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V i b r a t i o n s M a g a z i n e
L e e d s a n d W e s t Y o r k s h i r e
A p r i l 2 0 1 2
F r e e
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04 Editorial
06 British Wildlife Festival
08 Hawk Eyes
12 Sam Airey
15 Leeds Fest with Melvyn Benn
17 Passport Control
19 New Pose - Old School Fanzine
20 The Spills
24 Honour Before Glory
28 Reviews
34 Live Reviews
38 Wombeatz - This Women’s Work
Vibrations is
Editor
Rob Wright - [email protected]
Design
Ben McKean & Niall Hargrave
Picture Editor
Bart Pettman - bart @vibrations.org.uk
Reviews Editor
Steve Walsh - [email protected]
Live Editor
Tim Hearson - [email protected]
Web Editor
Mike Price - [email protected]
Web Design
Sam Hainsworth - [email protected]
Advertising
Tony Wilby - [email protected]
Founded and Published by
Tony Wilby - [email protected] Simpson - [email protected]
www.vibrations.org.uk
Contributors
Tom Martin, Rob Wright, Steve Walsh, Bart Pettman, TimHearson, Neil Dawson, Mike Price, Benjamin Maney, Ellie
Treagust, Aaron Jones, Carl Fleischer, Jade Till, Rochelle
Massey, Sam Saunders, Emma Quinlan, Giles Smith, Greg
Elliott, Chris Ensell, Benjamin Rutledge, Martin Haley,
Jonathan Lees, Jenessa Williams, Stacie Lloyd, Hana
Walker-Brown, Gary Wolstenholme, Kate Wellham.
Cover Photograph
Hawk Eyes by Tom Martin
The Search
Vibrations is looking for
Advertisers - 2000 magazines seen by music lovers across
Leeds. Contact [email protected]
Writers, Photographers, Artists and Sub editors - Come be
a part of it, contact [email protected]
Send demos in to:
Steve Walsh
Vibrations Magazine
Eiger StudiosNew Craven Gate Industrial Estate
Leeds
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Hello readers,
This is my second, possibly third attempt at an editorial asthe rst two were shit. I’m not promising anything more for
this one, but I’m hoping it has more gags and swearing in
it than the last two, which were almost free of both. That, I
think you’ll agree, just won’t do.
Another reason for another bite at the cherry is that this
issue is so choc full of quality writing, photography and
design that I feel I would be insulting the efforts of all
concerned by turning in a half arsed piece of work.
It should be whole arsed or nothing.
I mean, just look at this quality publication. Go on, closeit up, ogle the ne looking gentlemen on the front, feel
the quality of the paper, marvel at the suitability of the
typeface, then search for the price.
Still looking? That’s right, you won’t nd one.
Then once you’ve nished this go through the mag from
start to nish – you don’t even have to stop to take a piss
as the size of Vibrations is designed specically to be held
one handed, leaving the other hand to... no, stop that.
That’s just not right. Oh, you dirty bugger.
Are you nished? Good, then I shall continue. Ourincumbent government is currently doing it’s level best to
strip the joy from everyone’s life (look, I’m all for a price
per unit approach to alcohol as long as it literally means
just that – 40p a unit, so a pint of Abbot Ale would be
£2.00 – a perfectly acceptable price. Jaipur IPA would be
just under 2.40 and that I could denitely live with) and
provide us with quite frankly shoddy value for money (I
know my minimum wage will incur less tax, but I’m going
to end up spending the difference made on overpriced
under brewed beers – thanks a lot, Camel-leg) but we
here at Vibrations towers are dedicated, yes DEDICATED
to providing the same value that we always have.
Let me present you with a little equation. Stephen
Hawkins said that you lose half your readership for every
equation you include so... glad you stuck around, both of
you, but I’m going to lose one of you now:
Quality of product over price of product equals value.
Well, all you mathematicians out there should know that
if you divide any number (except zero) by zero you get
innity (actually, I’ve had a few arguments about this: if
you divide zero by zero, do you get one? Think on that, if
you will) so considering that you paid nothing, nip, zilch,nix, nish pence for this publication, you are holding in your
hand... innite value.
Well, fuck my old boots.
I hope you realise how lucky you are to be able to touch
the innite on a bimonthly basis, and here at Vibrations
Towers we will endeavour to provide the same level of
quality Every. Bloody. Time.
Now before I let you off the hook, a few hello/goodbyes.
First off, say ‘hello’ to our new designers, Ben and Niall –
I think you’ll agree that they’ve done a stirling job – long
may they reign! And goodbye to Leeds Guide, cruelly
cut off in its prime by... venture capitalists, I shouldn’t
wonder. Booooooooo!
Nearly done. A couple of festivals to note for different
reasons: Live at Leeds promises to be a ne affair again
this year – I may venture out, but I am afraid I am too
old to do the marathon dash around that is L@L – might
just hole up in a venue and drink until they ask me
politely to leave because I haven’t got an armband and
a small puddle is gathering around my feet; and that
Peter Waterman debacle, Shit Factory Live – Steps,
2untalented, Jason Pissing Donovan, Rick Cocking
Astley? WTF? When there is no more room in hell, the
dead will walk the earth. Stay in Leeds and go and see
some quality old school bands, like Human League,
Heaven 17 and The Levellers (guilty pleasure – greatlive band) at M Fest – yes, Morrison’s; I know, hard
to believe, but there’ll be some top scran too – very
important for a man of my expanding girth.
So off you go – enjoy the mag. If you really like it, think
about getting involved – be part of the innite...
Rob Wright
Ed with god-complex
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Herein be a recollection of the sixth and
nal British Wildlife Festival. May she
rest in peace. Feel free to reect on theseheart-warming and tting testimonials from
Benjamin Maney, Ellie Treagust and Steve
Walsh. Oh well, there’s always Brainwash…
Friday 2 March – Brudenell Social Club
First up, Super Luxury, a lo- four piece that started
their set with warm up screams and discordant guitar
noise leading into a murky opening number. No tricks,
frills, or melody. I suppose the pre-gig stretches should’ve
forewarned the crowd that the front-man would spend
the set in amongst them, wailing from table tops, with noregard for the microphone lead that got entangled around
at least ve throats. It’s all fun and games ‘til someone
gets decapitated, boys.
Bad Guys. Double-headed guitars, bright red jumpsuits,
classic, clever metal. They manage to use droning
interludes - often detrimental to a live show’s atmosphere
- perfectly. So much so that one of their breaks led to a
distinctly prog rock outro that must’ve lasted 17 minutes.
Imagine if you will, the most painful headache of your life.
Now, imagine really quite enjoying it... Ultimate Thrush,
as I can best describe them. Three people shouldn’tbe able to make such a huge sound, but with the help
of a small clarinet and a chaos pad, they master short,
gut-punching post-punk, not for the faint hearted or those
prone to hyperventilation... Somewhere in rural Austria,
Mozart turned in his grave as the clarinet was desecrated
in such an innovative fashion.
Three girls, one guy? Divorce’s music was even lthier
than an adult lm titled thus would undoubtedly be. The
tone got lower and the crowd moved in when their home
grown brand of captivating debauchery took hold. The
inevitable brawl broke out in the crowd, mirroring the
unharnessed adrenaline of the head thrashing alt-punk-
metal-hardcore/indenable-brashness.
Finally, if ‘live via satellite’ is the future of live music,
then it should ALWAYS be Disasteradio. Playing a set
containing the most cheerful electronica ever made,
headlining for the darkest metal bands on the planet.
Because it’d ALWAYS be this hilarious.
Benjamin Maney
Saturday 3 March – Brudenell Social Club/Royal Park
Cellars
Well, what a varied programme Saturday was. It was
reassuring to experience a festival at the Brudenell/
Royal Park where the acts didn’t all sound the same.
That doesn’t mean they were all good, but any line-up
that includes Yugoslavian Boys smacks of somethingreasonably radical. The programmed 6.30 start might
have been a little early for their set (which involved the
destruction of various food stuffs) but they were already
running late. Their set included sh ngers, two salami
batons, chips, a tuna sandwich, four drummers (two
of which were wearing son-of-God themed robes), a
cowboy, a mod, one assassin and a lot of pink hair. I’d
be tempted to suggest their musical variation between
songs is none too important to them or the crowd, but
they were easily the most entertaining band of the day.
They screamed and cavorted their way through the set
and despite having doubled in size since I last saw them,
it wasn’t to add diversity, just to add drums. Immense.
Teeth of the Sea provided a very different slant on the
playing of songs, both musically and practically. I do
approve of their stage lay-out (all members in one line
across the front) and although they threw their all into a
typically electronic set, I couldn’t get as excited as they
were. Their music did have a decent all-encompassing
quality to it, but more in a physical sense than anything
else; it felt a little like we were underwater. Unlike
Yugoslavian Boys, this for me is one band that is best
served recorded.
The next band, Cold Pumas, I knew absolutely nothingabout, but they turned out to be another of the night’s
pleasant discoveries. They played motorik rhythms
packaged up in an indie image (which did not do them
justice) to a slightly unresponsive crowd (who also did
not do them justice). There were some pretty soulless
sounding vocals that echoed over the music, but as a set,
it was far more absorbing than Teeth of the Sea. The only
downside was that they could be viewed as a little dull
compared to some of the other bands present, but for me
the diversity was very much appreciated.
Next were Hookworms, who brought an entire shipment
of ‘60s psychadelic rock with them. And it was loud. Very,
very loud. There was a lot of reverb. In my notes from the
set I have written “Oh wow a song ended. Oh wait, no it
didn’t.” I don’t remember any actual moments of silence.
