for the new dates go on sale 9am Friday 27th March
Tickets are priced at £35 & £45 subject to booking fee and are available from http://www.livenation.co.uk
The Dublin Show is on sale now
Tickets priced at £62 subject to booking fee and are available from www.ticketmaster.ie

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Download gets bigger

2009-03-23T23:54:00.003Z

The line-up for Download 2009 continues to grow as another eight acts are confirmed. Opeth, Meshuggah, Dir en Grey, Five Finger Death Punch, Steadlür and UK acts You Me at Six and Lawnmower Deth. There will also be a very special appearance from ex-Guns ‘N’ Roses bassist Duff Mckagan, who brings his Duff Mckagan's Loaded to Download for the first time.

The festival line-up is starting to take shape now, with a huge variety of acts from The Prodigy to Slipknot. The variety is something which organisers are proud of boasting the international flavour of the festival. Dir en Grey from Japan, Opeth and Meshuggag from Sweden along with numerous American and British bands.

Also, festival organisers have got the Big Green Coach Company on board to making travel easier. Not only will this help festival goers with access but also it aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the festival.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Mikey Way, Serpico

2009-03-23T17:10:00.014Z

Serpico are a Scottish quintet looking to breakthrough the classic way, not a ‘Myspace phenomena’ but through touring and word of mouth. The band have gone on the road with artists including AFI, Aiden, Kill Hannah, Stone Gods, Wednesday 13, Paradise Lost, Elliot Minor – even crossing the whole of Europe in support of Black Stone Cherry.

So after getting their name spread around and selling all 2000 copies of their four track EP Serpico are now planning to release their debut album, Neon Wasteland. We talked to lead singer, Mikey Serpico:

Where did the name for Neon Wasteland come from?

Well, we were all kinda brainstorming ideas for a title and weren't getting very far - no matter what anyone suggested there seemed to be a reason to shoot it down. Then I came up with Neon Wasteland and it just seemed to fit. It's quite an evocative title in terms of the mental image that it projects, which I thought would be cool in terms of linking it in with the artwork - the idea of sin/decay, the sleazy underbelly of a futuristic city. On another level, though it's a bit of a comment on the current music scene - lots of glow sticks, not that much creativity.

For fans of the Serpico EP, what can they expect from the album?

Well, for a start the EP tracks have been touched up and remixed for inclusion on the album. I've redone some of the vocals and we've beefed up the guitar and drum tracks - so basically they just sound even better! That's partially because the other tracks on the album were sounding so good, that we needed to make the EP ones sound better to compete.
Overall, I guess people that liked the EP will have liked the fact that it's fast, rockin', got moments of heaviness, but also great hooks and melodies... which has just been amplified with the songs on the album.

Has the band or the music changed since you made the EP when compared to now?

Yeah, the band's certainly changed - when we recorded the EP, there was just me, Jonny, Steve and Iain. I think vocally I've matured a bit and my writing has got stronger. Jonny is much more used to playing to a click now (he'd basically never done it when we did the EP) and he's even more determined to stretch his own skills. He's never willing to settle for a boring, safe beat - he's always pushing himself. In between the EP and album, we've had some guitarists come and go, but now we've had Olli for coming up to 18 months and he's had a really positive effect. First of all, he's a much better guitarist than I am, which helped with the recording, but also he added some nice little post-production touches.
Musically, the EP was more of a taster of what was to come with the album, rather than being a totally different sound. So it's definitely more evolution than revolution.

How would you describe Serpico’s sound to someone who has never heard you before?

Always a hard one - I usually describe us as melodic punk metal. We combine aspects of melodic punk bands like Bad Religion, Offspring, Greenday, AFI etc, with metal bands like Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold, Iron Maiden. There's obviously a pop aspect to it, but I think it's dark enough to not come across as too lightweight. Credible upbeat hard rock, that you can sing along to as well as circle pit to!

Who are your musical inspirations?

Well, all of the bands I mentioned above are huge inspirations. Vocally I love guys with strong, deeper voices because I can relate to them! So I love metal guys like Phil Anselmo, James Hetfield, Matt Shadows but also the punk sound of guys like Greg Gaffin, Kurt Cobain and Billy Joe Armstrong. I've also got a bit of a gothy side (some great baritones!) and I love a bit of HIM too. HIM is quite a big musical influence (although it might not be that obvious) because of the way that they take great pop songs and then turn them into metal songs! Quite a skill!