It was at this stage that I regretted not bringing any
earplugs (but what’s rock and roll about that?). They got
very into their music which is denitely a good thing, but
unfortunately I did not.
Resolutions were quickly dashed by Blacklisters, and I
haven’t seen many worse bands at the Brudenell (apart
from maybe Shining at 2010’s Brainwash). There was
such an irritating wave of arrogant nonchalance that camefrom the singer and it was impossible to focus just on the
music, and for a while I was wondering whether it was
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performed in all sincerity. One begins to wonder what the
point of writing lyrics is if you’re just going to shout them.
Why not just shout? It would be easier. To quote John
Betjeman, “I’m sure it’s all done with the best possible
intentions,” but it did just throw me back to my Trivium-
infused younger teenage years.
And nally, the very late headliners Zun Zun Egui.
With their usual bizarre mix of styles, languages and
footwear, it’s hard to know which genre to dene this
band by. Of all the groups that performed this evening,they came across as the most sophisticated (though I
suspect this is because they are). It’s reected in their
song writing ability, which has them building up songs
out of a great many layers and elements. The songs are
pretty unpredictable and half the time I have no idea what
he is singing about (because it’s in a different language,
not because he’s shouting). I’ve seen them create more
atmosphere than this before, but it was the end of the
night and running very late. Apart from Yugoslavian Boys,
they were easily the most interesting band of the day.
Ellie Treagust
Sunday 4 March - Oporto
The last day of the last British Wildlife Festival? Say it
ain’t so, Adam….
The jagged math rock of Magnapinna gets things
underway. They play a dry, gnarly kind of funk that feels
like you should be able to dance to it but in doing so
would surely lead to multiple dislocations. Fortunately that
leaves the synapses in your brain free to revel in the joys
of band’s explosive, unpredictable music.
Manchester sextet Stanger Son utilise a brace of
keyboards and extensive percussion to open with a
formless wash of noodling that threatens to disappear up
its own jack plug, until everything morphs into a gigantic,
driving kraut rocky groove that seems to stop prematurely
before it blows the roof off. Thereafter the band take
simple ideas and work each into a similarly epic but
controlled frenzy. Lanky singer Gareth Smith stands like
he should be holding a cigarette and reads rather than
sings his songs in a deadpan, detached voice. The music
and lyrics almost sound like they’re (partially at least)
improvised and songs seems to stop after a nod from
Smith rather than anything else.
Jeff T Smith may have abandoned his truck load of
instruments and effects pedals for this gig, but he’s still
trading as Juffage. So, apart from viola accompaniment
from Jenna Isherwood on the rst tune, it’s just Jeff, his
uncharacteristically reined-in guitar and his fantastically
quirky, idiosyncratic songs. And what a treat it turns out
to be. There always seemed to be a mismatch between
the live and recorded versions of Smith’s songs; it’s
quite a sight watching Smith assembling his live sheets
of noise but the racket does tend to detract from the
actual songs. Here, without even the minimal musical
backing used on debut album ‘Semicircle’, the songs
sound almost free form and invested with a fragiletension, Smith modulating the volume and attack of
his guitar and voice to create dramatic new readings of
the songs.
It’s difcult not to like the sound of Galaxians thumping
instrumental disco funk, but this duo of Jed Skinner on
synths and programming and Matt Woodward on drums
don’t really develop what they do much beyond the
opening bars of the rst tune.
On the other hand, Bearfoot Beware songs have so
many ideas and so much energy crammed into them,
they clearly nd it difcult to contain themselves in theirgiven form and sound like they’d be happy to throw
themselves off a cliff just for the hell of it. Guitarist
Tom Bradley and bassist Richard Vowden bounce
all over the stage when they’re not yelling into their
mic, and Michael Osbourne tries desperately to hold
everything together from his drum stool. It’s a thrilling,
riotous ride alright.
Shefeld quartet Wooderson have been knocking
around since 2008 but it’s hard to see how their
derivative guitar driven rock songs have managed to
sustain such a long career. The songs are built around
musical and lyrical clichés and seem devoid of any real
sense of dynamism. Dull.
London trio Gum Takes Tooth are well established
on the European noise rock circuit and provide atting
climax to the festival. Thomas Fuglesang and Jaxon
Paine play two drum kits with one wired up and the
sound fed through homemade electronic instruments
to be manipulated and messed about with by Jussi
Brightmore. The drums and treated noise produce a
gigantic sound that’s part noise ritual and part ecstatic
rave. Brightmore punches the air like a tripped out
DJ, his mangled vocals barely heard over thethundering drums.
Steve Walsh
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I m a g e b y G i l e s S m i t h
B r i t i s h W i l d l i f e F
e s t i v a l
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Last time we met them, we covered them in
mud and inadvertently showered them with
glory. Now it looks as if they are about to
take the world out for dinner and dancing
and seduce the hell out of it. Rob Wright tried
vainly to resist their charms in the name of
quality journalism...
I am not sure if ye olde man setting of The Victoria Hotel
is the best place for meeting one of Leeds’ most intense,ultra tech yet softly spoken metals bands, especially
seeing as it is a Saturday night and the place has
suddenly lled with suit-wearing, bellowing twats, but it
is handy for free parking on a Saturday night and serves
Dandelion and Burdock. This are the sorts of things you
start making decisions based on when you get old.
Though I am sure that I will not be thanked for this, Hawk
Eyes are no spring chickenhawks either – I have fond
but vague memories of them as they were one of the rst
bands I ever wrote a review of, back in 2005. One of them
wore a mask. That much I remember. I also remember
that Paul used to drum as well as sing, but now Matt Reidis in the band...
“Matt is no longer in Hawk Eyes,” announces Paul, whose
birthday is tonight (so you can imagine how popular I will
be as a result of keeping him from his irresponsibilities
and festivities). Woah, let me just get my head around
this. I’m surrounded on all sides by Hawk Eyes in this
dark wood panelled booth and don’t have a beer in my
hand, and if they keep laying announcements like that on
me, I may need something a little stronger than Dandelion
and Burdock. “It’s all totally sanctioned,” Paul reassures
me, “he’s just decided he wants to do something else,”
which seems entirely in keeping with Hawk Eyes’ ethos,
if there were such a thing. Stepping into Matt’s shoes will
be the absent Steve Wilson of Japanese Voyeurs fame.
Interesting times...
For the more keen eyed readers among you, I should
point out that this is not the rst time Paul, Rob and Ryan
have graced these pages. Back in 2009, they made the
cover with a picture from Danny North. Jokingly I suggest
this ‘made’ them.
“I think if we hadn’t got that at that time,” confesses Paul
quite sincerely, “after scurrying away for years and yearsfor basically our own benet and then all of a sudden
people, in this town especially, were saying ‘this is quite
good’... We’re really grateful for that. We genuinely are.” I
feel fairly thrown by this and have a strong urge to shufe
my notes or something. To cover my embarrassment, I go
on to say how, regardless of that, 2009 was a good year
for them anyway: a signing to Brew, a lively slot at Leeds,
the zombie video... and then an abrupt name change.
Rob laughs at this. “We don’t like to make things easy for
ourselves. The thing is...” he pauses almost dramatically,
“we didn’t really like the name and moving forward we
could see some... technical problems with it.”
Chickenhawk was a military operation in Vietnam which
is currently undergoing the celluloid treatment. It is also
an American term for a predatory gay man who likes
young guys.
“That as well,” says Rob uncomfortably, “if we wanted to
take our music over there... people talking about a band
called ‘Chickenhawk’ and all that connotation...” he lets it
hang for a moment, “but it wasn’t about pandering to what
we needed to do... it’s what we had to do ourselves.”
Hawk Eyes are very clear on this point – there is no grandscheme involved; in fact, Paul gets quite incensed about
the implication: “There’s never been a plan,” he says
rmly,” and we’ve been very lucky to get where we are –
we’ve worked hard – but we’ve never had the structure
and backing of... corporate music. We’ve got to where
we’ve got by doing a bit of this, a bit of that... and there’ve
been mistakes that we’ve made... yeah, it’s been pretty
messy, but unless you’re actually geeky enough to go and
read about it, you’re never going to know how messy it’s
been... but that’s possibly why we still exist.”
Even though they say there is/was no plan, the (almost)
re-release of their debut album, ‘Chickenhawk’ as Modern
Bodies did seem to have a certain... shape to it?
“We got picked up by this management company,” says
Paul, “they asked ‘what have you got?’ We played them
the CD and they said ‘has anybody heard it?’ So they
wanted to rerelease it... and we were totally against it.”
So much so that they don’t actually count Modern Bodies
as a separate studio album. Paul sighs. “It felt like...
stalling, not going forward or backward, it didn’t make
any sense to us to put it out... and someone showed us
the reality – we’d sold 200 CDs but who’d actually heard
it?” As a body of work, it acted as a calling card and arequiem, it seems. “Modern Bodies is Chickenhawk is
dead, it won’t happen again... not that we knew that at the
DREAMERS, NOT SCHEMERS...
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H a w
k E y e s
W o r d s b y R o b W r i g h t ~ I m a g e s b y T o m M a r t i n
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time...” Paul laughs freely, conscious of his own near slip
into contradiction.
But Modern Bodies is most denitely an ending, as much
as ‘Ideas’ is a beginning, and in the spirit of the new, it is
even being sold in a relatively new fashion. Though the
album is essentially paid for already, the whole thing is
being sold through Pledge. “It’s a way for us to give moreback to the fans,” explains Paul, “the whole point of it is
that people can choose to interact with us. People can
say ‘I want that, I want that – it makes it easier for fans
who really care about it to buy into it at the beginning.” A
different approach to marketing in a different market? “In
the last ten years there’s been a massive change in the
dynamic of how the whole system works,” Paul continues,
“you can’t just knock out a great album, put a lovely cover
on it, get some good press and expect to shift loads of
copies, people don’t want that anymore.”
“People download it for free,” says Rob brusquely, “that’s
a generalisation, but people who use to buy music like
teenagers or young adults download it. In the majority. So
a release is more like a calling card to get you more tours
and actually drive some revenue back into the band to
keep it going.”
There are plenty of good reasons to buy this album
though, one being Paul’s vocals, which have undergone
a metamorphosis since Modern Bodies . I ask where
this amazing voice has come from. His rst answer is
a yarn involving old women, fruit and magical powers.
His second is a bit more coherent. “When I was eleven
I joined the choral society at school... I had big braces
and big ginger hair and I sang soprano,” he admits, “I did
Handel’s ‘Messiah’ in its entirety. I’ve always been able to
sing, but that wasn’t the point of the music we made. Then
everyone was like ‘let’s try some singing now’, because
we’d gained in condence as a band... Again, it sounds
like it’s planned, but it’s just a happy coincidence.”
“We thought ‘let’s not do another album full of chugging
guitars...’” says Ryan across the table, who has not been
entirely silent, but has been almost entirely drowned out
by the noisy clientele.
“We can do different things on a guitar,” laughs Paul.
And with a new style comes a different label – Fierce
Panda. All told, Hawk Eyes have been on at least fourlabels. Paul shrugs. “I don’t think bands need to sign to
one label for life,” he says, “whatever works at the time. It
can be quite dangerous to sign to multi album deals with
labels, because you’re then beholden to them.” It’s true;
I’ve heard about local bands who’ve got locked into the
wrong deal and suffered the consequences. But Hawk
Eyes narrowly avoided making these mistakes, making
them wise in the eyes of their peers and very thoughtful
on the album.
“A lot of the record is about that...” Paul scrabbles for
a description, “that feeling of
hopelessness... really not knowingwhere you’re going and more
generally the world not knowing
where it’s going. There’s a lot of
stuff on there, certainly lyrically
– I feel sorry for the other guys
sometimes because they don’t know
what I’m going to do lyrically... as
long as the words t and the melody
suits the music I’m pretty much
allowed to do what I like – I try to
involve [the band] as much as I
can – I try not to make my lyrics ‘the
Paul Astick show’ because that’snot what the band is – the band is
four people – so it’s reective of
the moods of the music and all the
experiences that we’ve had together, our opinions and
values.” But despite or as well as this, it is still fun, just...
serious fun. They’ve also just released a nal EP with
Brew called Mindhammers as a kind of safety valve for
their creative overow. Considering what they’ve got on
the go, it’s amazing they’ve found time to talk to me at all.
Our time is nearly up and I can see that Paul is anxious
to ‘enjoy his birthday’, so I don’t want to keep them, but
I still feel like I’ve merely scratched the surface of Hawk
Eyes; they’re almost too mercurial as a band. “I don’t
think we should dene ourselves as one thing – I think
that’s very important for a band,” explains Rob, “not going
over the same ground twice – let’s progress.”
It’s all very grown up, very forward facing. Then one of
the band members suggests I take all my clothes off.
But that is another story...
Ideas and Mindhammers are both available to purchase (just
check out www.hawkeyesmusic.com), and Hawk Eyes will
be supporting Andrew W K on the UK leg of his tour in April.
Party Hawk.
1 0
“I don’t
think we
should
defne
ourselves
as one
thing.”
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Sam Airey, mild mannered guitar slinger
with a hint of folksiness, has been stamping
like a buttery of late. From being the houseband at the recent Live at Leeds launch to a
Radio 1 Maida Vale set, he has been making
his quiet presence known in quite a loud
way. Ellie Treagust cornered this timid yet
feisty little performer and pelted him with
questions which you, dear reader, might like
to know the answers to…
ET How would you like your music to
be described?
SA I never really know how to answer this
question to be honest. I’d rather people justmake their own minds up when they listen to
it. I’d probably call it something along the lines
of indie-folk storytelling; there’s a real folk
element to a lot of the songs but it’s not always
a dening feature, I think. Lyrically I try and
write with a strong narrative most of the time,
but it’s not always the case. With the latest
things we’ve recorded there’s an emphasis
on atmosphere, trying to create a mood that
reects the content of the songs, I guess.
ET How do you go about the
song-writing process?
SA There’s no denitive method. Sometimes
I’ll have pieces of lyrics or a melody in my head
and it can take the shape of a song within
minutes, other times it’s more forced and you
have to work at it a little more. I usually write
with a guitar but I’ve been sat at the piano
a lot recently. However, I’ve written whole
songs before without being anywhere near an
instrument; I wrote ‘Endless Sea’ on a late-night
ferry crossing from Ireland. It started with just
a couple of words, but in my head I could hear
everything - the chord progression, melody line,
and soon I had a whole song, without actually
making a sound. As soon as I got home I played
it in full, it was pretty odd how it came out
completely formed.
ET Have you noticed much development in your
song-writing since you began, and if so, how?
SA I like to think so. Lyrics are a big thing for
me and I tend to spend a bit more time on them
these days. Musically, I’m less afraid to let thesongs take course and change, so I’m enjoying
layering them and nding new sounds. You’d
always hope you’re constantly developing - if
your next song isn’t as good or better than your
last, you probably need to sit back and question
what you’re doing.
ET What’s your favourite venue to play at
in Leeds?
I have a few. The Brudenell is an obvious choice
these days for all the right reasons. The sound
is always great, and Nathan does a brilliant jobof running it - it’s not just a cherished venue but
an integral part of the Leeds scene. In terms
of other venues, I like playing in slightly more
unusual spaces too. The new EP launch at Holy
Trinity Church will be the third time I’ve played
there. It’s a beautiful space and it lends itself
really well to the type of music I play. We did a
single launch last year curated by Anthologies,
inside the chapter house in Kirkstall Abbey, with
no PA or amplication at all - that felt like a risky
decision but it turned out to be one of the best
gigs. Finally, Oporto and Shopkeepers gigs
are always fun. It’s brilliant they have a decentbudget for live music and yet put on so many
free shows.
ET There’s been quite a surge of ‘one man and
his guitar’ acts in recent years - what makes you
stand out?
SA I’ve always said there’s an inherent aw, or
at least danger, with the term singer-songwriter,
if that’s what you want to call this. The problem
lies in the fact that the term attempts to denote
a genre, when all it really suggests is that it
concerns someone who both sings and writes
songs. However, these days we mostly come
to associate it with a great deal of bland/dross
music. One of the big problems for me is that
it’s quite easy to pick up a guitar and get your
songs on the internet - this may seem like a
good thing but it means you have to wade
through quite a lot before you nd something of
worth. I’ve worked pretty hard the last couple of1 2
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years both on songwriting and learning how to
hold a crowd on my own, which at rst seemed
like the most daunting thing in the world.But now that the recordings are increasingly
layered and orchestrated, I’ll be doing more
with a full band too.
ET What’s your biggest musical
achievement to date?
SA There have been a few. Music for me has
always just been something I’ve loved - I never
really intended to get to this point, but with
everything good that happens, it seems to spur
you on to the next. At rst it was a case of “I
have these songs, I’ll write some more”, thenit was “I’ll record and release an EP”, and now
two years down the line I’ve released singles,
played around the UK, and I’m currently writing
an album. I think the most overwhelming thing
has been the radio attention; the Radio 1 Maida
Vale session was a huge highlight for me.
ET Do your songs always turn out how you
wanted them to or does the creative process
change them?
SA Sometimes you’ll have an idealistic sense
of what you want the song to sound like, butyou have to let the process run its course
because you might end up with something that
sounds better than whatever you anticipated.
ET How much inspiration do you take from
your surrounding area?
SA A varying degree. I’m from rural North
Wales originally, and bits of the songs are
partly inspired by my memories of it, and alsoby my move to Leeds and getting used to
life in the city. But I’d say I take just as much
inspiration from the people around me and the
places I visit.
ET A quick run-down of what’s in store
musically for you this year?
SA Firstly there’s the new EP – ‘A Marker & A
Map’, released in March with accompanying full
band gig in Holy Trinity Church, and we’re also
doing a London EP launch. Then I’ll be doing
some touring in April including my rst gigs inScotland, then of course Live at Leeds in May,
and hopefully we’ll be playing a few festivals
during the summer too.
ET If you could host a fantasy dinner party of
seven guests, who would they be?
SA Sam Cooke and Joni Mitchell would
come, and I’d also make them sing. Ernest
Hemingway would be on drinks duty, Audrey
Hepburn for some elegance and stories,
Salvador Dali seemed pretty interesting too so
he could probably come along. Then I’d inviteCharles Darwin and God, and make them have
an arm-wrestling duel.
You can catch Sam Airey at Live at Leeds on
Saturday 5th May. Be patient...
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S a m A i r e y
W o r d s b y E l l i e T r e a g u s t ~ I m a g e s b y A a r o n J o n e s
1 3
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1 5
Anticipation. Despite what the hacks will try
and tell you i.e. that they know the line up for
Leeds 2012 and have done for months blah
blah blah, there is a very tangible sensationof anticipation in this room full of giggers,
liggers, bloggers, sloggers, tweeters and
the occasional writer. In ten minutes time
there will be an electronic barrage comparable
to the EMP kicked out by a small nuclear
device departing from the cockpit, but for
now... anticipation.