Did you enjoy making the video for We Own the Night?

Yeah! It was our first proper big production video and it couldn't have gone better. Basically everything that could have gone wrong... didn't, which was great. We just got to run around at night with awesome planes and fire everywhere - what boy wouldn't want that!

What was it like working with Nick Bartleet?

Really great. Nick is really "client focussed" to use a bit of jargon. All the time he was really mindful that he was making a video for us, not for himself and so he was really consultative and to an extent let us do our own thing. Also he was able to keep control of everyone in making sure that he managed to get the best performances out of them. Really nice compromise - and from what I've seen so far the results are going to be amazing.

You’ve been touring and playing with bands for while now, which has been your favourite: to hang out with?

We still keep in touch with lots of the bands we've toured with, like LostAlone, Black Stone Cherry, Kill Hannah and My Passion to name a few. We really got on well with Black Stone Cherry, they're awesome guys to hang with, really chilled out. But to be honest we've been lucky - almost all the bands we've toured with have been really nice guys.

and to see playing?

Black Stone Cherry are an amazing live band, as are LostAlone – especially because with LostAlone there's a real spectacle with Steven on guitar/vocals. Aiden are pretty incredible live - they're so passionate and energetic onstage.

Can you give us any news about future Serpico plans? Any tours lined up?

We've currently trying to sort out a tour of Ireland for late April kind of time with some Irish bands we know. Then we're booking a bunch of UK dates for late May/June, but nothing's confirmed yet - can't be too specific. But, obviously the main thing at the moment is the single release at the end of April and then the album in May. We've already had the single on XFM, and hopefully we'll get the video on the TV, so that's what's going on in the short term and then touring coming up!

What are your long-term hopes for Serpico?

Well, in the long term obviously I hope we become a band that people know all round the world! In the medium term, I'd hope that we could get to a stage where we can tour and be able to live from the band. At the moment we're still essentially just starting out, running our own label etc and so the costs are really high and the income is pretty low. Hopefully we can balance that out and be able to live without worrying about whether we can tour because people are working in bars or whatever!

Serpico’s debut album, Neon Wasteland will be released on May 25 and the single ‘We Own The Night’ will be released on April 27 via WeSaySo Records.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Chris Cornell - Scream

2009-03-23T15:32:00.011Z

Chris Cornell - Scream: 3/10
Today is the UK release of Chris Cornell’s controversial album, ‘Scream’. This is the former Soundgarden/Audioslave front man’s third solo album following 2007s ‘Carry on’ and takes Cornell in a completely new direction. This change of style has led to Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails criticising Cornell over Twitter, and has already had a poor reception in the states.

The reason for this album being ‘controversial’ stems from it being co-produced by Timbaland and it is fair to say his influence can be heard. To Cornell fans who are thinking ‘I'm sure it’s not as bad as everyone is making out’, it really is; next to no guitars involved, lots of over production and nothing like the Cornell of old.

Some tracks such as ‘Time’ and ‘Two drink minimum’ do showcase Cornell’s amazing vocal ability and they seem to have escaped the claws of Timbaland on the most part. But, for the rest of the album I can already picture former fans cringing, especially with the electronic, chipmunk like, voice changing effects on tracks like ‘long gone’. It is more for fans of artists like Justin Timberlake than for fans of Chris Cornell. This new direction could create an interesting reception at Download Festival this year, which Cornell will be at after missing last years.

Cornell has already peaked on the US billboard charts at number 10, so if he was looking for chart success he may well achieve it to some degree. However, Scream seems to be for new fans, not fans of old which is disappointing.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

The Blackout pull out of Royal Albert Hall gig

2009-03-20T11:15:00.006Z

The Blackout has had to pull out of playing the Teenage Cancer Trust show at the Royal Albert Hall. Bullet For My Valentine and Fightstar are the other bands confirmed to play the gig on the 28th of March. This comes from the band who say that bass player Rhys Lewis is ill after filming a video in California.

The band released the following statement:

“While in LA shooting our upcoming music video's Rhys became ill and was admitted to Hospital. Rhys is currently still in LA and his parents and girlfriend have flown out to be with him.

We are sorry to disappoint our fans however I'm sure you all understand and we'll update you on Rhys situation as we get more info.