By the time you read this, the line up will be old news.
There will be the usual accusations of ‘playing it safe’ and
‘soooo predictable’, but as for me... I still get excited by
this. I’m loving the prospect of (hopefully) seeing The Cure,re-acquainting myself with the Gallic dance metal insanity
of Justice, going bollocks-mental to Pulled Apart By Horses
ON THE MAINSTAGE and... well... At The Drive In...
It could only get better if Soundgarden made an
appearance (crosses ngers).
And we haven’t even got to the FR or Introducing
stages yet... or the Lock Down/Dance line up... or the
comedy stage...
Yes, it is commercial, yes, it is full of pissed up teenagers
but it is still Leeds festival, a massive festival in our backyard that bears our city’s name and I have it on good
authority (from two guys who came all the way from
Reading to go to Leeds, so...) that it is the preferred
locality. And for that weekend, there will be that same buzz
of anticipation, only grown several magnitudes larger – and
I have a feeling this is going to be a mighty weekend.
In a fug of free Gaymers, I am lucky enough to get a
moment of time with Festival Republic honcho Melvyn
Benn, a former Hullite and fan of fanzines. He is sipping
a white wine, leaning against a spare stage and looking
slightly relaxed but also slightly anxious about catching his
train down to the big smoke.
Seeing as this is a Glasonbury-free year, I ask him if
he feels like ‘a kid in a sweet shop’, literally having the
pick of the bunch when it comes to bands this year. “I
always feel like a kid in a sweet shop,” he res back,“anyone in my position should feel like a kid in a sweet
shop. Glastonbury’s a unique festival, entirely on its own.
Reading and Leeds are music festivals, they have music
running through their veins and essentially only music
running through their veins – there’s no clowns, no re
eaters, no snake charmers.”
As well as being a fanzine fan, it also transpires that he is
a Pulled Apart By Horses fan, having been introduced to
them by their manager. He had to buy his own copy of the
new album, though. Opening on the Friday, I ask him if he
sees them as a warm up band: “On the contrary actually
– I think that world domination beckons - they’ve got asound that will blow people apart in Germany, in America,
in Japan.”
Not only are PABH playing the mainstage, but Leeds own
Kaiser Chiefs will be up there too. Has he gone for some
local action specically? “Some people have said to me
‘do you pick the local bands for Leeds?’ but the festival
republic integrity wouldn’t allow that. We pick the bands
because they deserve to be there.”
As well as the big names, Leeds Festival will also be
hosting the winners of the Martin House Hospice’s
Centre Stage competition for a third year, demonstratingFR’s dedication to new music: “The fact that it benets
the hospice is a plus, but it’s a real opportunity for
young musicians to be on stage and to learn about
their contemporaries.” He’s also a champion of youth in
general: “I’ve always had young people at my heart – I
abhor the way that young people are given a hard time by
the press. The young people in the audiences at Reading
and Leeds are tomorrow’s leaders of the country - I’ve
been at festivals where the future king of England has
been excited by being stood at the side of the stage.”
But more than that, he has vowed to put a beer and
a burger in the belly of every individual who buys a
weekend ticket: “In truth, nothing prompted me apart from
philanthropy - I do what I can to make the sponsors help
me – if they don’t do that, I’ll pay for it. I’m not naturally
a person that just takes and takes, I always want to give
things back and at festival republic we always work really
hard on charity projects. I just felt I needed to do it.” And
for that, I salute you. Will there be haggis there this year
though? Can I get haggis...?
I n t e r v i e w b y R o b W r
i g h t ~ I m a g e s b y C a r l F l e i s c h e r
M e l v y n B e n n & L e e d
s F e s t .
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1 7
Not ones to let the grass grow under our feet,
we’ve had a bit of a recruitment drive here at
WYPC, so please welcome Ofcer RochelleMassey – she doesn’t take any, as Reel
Big Fish found out when they got a proper
grilling. Fish? Grilling? Oh, forget it...
Names?
Dan, and I play the trombone.
Derek, and I play Bass
John, Johnny Christmas, and I play Trumpet
Matt, I play saxophone and sing
Reason for Visit?
Dan – Well once a year a plane comes by each of ourhouses, picks us up, and says you have to go dance like
a monkey, over within the UK. Since we don’t really have
a lot going on, we usually get on that plane.
Business or pleasure?
Dan – A bit of both. Between the hours of 9 and 10.30,
it’s business and the rest of the time, it’s business.
Derek – I am in the business of pleasure.
Dan- Business is good.
Derek – Business is a booming.
How has touring changed for you over the years? We
hope you won’t be all... rock and roll.Dan – On this tour we tend to be our PJs by 11pm.
Johnny – He is very happy about that.
Derek - Stage to PJs in ten minutes.
Dan – Although last night there was a bit of partying.
Johnny – In Glasgow.
When you come to the UK what do you enjoy the
most?
Derek – Kebabs!
Johnny – Yeah, kebabs here are awesome. We enjoy
meeting all the people. The British fans are always so
awesome. We really appreciate that.
Matt – You guys do really good deli meat. I enjoy the deli
meat. I do love some good deli meat.
When constantly touring do you ever get on each
other’s nerves and want space to yourself? I think we
have a free holding cell...Dan –I think we are old enough to know when someone
wants space.
Johnny – yeah, denitely, we have learnt how to stay out
of each other’s way when we are feeling that way out.
Then the next day they will be ne...
Derek – Actually, you should have each of us in the room
alone and ask the question again, and then see what
answer you get.
Drummers are known for being troublemakers,
bassists for being lazy – how does a trombone player
behave?
Dan – The trombone player is usually stoned, althoughnot now, I must stress that.
Matt – They love Doritos. They can eat an entire bag of
Doritos in one sitting.
Dan – That is not true.
Matt – And they lie.
Dan – I have not had a bag of Doritos on this entire tour.
I was ne being insulted by myself, but if you want to join
in, please do.
Calm down, gentlemen. How have you kept the band
relevant when ska is in and out of favour?
Dan – It certainly is not by getting a sax player.
Matt – Oooohhhhh, like that now is it.Dan – You bet it is. I think Aaron has written the
soundtracks of most people’s lives from about 12 to the
age of 25. So he is dealing with all the problems that you
go through at that time.
Matt – You are still going through them.
What is next for Reel Big Fish?
Dan – We are actually working on a new record.
Johnny – Yeyyy nally.
Dan – Now I know we have had said we have been
working on a new record for what seems like years...
Derek – It is years!
Dan – ...But Aaron likes these songs, which is very rare.
So this time it should happen. It will happen... (stern face)
Anything else to declare?
Johnny – Don’t eat space cake and try to come back to
Britain.
(shouts: blood test for Johnny...)
Dan – I would like to declare, that I did wear these shoes
in an agricultural situation, and brought mad cow into the
country with the soil on my boots.
Derek – Yeah! I have something to declare... I am
not lazy!
Thank you, you may now proceed through passport
control. Enjoy Leeds.
P a s s p o r t C o n t r o l
I n t e r v i e w b y R o c h e
l l e M a s s e y ~ I m a g e b y C h r i s E n s e l l
REEL BIG FISH
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Long before most Vibrations’ readers and
writers were even born, the insanity of
providing quality musical opinion, info, news
and reviews for our ne city was under the
auspices of a certain Martin Tindall. In 1977 he
blazed a trail with his fanzine, ‘New Pose’, for
such mags as ourselves, so we called on an
old friend to big up his seminal publication,
now reissued after 35 years. Vibrations own
old schooler Sam Saunders was there, so he
knows what he’s talking about!
In the middle of the blandest musical decade in history,
a young Martin Tindall was going about his wide-eyed
life listening to New York Dolls and The Stooges, being
expelled from Art College and visiting London.
In London, looking like a punk could mean hiding in
Malcolm McLaren’s shop for safety, with teddy boy
assailants locked outside, shouting for blood. In Leeds
it was worse. Hanging around The Queen’s Hall on the
night of a concert could lead to a kicking.
No matter; the “Anarchy In The UK Tour” brought The
Sex Pistols, The Damned, Johnny Thunders and The
Heartbreakers, and (Special Guests) The Clash to Leeds
Polytechnic on Monday, December 6th 1976. Unlike other
cities on the advertised tour, Leeds actually allowed the
gig to proceed. Martin and his pals were there, with hearts
pounding and a plan.
By the spring of 1977, Martin, with typing by Jayne Cobbe
and photos by Steve Dixon, had photocopied the rst
issue of a remarkable fanzine called New Pose. It was
copied, one sided, onto 16 sheets of A4 stapled together
and sold through outlets like Virgin Records (who
quickly put Martin in charge of their punk-record
purchasing). With art school still in his blood, he got
contributions from cartoonists too: Mark Manning (founder
of the band Zodiac Mindwarp), Ray Burns (aka Captain
Sensible) and Jerzy Szostek of Knockabout Comics were
active contributors.
A lot of the text was handwritten by Martin. The
photographs by Jayne Cobbe and Matt Dixon (Elvis
Costello, Sex Pistols, Ramones, The Clash ...) are
densely zeitgeist (with contact prints in one issue to save
on processing costs). ‘Pin-up’ cartoons by Mark Manning(and Martin) are brilliant. The comic strip review of an Iggy
Pop gig and a comic strip biography of The Damned (by
Captain Sensible) are something else. Vibrations
should adopt the format immediately (duly noted – any
takers? Ed.).
Over ve spiky issues through the whole of 1977 writing,
photographs, comic strips, cartoons, gig news and
personal views poured out. Alongside the few Yorkshire
artists like S.O.S., The Jerks, Cyanide, The Mirror Boys
and The Neck Fuckers there were reviews and interviews
with most of the best: The Ramones, The Stranglers, The
Vibrators and The Sex Pistols and loads more.
The fanzine has had a good deal of national attention
over the years. NME, championing punk at the time and
fast becoming THE music weekly as Melody Maker lost
its bearings, put it second only to Snifn’ Glue as the
nation’s best fanzine. (Snifn’ Glue had started a bit earlier
and Martin thought he could make something that looked
better. He was right.) New Pose has since been featured
in TV documentaries of the era: notably in BBC 2’s Arena
series in 1990 and Channel 4’s ‘The Stiff Records Story’
in 2010.
But after ve issues Martin had run out of steam and theLeeds punk scene was turning into something a lot less
exciting and a lot more commercial. New Pose stopped
while it was still hot. Each issue had got stronger than the
previous one, but things were shifting in Leeds. Martin told
me that those descendants of the skin heads and football
hooligans were starting to arrive at punk gigs, looking for
trouble and going for the smell of bands like Skrewdriver
who represented everything that punk had stood against.
The cult of punk itself was morphing into goth and new
wave. Record labels who had been fast asleep in 1976
were starting to throw chequebooks at people like Elvis
Costello who could develop their music and make a
series of big money albums. The erce energy of the punk
singles that Martin was selling in Virgin couldn’t
maintain their impact on whole albums and something had
been lost.
He still remembers doing one DJ set at John Keenan’s
rst ‘Stars of Today’ series at Leeds Polytechnic but the
pressures of his full-time job and putting out New Pose
made him back out of a future as a DJ.
The New Pose full-set reissue of ve can be bought from Crash
Records and Jumbo Records. If you have original copies,
treasure them and buy these to read all over again.
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W o r d s b y S a m S a u n d e r s
N e w P o s e - O l d S c h o o l F
a n z i n e
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Just outside of Leeds (I know, bear with
me) there is a little star cradle of a town that
has spawned the likes of The Cribs, The
Research, Runaround Kids and now The
Spills. Emma Quinlan managed to get some
sense out of them between ts of laughing
and breaks for South Park. YOU WILL
RESPECT HER AUTHORITAH!
They like chilli sauce on beans on toast, eating sh andchips whilst recording and watching South Park. They
are The Spills, an indie rock quartet from Wakeeld who
in fact like watching South Park so much that we stop the
interview halfway through, so they can pay attention to
the TV in the room and watch a cartoon Rob Schneider
make a tool of himself. “Sorry about that,” says Sam, “it’s
the best bit of the whole episode.”
We’re in the ‘living room’ area at Greenmount studios
in Armley. A one-time place of worship, this converted
church has ceased to open its doors to the religious and
instead acts as a place for bands to record their music.
The Spills, consisting of guitarist/singer Rob, bassistSam, drummer Joe (who is sadly unable to attend) and
guitarist/singer Chad, have recorded here a few times
and don’t seem to be put off by the weird eeriness that
surrounds the place.
“We did our EP here and then we did our album
here,” explains Rob, “Lee and Jamie, the guys who
ran it then, did our EP and album and now I run the
studio with them. We just always really liked this studio
and we record to analogue tape and it’s got loads of
vintage equipment.”
Formed around six years ago, The Spills all met in
secondary school and began playing together when Rob
was in school and the others were in sixth form. “We
started pretty young...I was 15 when I started writing
some songs and then me and Sam bought a four-track
tape recorder. It’s been the same line-up [ever since] but
when you have been going from that young obviously it’s
very different.”
“You don’t mean that of The Spills do you?”interjects
Sam. “No,” laughs Rob, “It’s so different. It’s just that
most bands split up…”
“…They’re like school bands,” continues Chad, “and thenthey kind of break up and actually do something.”
With this, they all begin laughing, which they continue
to do throughout the interview, normally at the expense
of one another. “Basically,” says Rob, “we carried on
when we went to university [even though] we all went to
university in different places. In the rst year we took it a
bit slower and then we kind of built it up again. Then we
did an EP and then after university we did the album.”
The album he is talking about is ‘Occam’s Razor,’ their
fantastic debut that takes all the best bits of the indie
genre and whacks them together in one glorious CD.Their work has gathered a respectable amount of
praise from the music media (including this very ne
publication), which came as a nice surprise for the
makers.
“We got a lot more reviews than we thought and they
were all really nice so it was a pleasant surprise really,”
smiles Rob.
“Yeah,” chuckles Sam, “I thought we would get like three
reviews or something...”
Thankfully this has not been the case and instead‘Occam’s Razor’ has ignited a ame in The Spills and
shown the rest of Yorkshire how indie rock should be
done. However, even though they regard themselves
as an ‘indie band,’ they aren’t fully comfortable with the
tagline.
“It’s quite an indie band,” mulls Sam, “but I don’t like the
word ‘indie’ because people always turn their nose up at
it.” He’s got a point. If you say the word ‘indie’ to people,
most of them will envisage a bunch of posh lads, touting
guitars and annel shirts but The Spills are denitely not
one of these bands. “[Our sound] is noisy and I don’t
know if it’s heavy but it’s noisy and a bit rough. [It’s] kind
of indie in the sense of American indie…[like] Pixies and
Pavement.”
So did these bands inspire The Spills to pick up their
instruments? “When I started playing guitar I was like
10,” remembers Rob, “So probably [someone] like Jimi
Hendrix inspired [me] to start playing guitar.” Apparently
this isn’t the rst time Jimi Hendrix has been mentioned
during an interview…“Do you remember that interview
we did when you kept referring to the Jimi Hendrix
tape in your dad’s car?” smirks Chad. He doesn’t, but
according to Sam he mentioned it “over and over.”
Chills, Thrills and... The Spills!
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W o r d s b y E m m a Q u i n l a n ~ I m a g e s b y G i l e s S
m i t h
T h e S p i l l s
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The band breaks into more smiles and more giggles,
with Rob now the target for mockery. “Yeah, my dad had
a Jimi Hendrix tape in his car…” jokes Rob, taking their
mocks in his stride. Apparently he also had a few others
including Bob Marley, but we don’t need to go into that. “I
didn’t start playing until I was 15,” says Chad, “So it was
mainly that I liked a lot of bands but [also] that everyone
else played instruments and I just always wanted to…soI just did.”
He makes it sound so easy and The Spills as a whole
make being in a band look easier than it probably is. For
these lads though, this isn’t exactly an easy life - they all
have regular jobs as well as playing in The Spills. There’s
no Bono-style private jets and full stadium tours for them,
just small chapels with no bars and a bring-your-own-beer
policy. “We did an album launch at Chantry Chapel, which
is a chapel in Wakeeld. The capacity is probably 50
people. It’s a really little place,” explains Rob.
“There’s no bar so it was bring your own beer and no
toilets so people [were] just having a piss in the open,”
adds Sam, “I think [that was the] best gig of ours.”
Not exactly the venue dreams were made of, but it’s not
all pissing on walls and cans of Red Stripe for The Spills –
no, not all of their live appearances have been that classy.
Last year however they were booked for the one-day
extravaganza that is Live at Leeds and this year they
are doing Long Division (which they also did in 2011),
Wakeeld’s answer to Live at Leeds and according to
Sam, “the festival that is putting Wakeeld on the map.”
This brings a little grin to all our faces, but apparentlythe claim is deserved. “It actually is,” says Chad, “it was
amazing last year.”
“They sold it out last year,” adds Rob, “They had Darwin
Deez come over, and The Wedding Present.” Is getting
Darwin Deez to play really a thing to brag about?
“It’s pretty cool that he came from New York to play
in Wakeeld,” answers Rob and when put like that, I
suppose I have to agree…
So that’s The Spills, past and future (there doing a split EPwith Runaround Kids scheduled for later on in the year)
but what about the present and more specically what are
you recording in this creepy old church anyway? “[We’re
recording] a track for a compilation,” explains Sam.
“Yeah,” adds Rob, “Do you know who Rhubarb Bomb
are?” Queue the blank expression. “It’s a Wakeeld zine
thing and their doing a compilation with loads of Wakeeld
bands. It’s coming out with a big book on the Wakeeld
music scene. There’s us, Runaround Kids, The Cribs, Imp,
The Research: its Wakeeld
bands past and present, so
we’re recording for that.”
Sounds good to us but whilst I
wish I could talk to The Spills
all night, we all have homes
to go to and work to get up
for. Before we say goodbye
though, any last words? Not
that I mean that to sound so
terminal. “I’ll make a pledge
for this Rhubarb Bomb
compilation. [There’s] loads
of memorabilia from gigs
in Wakeeld like big printsof…Artic Monkeys playing
Wakeeld for instance I think
that’s one and there’s one of
Kate Nash playing Wakeeld.
Basically you make a pledge,
a certain amount of money
for whatever item and
obviously you get that item,”
explains Rob.
“That’s then funding the compilation and this big book on
the Wakeeld music scene [showing] the history of it and
the history of the magazine. You can make a pledge for
that online, so it would be good if everyone checks that
out, it’s a good thing.” When is this out? “[The compilation]
come’s out April 21st I think and it’s called ‘The City
Consumes Us.’” “Is it not called ‘The Bomb-palation?”
Unfortunately not Sam, but by God we wish it was.