Rhys has asked us to play the Merthyr and Japanese shows with a friend of ours filling Rhys's place until he's well enough to take his position as best in the bizz.

I know Rhys, his family and the rest of us would be be super happy if you could leave him some nice messages showing that you love him as much as we do and wish him a speedy recovery

The Blackout”

You can see the Blackout at this years Give It A Name Festival in Manchester or London. The band is also awaiting the release of their second album, ‘The Best In Town’ scheduled for release on the 18th of May.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Bring Me The Horizon guitarist leaves band

2009-03-19T17:00:00.008Z

Raw Power Management and Visible Noise have confirmed that Bring Me The Horizon guitarist, Curtis Ward has decided to leave the metalcore group. Both the band and Curtis made the mutual decision to part ways after ‘personal differences.’ However, they are said to remain friends despite rumours that Curtis was actually kicked out of the band.

The Sheffield group formed in 2004 and since that time have released an EP and two albums and winning Kerrang! Award for best British newcomer in 2006. Currently BMTH are in America on the Rockstar Taste of Chaos tour along with Cancer Bats, Four Year Strong, Piece the Veil and Thursday. Dean Rowbotham, the bands guitar technician shall stand in for Curtis as no live dates intend to be missed.

BMTH will be back in the UK to play five gigs from Oct 22nd–26th

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

One Day As A Lion release 'Wild International' video

2009-03-18T18:56:00.009Z

‘One Day As A Lion’ is the product of Rage Against the Machine front man, Zack De La Rocha (vocals/keyboards) and former Mars Volta drummer, Jon Theodore (drums). It was seen as a side project of De La Rocha’s and a chance to produce some new material which wasn't a possibility at RATM (for the time being we hope). Now 8 months after the release of their self-titled EP One Day As A Lion have released a new video.

Their five track EP was well received, with the only real complaint being it was only 20 minutes long. This video release could be a sign that there is still more to come from this two-piece. The video is for the first track on the EP, ‘Wild International’ and you can see it here.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

My Chemical Romance release limited edition extension to 'The black parade is dead!'

2009-03-17T23:31:00.007Z

My Chemical Romance is releasing a special, limited edition, extension to their 2008 live DVD ‘The black parade is dead!’ This new version is nine songs performed in the encore of the show from Mexico City that were not seen on the original DVD. Songs include ‘I’m not okay (I promise)’, ‘Cemetery Drive’ and ‘Helena’.

The tracks come stored on a bullet shaped USB drive along with exclusive photos from the show and a "¡VENGANZA!" vest similar to that worn by the band from their tour for ‘Three cheers for sweet revenge’. The vest has been limited to only 5,000 being produced.

The bundle can be purchased at MCR online store for $49.99 with it being shipped on the 31st of March.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

New acts added to Download line-up

2009-03-17T00:02:00.008Z

It has just been announced that joining the line-up for this years download festival is another 12 acts. These include; Down, Papa Roach, Skin, Journey, Tesla, Lacuna Coil, Black Stone Cherry, Clutch, Architects, Karma To Burn and Parkway Drive.

Maybe the most notable addition is, former Soundgarden and Audioslave front man, Chris Cornell. Cornell worked with Timbaland on his latest solo album 'Scream' saying it is "a highlight of my career." Yet, it was because of work on the album that he missed last years Download Festival.

The album has already come under criticism before its official UK release, especially from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Cornell even went as far as doing a 30-minute video interview talking about the controversy around the album. Both Reznor and Cornell are currently involved in a war of words on social networking site Twitter.

Chris Cornell's album 'Scream' is scheduled for release on the 23rd of March.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

30 Seconds to Mars declare war with upcoming album

2009-03-16T23:21:00.008Z

30 Seconds to Mars are planning to release their follow up album to 2005 album, A Beautiful Lie, sometime in late April. This will be their third album and it has the working title ‘This is War’ which Jared Leto (vocals) has implied is in response to the $30 million lawsuit pending over them from Virgin Records.

The band, which formed in 1998, seems to have embraced the lack of an overbearing influence that a record company has. Leto said “I think this record is about faith, about spiritual matters, and that just happens to be what we're thinking about and talking about in our lives right now”. Recording has taken place in California and is being produced by Flood who commented, “Jared said he wanted to make ‘a classic album”.