‘The City Consumes Us’ will indeed be available at the end of
April, complete with funky book. It is unclear as to whether
Rob’s dad still has a Jimi Hendrix tape in his car...2 2
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It actually came as a shock to realise that
iForward Russia! Have actually been on
permanent Hiatus since 2008, but time ies
and all that. Whiskas, not a man to let the
grass grow under his feet but having to
deal with the responsibilities of a young
family, took time out of his busy schedule
to speak to Greg Elliott about new honours,
new glories...
Musician, label owner, manager, producer, promoter - the
man known as Whiskas has had many guises throughout
his long association with the Leeds scene. He’s sat with
me in a Headingley watering hole talking about Honour
Before Glory, the solo alias under which he self-released
the This Is Broken Lines LP in 2011 and its follow-up
EP The Maison earlier this year. The origins of the
project can be traced to the dying days of ¡Forward,
Russia!, with whom Whiskas played guitar and rode
the mid-Noughties ‘New Yorkshire’ wave to something
approaching mainstream success. Breaking into the
charts, however, came at a price.
‘‘We got swallowed up by the machine,’’ he tells me, ‘‘we
were reacting to what other people were doing and we
weren’t taking into account what we needed to be doing
as individuals. Looking back it was mental that we were
hanging around with bands like Editors and Dirty Pretty
Things, thinking that we had the same kind of appeal!
We wasted a lot of time, energy and money on promotion
- it denitely got us bigger, but whether it was the right
thing in the long term I don’t know’.” He pauses. ‘‘It’s a
bit like Chelsea really.’’
In 2007 ¡Forward, Russia! decamped to Seattle to record
their second album, Life Processes . The sessions
were marked by a changing dynamic within the band.
‘‘I was coming up with things really quickly,’’ Whiskas
recalls, ‘‘before, I would just write a guitar part and we’d
build a song around that, but now I was turning up with
fully-formed ideas. I would go in and say ‘you do this’
and ‘you do that’. I could hear in my head how the
whole thing worked. ‘Some Buildings’ was the rst song
we’d recorded in such an un-collaborative way. It was
awkward - it wasn’t how the band worked and it jarred
with all of us I think. When there was downtime I would
disappear and mess around with ideas, but they didn’t
really t with what we were doing.’’
Whiskas had unknowingly planted a seed which would
come to fruition with This Is Broken Lines – indeed,
standout track ‘Broken Bottles, Empty Hearts’ was written
in Seattle and could have been a ¡Forward, Russia!
song. Upon his return to Leeds he tried to record some
demos with friends Jamie Lockhart (Mi Mye) and Jon
Foulger (Duels), but the project quickly stalled. ‘‘I didn’t
really know what to do with it, why I was doing it or what it
was for,’’ he admits, ‘‘I didn’t want it to be another band,
but maybe a more coherent collective of people than it
ended up being. In many ways it was a reaction to the
experience of four people in a room trying to write songs
together. When you’re in a band you don’t think of everydetail - there’s always somebody adding their two cents
and usually in a really good way. It was almost like an
experiment, pulling all of the ideas together myself and
seeing what happened. That’s probably why it took four
years!’’ He laughs.
It was the demise of ¡Forward, Russia! at the end of
2008 that started bringing things into focus. An interest
in production, sparked by the more holistic approach
to song-writing he had taken with Life Processes , led
Whiskas to enrol on a postgraduate course at LMU.
Freshly up-skilled, he entered the House of Mook
recording studios in Meanwood to begin work on his
debut solo album. It was a serious undertaking - as well
as producing Whiskas played every instrument himself,
with the exception of live drums performed by Simon
Fogal of I LIKE TRAINS. Backing vocals came courtesy
of a cast of Leeds musicians known to Whiskas from his
famous association with local independent label Dance
To The Radio, including Fran Rodgers, Sam Airey and
I LIKE TRAINS frontman Dave Martin. ‘‘I would say to
them ‘I want this to happen – I trust you to make it good’,’’
he explains. ‘‘I’d know I wanted a certain vocal range
lling, or a transition on the drums to get us from a verse
into the chorus, but people had the license to be creativeand come up with their own ways of achieving what I’d
asked for.”
Not Back in The USSR
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H o n o u r B e f o
r e G l o r y
2 5
W o r d s b y G r e g g E
l l i o t t ~ I m a g e s b y C h r i s E n s e l l
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This was uncharted territory for Whiskas. For one thing,
he was placing a much greater emphasis on the sound of
the songs. ‘‘I already knew about arrangements,’’ he tells
me, ‘‘like, in the second verse the guitar’s going to drop
out or the vocals are going to change melody or whatever
– but now it was more like, okay, the drums are going
to pass through a lter, the kick drum’s going to bottomout, all these synth and percussion things are going to
be happening. I was learning as I went. I enjoyed the
process, but if I couldn’t get the sound the way I wanted
there was no one I could turn to.” There
were some advantages to working in
isolation, however. ‘‘My experience with
bands is that you have a thing, then you
do another thing, then you do another
thing,’’ he explains, ‘‘you can’t get into
the detail too much. With Honour Before
Glory the songs are mainly verse-chorus-
verse-chorus-end, but they’re interesting
because of how they’re produced. I can’timagine being in a room with people
discussing why all these different
things need to happen at these very
specic times’’.
This Is Broken Lines also represents
Whiskas’ rst experience of writing lyrics.
Given that he became a husband and
a father while the album was – if you’ll
excuse the pun – gestating, did these upheavals in his
personal life inform its lyrical content? ‘‘The album is
musically rather than lyrically driven,’’ he insists, ‘‘the lyrics
are quite insular – they mean a lot to me but probablynot much to anybody else! The feel of the album is very
mono-chrome; the ideas are all very black and white.
Fran [Rodgers, also a talented illustrator if you ever
wanted to type ‘Lazy Dane’ into Google] came up with
some great artwork to represent that.”
So, he had a nished album he was pleased with – time
to promote it with a fuck load of live shows, right? Not
by the looks of the Honour Before Glory website, which
proclaims no gigs for the foreseeable future. ‘‘It’s never
been a live thing - hence its problem with being a live
thing!’’ explains Whiskas. ‘‘With my previous bands the
songs were written with gigs in mind and it was cool to be
able to get away from that. The un-live parts have dened
the directions the songs have gone in, rather than vice
versa. I’ve been able to put two drum kits or ten guitars
on a song because I haven’t been worrying about how
I’m going to do it live. We’ve done some shows, but I’ve
found them really unsatisfactory. I’m not a strong singer
and I don’t feel condent or comfortable fronting a band.
It’s a shame, but there are other things I enjoy more. I’m
so busy – I have to prioritise.”
These competing priorities – aside from the obvious
responsibilities of home life - include playing guitar forSam Airey and Monte Carlo, producing their new EPs
as well as upcoming releases by Soul Circus and Kleine
Schweine, and organising the 2012 Unconference as
part of Live At Leeds next month. That’s not to mention
the day job, which sees Whiskas passing on his wisdom
as a lecturer at LMU. He remains passionate about
empowering musicians to take control of their art and
keep their integrity, prompting me to ask if the name
he’s chosen for his latest project is a reference to thiscontinuing preoccupation. He nods. ‘‘It’s what ¡Forward,
Russia! was about too - doing things in the right way and
for the right reasons. It’s not about glory - I just want stuff
to get the recognition it deserves.”
It might have been taken off the road for the
time being, but Whiskas is keen to stress that
Honour Before Glory is still a going concern.
There are plans to go back into the studio
with some new songs this year, and there
may well be a quite different live manifestation
of his muse before too long. It can be
whatever he wants it to be, after all. ‘‘Theearly songs were quite Americana-inuenced,
a bit more rock and roll,’’ he tells me, ‘‘things
got more electro as I went on. I really like the
sound of the later songs – they’re a lot more
synthetic. None of the songs I recorded at
the end had live drums and I didn’t miss them.
So I have this idea that in the future I could do
songs like ‘Shadow Into’ [a seven-minute epic
of pensive ambience and perhaps the most
experimental track on the album] on my own’’. He smiles
wryly. ‘‘I wouldn’t expect it to be exciting to watch though!”
We’ll see.
This Is Broken Lines and The Maison are both available
via Bandcamp and, though you may not see Honour
Before Glory in a hurry, if you see Whiskas, buy him
a beer...
He remains
passionate
about
empowering
musicians totake control
o their art
and keep
their integrity
2 6
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Stalking Horse – Specters (Role Model
Corporate)
For those of you who were disappointed with
last year’s Radiohead curveball ‘King of Limbs’,
this could be the album you were waiting for
all along. To say that Stalking Horse has only
a passing Yorke-ian vocal twinge would be a
massive understatement. And by the time ‘The
Creeps’ (oh, come on…) kicks in you’re startingto wonder if Stalking Horse is just a pseudonym
for an RH side project.
In actual fact, Specters is the debut LP from
Ex-This Et Al frontman, Wu, under a new
moniker. Comparisons to Radiohead should
be received in the most complimentary sense
too as this album is genuinely brilliant: warm,
pulsing and dare I say it, catchy, this ticks
all my hypothetical checklist entries. Other
comparisons to the likes of Wild Beasts and
Clinic hold their water well in tracks like ‘The
Dawn Is Father To The Sun’ and ‘Waterhole’and there’s a denite Vessels vibe about ’99
Stairs’. Plenty of variety too: ‘Mistress’ is a
piano-led epic complete with quirky obscure
lyrical hooks (“There’s no food on the table/and
you’re laughing at his bedside manner”) while
closer ‘Lament’ rounds things off in a suitably
thoughtful manner.
I struggle to nd fault with Specters : as an
album it’s well-balanced (having been given
the full James Kenosha treatment) and full of
beautifully constructed tunes. There’s only a
very thin resemblance to This Et Al, it feels like
Neil ‘Wu’ Widdup is well on his way towards
developing a truly idiosyncratic sound. In the
meantime, he’s produced a stunning rst record
and with a live band of veritable Leeds all-stars
is a project worth following, even if it does have
you reaching for your copy of In Rainbows .
Tim Hearson
Blacklisters – BLKLSTRS (Brew Records)
Admittedly, never having heard Blacklistersbefore, I was a little daunted by the prospect
of composing a review about a band that
are generally held in a demi-god like status
by other Vibrations writers. I was even more
perturbed when I heard they’d been compared
to Glassjaw. I had the distinct feeling that
they were going to be one in a number of
bands haunted by the irritating legacy of the
aforementioned band and their 90s post-
hardcore contemporaries, and I had the
distinct impression I was going to hate it. I
expected something between overt, incessant
machismo and the whiny verbal atrocities ofteenage melodrama.
What a relief then when I inserted the CD
into my hi- and was confronted by some of
the most visceral, unrelenting and superb ear
candy I’ve ever encountered during my short
acquaintance with the local music scene.
Blacklisters manage to execute with intrepid
precision the build and release dynamics
required for music of this aggressive quality.
But they manage to do it without resorting to
derivative breakdowns or bravado. Instead,
they combine audio savagery with a tongue incheek ethos.
I always feel a lack of critical prowess in using
the idiom ‘good riffs’ to justify a piece of music,
but in this case, it’s objective. Blacklisters have
an ear for what makes a ‘good riff’. Check
Albums
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R
e v i e w s
2 9 2 9
out album opener ‘Clubfoot by Kasabian’ to
see what I mean. Whatever it is, sublime or
otherwise, Blacklisters are masters of their own
game and they’ve barely been out of my hi-
ever since.
Benjamin Rutledge
Hawk Eyes – Ideas (Brew Records)
There are some bands that you love because
you can rely on them to produce a consistent
quality of work every time – like AC/DC, for
instance. Who am I kidding? You love thembecause they’ve been producing the same
album for the last thirty years. In 2010, Hawk
Eyes did that literally but grudgingly with
Modern Bodies . In 2012 I can reassure you
that they are not doing this again. Ideas is
a completely different sh – in fact, I’d be
tempted to say it was a completely
different species.
It is still a fast, riff heavy piece of work, but the
emphasis has changed from cramming each
song with as much punishing fret work as
possible to creating mammoth melodies with
Kyuss-deep bass, Mastodon-like complexity
and Korn-ish beats; there are choruses to sing
along to as well.
It is however the revelation that Paul Astick can
sing like Joey Belladonna or Mike Patton that
really brings home how different this album is
to anything that has gone before – yes, he can
bark ‘shot up up!’ furiously on ‘Sky Spinners’,
but he’ll follow it up with the plaintive ‘to spin
back down’, and by the time you reach ‘BearsBy The Head’s vocal gymnastics the evidence
is overwhelming – Hawk Eyes have gone way
beyond the realm of the incoherent scream and
voice as instrument.
Hawk Eyes may not be as angry as before,
but this considered approach is just as, if not
more, striking – targets include herd mentality
in ‘Bees’, desperate avarice in ‘You Deserve
a Medal’, directionless existence in ‘Sky
Spinners’. But despite the frustration felt by the
band, the power of the music, rhythm and riff
keep pushing it through. Evolution is a messybusiness, but by golly this is one beautiful mess.
Rob Wright
Holy State - Electric Picture Palace (Brew
Records)
This Leeds (via Norwich) four-piece ride the
current wave of rst generation indie-rock
nostalgia on an LP abounding with tasteful
references to Fugazi at their more languid
(‘Age of ADHD’) and Sonic Youth at their most
reined-in (‘Ride’). Holy State studiously replicate
the stylistic quirks of their illustrious forebears toconstruct songs replete with nimble guitar lines,
insistent melodies and dynamic twists; the lead
singer even gives Thurston Moore’s distinctive
drawl an East Anglian spin.
Such relentless reverence could wear thin over
the course of twelve songs, but the concision
of the band’s approach - which rarely allows
a track to pass the three minute mark - sends
Electric Picture Palace rushing by in a kinetic
haze which is undeniably fun. We’re not just
talking supercial thrills either – there’s some
real craft on display here, from the infectious
stomp of ‘Lady Magika’ to hook-lled barroom
delight ‘Medicine Hat’ and the verging-on-the-
anthemic ‘Solid State Messiah’. In short, it’s an
album full of reasons to catch the band on their
valedictory May tour and to lament their early
passing. Admittedly your reviewer ts squarely
into the post-grunge demographic at which
they’re squarely aimed, but at least Holy State
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don’t sully the lineage to which they lay claim.
Indeed, if their efforts turn younger listeners
onto the genre trailblazers their sound so
skilfully echoes, I’m all for it.
Greg Elliott
Pulled Apart By Horses – Tough Love
(Transgressive Records)
Last year saw Pulled Apart By Horses
eponymous debut unleashed on an unwary
public, and boy was it a full on tantrum of
stupid diatribes, shrieking, guitars and morenutpicks than you could shake a plectrum at.
Now I wouldn’t say that ‘Tough Love’ is a more
restrained offering; it’s still completely deranged.
I would however say it is a more considered
offering and... I don’t want to say it... more mat...
matu... look, this may take a while...
Starting where we left off from the last album,
‘V.E.N.O.M’ is as unrelenting a face melter
as you could get, joining the dots between
Motorhead and Gold Earring via Anthrax, with a
vocal intensity to match anything from the last
album. There is however more beneath the fury;
a frustration, venom in fact. The anger on the
last album was jokey, good humoured; this is
potentially dangerous.
There’s a lot of fear on this album too. The fear
of ageing and not changing on ‘Wolf Hand’
– ‘When I was a kid I was a dick/But nothing
changes’; the fear of people on ‘Night of The 3 0
Living’; and the fear of not being cool/being too
cool on ‘Degeneration Game’ and ‘Shake Off
the Curse’. What Tom Hudson has managedto do here is a masterstroke of lyrical laconic
understatement. Snappy and to the point.
But despite this the album is a whole lot of fun,
with its B Movie references both in the songs
and the music and pillaging of the genres from
thrash to glam and I kid you not you will play
this over and over again just to sing or thrash or
empathise along to. But this is not just a
bit of fun; this is a long haul album for a long
haul band.
Mature. There, I said it.Rob Wright
Various Artists – The City Consumes Us
(Rhubarb Bomb)
Wakeeld music magazine Rhubarb Bomb is
ve years old this year and decided to celebrate
the fact by not only putting together a CD of
exclusive and rare tracks donated by the great
and the good of the City’s music scene, but also
by writing a book about the whole thing. Hubris,
you may think, but as this mind bogglingly good
CD demonstrates for a small city of only 75,000inhabitants, Wakeeld has an embarrassment
of musical excellence that per capita probably
betters that of Leeds. No really.
There’s only a couple of weak tracks on this
18 song compilation and although you’d hardly
expect a hand-picked selection to include many
duffers, the variety on offer is amazing and if
nothing else this CD should lay to rest the idea
that all Wakeeld bands’ sound the same. The
best thing about it though is that all the really
strong tracks were recorded this year, some
specically for the compilation, and suggest
that superb music is set to ow from the city for
the foreseeable future.
There’s not enough space to mention all the
outstanding tracks here, but you should get the
CD at least for: Middleman’s ‘Hate Yourself’,
a brilliant but uncharacteristically dark and
brooding rumination on betrayal and back
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opens with the Wire-esque ‘Harms Sweet Way’,
its propulsive soft-top down sheet metal riff
suggesting that TTAF may have hot-wired aMustang in order to escape the post industrial
landscape we keep trying to imprison them in. If
they did where were they heading? The obvious
clue is in the closer, ‘Someone Else’s Rainbow’
– TTAF unplugged, powered down and chilling
in Laurel Canyon? Too radical a journey to
contemplate? Perhaps you should join them and
then decide.
Martin Haley
Available free from http://thetruthaboutfrank.
bandcamp.com/releases
Arizona Bay – Refuse (Self Release)
Too often do bands these days have mediocre
lead vocals. Relying more on their dolled-up
guitar riffs and their repetitive drum pulsations
than on the man at the front. Thankfully, Arizona
Bay subvert this shit ridden convention that so
many bands seem to fall into. You want proof?
Then check out their new album Refuse .
If you were one of those who grew up in the midst
of the grunge-dominated media phase in the
90’s, then you will recognise this album as having
some potential. Maybe grunge is the wrong termhere, as that insinuates a return to the 90’s,
which isn’t the case. Post-grunge is more suiting,
as the album is more of a cocktail-time machine
of modern rock with traditional gritty grunge riffs
that give birth to a musical hybrid, which sounds
pretty damn good.
R
e v i e w s
3 1
stabbing; Protectors ‘Cauliower’ a punchy,
chunky song that boasts a chorus worthy of the
Beatles at their very best; Lapels ‘How I KilledThe Magnethead’, a fantastic example of the
idea that all it takes is a battered, banged out
acoustic guitar riff, imaginative, freewheeling
lyrics and buckets of attitude to make a great
song; One Day, After School….’s sparse and
skeletal ‘Nova Scotia’, which deliberately
pays homage to the great Arab Strap; and the
frazzled punk of Runaround Kids ‘Undress’.