Some possible song titles have been revealed on the bands Twitter page. They include; ‘Night of the Hunter’ and ‘Artifact’ or ‘Blitzkrieg’. The band also talks about the track ‘Kings and Queens’ in an interview. Another possibility is ‘The Believer’, which has been played at some recent live shows after being scrapped from the original album.

Finally, in response to recent comments on Jared’s new, not so clean cut appearance he has said, “I’m growing a moustache and you can’t stop me.”

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Jeffree Star doesn't play The Marr's Bar

2009-03-14T21:04:00.006Z

Fans showed up at The Marr's Bar in Worchester on Tuesday (March 10th) expecting to see Myspace made celebrity, Jeffree Star, perform. The owner of the club (Marzy) had only actually sold one ticket but was assured more had been sold online. However, he was quickly informed that Jeffree Star would not be performing tonight to so few people as online ticket sales were just over half of what was thought. Marzy responded to this news from Jeffree’s tour manager by saying “He (Jeffree) is being very unreasonable and extremely unprofessional and should play for the fans that had made the effort even if there were only 2 of them”.

The tour bus had to run its power cable through Marzy’s office, and feeling rather annoyed at the situation he refused to let the bus go. Jeffree was obviously keen to make a get away before any fans showed up, now all he could do was sit and hide behind his busses tinted windows. Outside Marzy explained the situation to the fans that had shown up and encouraged them to go to the tour bus and ‘let him know how they felt’.

Quite quickly, the tour manager showed up again threatening that if the bus was not allowed to leave she would call the police. The police did arrive to see over fifty kids hurling abuse at Jeffree, still in his bus. Fans were allowed free entry to see the support bands who still wanted to play and with the situation explained the police soon left. After awhile Marzy unplugged the busses power cable and let them leave. Following this, the tour manager was sacked, two members of the support band left the tour and Jeffree says his drummer was "fired… he never quit."

When we asked Marzy what his opinion of Jeffree Star is now he said...
“He is an unprofessional talentless sham, a girl fan messaged him on his my space just asking why and saying she thought he was better than that, he replied with "my keyboard player was sick so go f... yourself you heartless bitch" what a lovely comment to a 15 year old former fan!!! Also I stood watching the support band WITH the keyboard player...”

In response to all this Jeffree said...
“My keyboard player Tommy was really sick, with a 100 degree temperature… there was NO way I was going to force someone who was sick in bed to go on stage. If someone can't understand that, they're heartless.” He went on to say, “The rest of the shows have been AMAZING!”

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Fall Out Boy at the MEN Arena, Manchester

2009-03-13T16:14:00.008Z

The MEN Arena in Manchester is a huge venue for any band to play, and Fall Out Boy have arrived at those heights yet it seems like only yesterday they were playing small cramped venues that only the loyal fans knew about. After the release of their latest album Folie A Deux the arena is packed, quite literally, to the rafters.

Hey Monday start the night off, a band compared to Paramore and it is easy to see why however, do not think that this means they are the same. Hey Monday lack the excitement and style that Paramore have but this may come later in their career. The audience react well, possibly due to Fall Out Boy’s support of them, lead singer Cassadee Pope appears in the ‘America’s Suitehearts’ video. Yet most of their songs are average but some, such as ‘Homecoming’ and ‘Arizona’, are quite catchy.

The main support comes from Kids in Glass Houses. It is plain to see that most of the audience like them and they put in a good performance, with good catchy rock pop songs. The only criticism could be lead singer Aled Phillips’ cringe-worthy Welsh/American accent.

After a couple of hours of support bands and waiting the crowd demand Fall Out Boy and that’s exactly what they get. They kick their set off with flames and a lights show that could impress anyone. They play through the hits like ‘Thnks fr th mmrs’ and ‘Sugar, we’re goin down’ with style. To keep the more hardcore fans happy lead singer Patrick Stump does a brief exert of secret track ‘Lullabye’.

FOB play five songs from their latest album (not including lullabye) and all go down very well from the flashing guitars of ‘I don’t care’ to the extra pounding drums in ‘Disloyal order of water buffaloes’. Bassist Pete Wentz shows he is becoming an old pro at talking to the audience as girls screams come from all around with every word he says. It becomes obvious why Pete does the talking as he encourages Patrick to tell a story while some technical issues are sorted out. To say Patrick’s story is not funny would be an understatement but it is endearing and he acknowledged this after the next song saying ‘that last story is a good example of why I don’t talk on stage.’

The night is rounded off with an encore of ‘Dance, dance’ and fan favourite ‘Saturday’. Fall Out Boy knows their audience and performs to and above expectations. The have definitely grown into a more mainstream popular band but still keep their charm.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

Interview with Laurence Rene, My Passion

2009-03-11T15:16:00.009Z

Four childhood friends; Laurence Rene (Vocals, Guitar), Jonathan Gaskin (Drums, Vocals, Electronics), John Be (Guitar) and Simon Rolands (Bass, Synth) collectively My Passion, have shot up to the forefront of British underground bands.

However, their story has not begun in the past few months. They emerged from quiet London suburbs back in 2006 and through determination, hard work and most importantly, ‘passion’ they have racked up around 400 shows so far with a rabid cult fan base emerging that share the same energy and desire as the band.

Despite set backs such as their tour bus exploding and destroying everything but their instruments, the hard work is finally paying off. After their headline Sheffield gig, we caught up with lead singer Laurence Rene and asked a few questions:

How did the gig go tonight?

Tonight was our second ever time in Sheffield, the last was supporting Kill Hannah at the Academy so it was different coming back to headline a one off show. We were just so pleased that a bunch of people came out to see us at a show that has not been majorly advertised and was not part of a tour. It refreshing to do this kind of gig now and then.

What do you think of Sheffield? and Corporation?

From what we have experienced, it’s a city with a lot of people searching for something fresh. I think we have found that a lot across our UK travels. People are really taken in by the show and I think these will stick in their memory forever. We were in the small room at the Corporation tonight and the stage is so hi it’s like performing from the moon down to your audience. It’s lucky we pull some big shapes and have a light show that can be seen for miles. We’ll definitely be back!

Which venue that you have played has had the best atmosphere?

This can depend on who is in the room. We have played some small shows like the railway club in Watford that are packed and have that manic vibe to them and they can be the most fun. There are also the bigger venues like the Newcastle and Birmingham academys and performing on a stage like those is really thrilling, it’s definitely where we see my passion heading in the future.

You are all very energetic onstage, is this something you planned or is it natural?

I guess we plan to be exciting visually but the energy comes from the music we create and how we feel about what we do. Something is unleashed from inside us and we are practically taken over. I think that although the music can be quite dark it is also very exciting and for us it’s also a great time to feel like you are part of the future of the music industry. This all comes across when we play the songs live.

With all the movement when you perform have any of you had any accidents or suffered any injuries?

Ha, we’ve had our fair share of collateral damage… There’s always minor cuts and bruises occasionally a bit more but we’ve toured together lots now and we generally know how each of us performs, it’s like a sixth sense. I did break my knee just over a year ago though that wasn’t anyone’s fault other than my own. Jumping from a 12ft speaker stack can be dangerous. You learn what not to do...

How does it feel being touted (like in Kerrang!) as one of the new up and coming bands in the UK?

It really feels like we are on the edge of something big… We’re still a bit of a secret to many but that is something that will begin to change this year I think. It’s great to have magazines picking up on us now after working so hard and it makes me proud to think that we have come up high in the readers polls and gained pages in the mags just on our own. We’ve got to the point where the fan base had grown enough to be featured in the top mags not by licking anyone’s toes but purely because the demand for my passion is there. It’s a great feeling to be achieving things on our own label in our own way.

What bands do you look up to and aspire to?

We don’t really look to bands of a similar size to us I guess it’s because we see My Passion being far bigger than this. I always admire a band like Muse who can fill a stadium in such a way as they did a year or so ago. Three men making a sound that is out of this world really impresses me and to mix so many elements into that is just amazing. We definitely look to reaching that kind of level.

You’ve said that your favourite bands are a ‘bunch of weirdos’, can you give us some examples?

Well we always grew up with bands that stood out and were never really your standard band. I guess growing up you want something exciting and different. We always wanted to be entertained and wanted people to match the music they wrote with a show and performance that fitted it. My dad grew with the band and definitely had a huge influence on us as well as introducing us to bands like Iggy, Japan, Bowie and The Cure. We grew up with extremes of weirdness from Marilyn Manson and Slipknot to radiohead, bloody weird visually and musically in their own right. Once you’ve grown up with some of the characters from the 80’snd a load of Tim Burton films anything can seem normal. It has helped us keep an open mind.