The book will probably be a good read too.
Steve Walsh
Rhubarb Bomb are funding the CD and bookthrough a Pledge Music campaign – go here http://
www.pledgemusic.com/artists/rhubarbbomb
The Truth About Frank – Dandelion Radio
Sessions (Self release)
Readers may already be familiar with Leeds
electronic duo The Truth About Frank (TTAF)
and their full debut ‘Cannibal Work Ethic’
(CWE), voted one of Vibrations favourite
albums of 2012. The 6 tracks on ‘Dandelion
Radio Sessions’ are compiled from two
separate sessions that predate CWE and to thisextent seem less developed.
However, what the lighter touch evident in
these recordings does is offer listeners the
opportunity to look beneath the surface and
get a better feel for the core forces at play
within TTAF.
Or perhaps I am taking it all too seriously;
maybe I should just put it on and dance,
because essentially that’s what it makes me
want to do. Not in a joyfully expressive way
but more as the conscripted member of a
synchronised blast furnace worker dance
troupe, dropping Es and uberstrutting in
an abandoned East German foundry. The
searing industrial jazz opener ‘Oxygen Orgy’
establishes the tone in this respect acting
as a viscous precursor to the more minimal
trance of ’Section B’ and orchestral machine
frenzy of ‘Headless Rentman’. Session two
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Vibrant indicators of
the bands potential can
be found; ‘Footsteps’,‘Open Fire’ and ‘Letting
Go’ where the rened
grunge synchronicity
shines through. The
most striking element
is undoubtedly Rhys Williams’ voice, which
has to be said, is exactly how a grunge voice
should sound. Hitting the high and low notes
to produce an alternative melodic dimension
to the band’s tracks, Williams’ voice
makes the album with a paradox of rugged
perfection. However, the Seattle scene tends
to inuence his singing accent at times.
That’s a minor issue though, and focus
should be placed on the band’s collective
ability to produce an easy listening album that
has great potential to become successful.
Denitely one to look out for.
Jonathan Lees
Wilful Missing – Molehills out of Mountains
(Little Attic)
With a name like Wilful Missing , I expected
this to be some sort of modern age folk. I wasnot far from wrong. The opening of ‘Cry for the
City’ is a beautiful opener (I am a sucker for a
little bit of modern classical choir).
Half way through I can’t help but think they
are jumping on this fad of folk music. Don’t get
me wrong, it is a good song, an amazing song
that is wonderfully produced and created with
such enthusiasm, but it does not excite me. I
feel like I have heard it before.
‘The Waltz’ has exciting parts that makes you
want to raise a toast and sing along during the
chorus, but then as soon as you get into it, it’s
snatched away.
‘I Am Clay’ is a refreshing song to hear on
this album. It is upbeat and makes you want
to move. This is my highlight of the album. If
there were a few more tracks like this I think
that would rate the album a little higher.
Overall it is a good album, it just lacks in
certain aspects. If you’re into slow and
peaceful, then you are going to love it. But forme it does get samey after a while.
Rochelle Massey
Available to buy from http://www.
marchofdimesmusic.com/sleeping-giant/
Cable 35 – Louder (Self release)
Another day, another alternative band from
Yorkshire. Thankfully, however, like many of
the bands from around this region, Cable 35
are not a big pile of conformist tripe. Instead
they are loud, brash, exciting and uniquely
brilliant. With a sound that meets somewherein the middle of Pulled Apart By Horses, Hawk
Eyes and Nirvana, Cable 35’s debut album
‘Louder’ does exactly what it says on the tin.
Starting with one of the grungiest and best
tracks on the album, ‘Cow Head,’ the album
contains a mammoth 16 songs, which in this
age of short attention spans and quick xes
could have proved a costly move. However,
when every song is as good as this, why
would you leave some out? From the distorted
guitars and snarling vocals on ‘Can I’ to the
slow and dark Pixies-like tones of ‘Lost City,’the album packs a mean punch, both above
and below the belt.
Favourites on this debut include ‘House Of
Fire,’ whose chorus sounds like a brutal
homage to Madness’s ‘House Of Fun’; ‘Fact
In Spain’ which plays host to a delicious guitar
solo; ‘Come Down To Party,’ a melodic yet
gritty affair and ‘Memories,’ a tempo-switching
beast that you can’t help but bang your
noggin to.
They don’t have the most rock and roll name
in music, nor do they have the luxury of big
label money. What Cable 35 do have is more
precious than that: talent, most of which
seems to have gone into this blisteringly,
fantastic debut.
Emma Quinlan
Available to buy from http://www.cable35.co/
For more reviews, go to www.vibrations.org.uk –
it’s been a big month!
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Bilge Pump/Two Minute Noodles/Cowtown @
Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
First up is Cowtown, whose bouncy quirk-rock has you
smiling and nodding in the most positive senses of the
words. The Devo t-shirt adorned by synth-maestress
Hillary Knott gives a couple of ideas as to where one
should look for inuences, but for those unacquainted
they’re like a grungier White Stripes with a less tokenistic
drummer and far more frenetic sound. A little bit one-
dimensional perhaps – it’s all a tad ‘smash and grab’ -
but still, by the end of their sharp set I’m so happy I
could piss myself.
Two Minute Noodles step up now to have their say and
it’s another line-up that pleases me from the off. A duo ofdrums and electric organ, this is what I imagine an ice-
cream van ghting its way through the zombie apocalypse
would sound like. What amazes me is how well it all
hangs together – the drumming is especially brilliant (and
a pleasure to watch) with its frantic beats and its general
pissing about with tempo. All-out stomper ‘Black Rod’ has
to be the clincher though; these are some badass tunes.
As if that wasn’t enough, scene patriarchs Bilge Pump
line up for a dose of heavy rifng that has the heads going
once again. Fans of That Fucking Tank will recognise the
style of rock-riff mashups while the proggy lyrics assert
Bilge Pump’s status as kings among nerds. Somethingabout them reminds me of Rush. Not sure why, but
I imagine that comparison might get me into trouble
somewhere. A more ‘traditional’ rock sound to end the
night, but no less ballsy and excellent.
Tim Hearson
Hawk Eyes/These Monsters/Hookworms/Shallows @
The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
To kick start this metal packed montage of mayhem, a
worthy precursor for the headliners Shallows were the
rst band to take to the stage. Shallows’ talented female
singer dominated the zone with an unforgiving display of
strenuous vocal ability, which the crowd seemed to enjoy.
Hookworms were up next and their psychedelic, cool
style of rock was a pleasant change of pace in the venue.
The band was visibly hyped – their elongated guitar riffs
and thoughtful combinations of very impressive keyboard
and drum vibes reinforced the unconscious journey that
everyone was being taken on.
After Hookworms, These Monsters geared up. I didn’t
know what to expect from this trio, but even after their rst
couple of songs I was blown away by how awesome theywere. Fast, sharp and tasty metal/rock riffs that smashed
everyone square in their faces! Sufce to say, everyone
loved it. The front-man emitted a screaming voice that
perfectly matched the speed of the composition, nishing
in a barrage of claps and cheers… Denitely one to lookout for!
Finally… Hawk Eyes. Although the crowd had diminished
slightly, the venue was still rammed and eager to absorb
the new tracks from their upcoming LP, ‘Ideas’. No time
wasted: they quickly showed the crowd why they are
one of Leeds’ nest live acts. Hawk Eyes blew the lid
off the Social Club, performing an explosive array of
metal. Tracks played tonight included ‘Kiss This’, ‘NASA
vs. ESA’ and ‘Headstrung’, each producing a wave of
nodding heads that broke on each drum pulsation. Their
new drummer is an animal, and the band as a whole are
exceptional. An intriguing night.Jonathan Lees
Pulled Apart By Horses @ The Leadmill, Shefeld
Taking to the stage to the not-so-dulcet tones of ‘Requiem
for a Tower’, it’s clear that Pulled Apart By Horses mean
business. Big business. Two albums in and threatening to
break the lock on the door of mainstream rock, they have
a lot to prove and tonight, in Shefeld’s The Leadmill, they
do so with aplomb.
If the sonic assault of opener ‘I Punched a Lion in the
Throat’ heralds the battle, then ‘Bromance Ain’t Dead’and new single ‘V.E.N.O.M’ wage the war. Both tracks
are from new album Tough Love and the heavy but
remarkably tight riffs are recalled note perfectly, displaying
just how far the band have come as a live unit.
The notably tattooed-older-male dominated audience
lends itself to some formidable circle pitting, even if
frontman Tom does put the kibosh on one audience
member’s drunken request for a wall of death. Pulled
Apart By Horses are not pugnacious men: in fact, they
come across as a humble and well-grounded four piece
who profess themselves this evening to be ‘just a bunch
of shitheads playing music.’ All humbleness aside,
there is denitely something about their epic, chugging
breakdowns and brilliantly ludicrous song titles that
seem to demand a riotous crowd response more betting
of a Sunday derby between two Yorkshire teams, creating
a jubilant atmosphere that lasts long into the night.
Mission accomplished.
Jenessa Williams
Submotion Orchestra @ The Wardrobe, Leeds
I was in the rare position of reviewing a band I had never
listened to before, a rare but good position. Before goingto the gig, I began to conjure up my own ideas about
Submotion Orchestra. My thoughts were solely based
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on their name but it turned out my predictions couldn’t
have been further from the truth. They weren’t quite the
orchestra I was expecting.
Entering a packed out venue was my rst indication
of Submotion’s popularity