What impact have these bands had the sound of my passion?

I think they have had more of an impact in the way they enhance what they do visually and the way our favourite bands have never been part of a specific scene but have gone on to become legendary because of that. We have always done things because it is what we love and feel like doing at the time and not because it’s fashionable. The sound is probably a combination of all our influences from the last 60 years the thing is that is so broad that we could sound like anything and it will evolve as we grow and experience more. It’s a very open mix with My Passion and we hope that’s something we can play with in the future.

What do you think of other new emerging bands like Bring Me The Horizon or Rolo Tommassi?

It’s funny because although we are making modern rock music and have a vague idea of what other bands are up to we don’t really pay much attention to it. I guess unless a band is really special we don’t even blink and we don’t come across many of those. We are so driven and comfortable with what we are doing we don’t really look sideward or behind us, it’s much more into the future. We are following our dreams and battling a dinosaur known as the music industry so it’s all about carving out our own path right now.

What are your hopes with the upcoming release of your first album?

For as many people to hear it as possible! We just can’t wait to get it out there! We hope by that point our name will be starting to spread. We want people to pick that album up lock themselves in a room turn it up really fucking loud and travel through it with us. Then we want them to come out and see on the album tour, see it come alive.

This must be a very busy time for you, what doe’s a typical day in life of Laurence Rene involve?

I don’t think there is a typical day and that’s what makes this so interesting. In the last week, we’ve played a few shows, recorded a video, remastered an album, invaded a 5star hotel with redbull and broadcast a live webcast, broke the internet and escaped another fire this time from a vending machine. There is lots of travelling and little sleep.

You have the beginnings of a cult following of fans, is this something you thought might happen?

I think we have always seen ourselves as that kind of band. I think doing this ourselves and forming a close relationship with fans means they have more respect for us and feel part of the growth of My Passion. We toured with inner party system and although they were selling out the shows and we were first on we would arrive at venues to see 20 people already camped out in the pouring rain and we would meet people who had travelled from all across Europe to see us play 30 minutes as first support. It amazes us and we feel proud that we are having a big impact on these peoples lives, its these times and memories that will stick with us all.

In the future when you look back at my passion, what do you hope to see that you have achieved?

I want to be as successful as the music allows My Passion to be. We see that as huge but no one can know exactly how things will turn out. We want to look back and see that we have worked hard for any success we have achieved and feel proud of it. At a bare minimum, we want to be making a living and making the music that we love and as long as that continues, we will be very happy.

My Passion’s debut album is set for release on the 25th of May, and can be pre ordered now at http://www.mypassionfashion.co.uk/

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound

My Passion at Corporation, Sheffield

2009-03-11T13:17:00.009Z

Sheffield had its chance to see rising alternative stars, My Passion as they brought their rebellious metallic punk sound to Corporation. This was My Passion's first headline show in Sheffield and it follows recent acclaim from 'Kerrang!' and 'NME' magazine as well as a top 3 spot in the Kerrang best of 2008 Readers Poll and a Number one spot in 'Rocksound' magazine, My Passion are emerging as potential stars.

The night begins with Freefold (with a rather embarrassing typo of 'Freehold' on the schedule sheet). They do well to generate an atmosphere which was very relaxed, the other bands watching amongst the crowd, with only thirty to forty people there. They are followed by Here's To Tragedy who again maintains the level of entertainment but the crowd seems to saving themselves for the headliners.

The audience step up the energy as My Passion emerges, for such a small venue the room and freedom prove useful to jump and dance around. The music, whether you like it or not, it's undeniably infectious. The band looks to be enjoying themselves screaming, singing, punching and kicking their way through songs Play dirty, Day of the bees and new single Thanks for Nothing, amongst others. The only complaint from the audience would be of the short 35 minute set. Still My Passion end on a high with Never Everland showing why they deserve page space in Kerrang and Rock Sound. It hasn’t gone to their heads as they come straight off stage and into the fans, having chats and signing anything put in front of them.

The band and fans await the release of their first album, 'Corporate Flesh Party', the album comes after years of support slots from artists such as; Jeffree Star, The Automatic, Kill Hannah and most recently Innerpartysystem. So tonights headline slot could be a sign of things to come.

My Passion's debut album is released on the 25th of May, and can be pre ordered now at http://www.mypassionfashion.co.uk/

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound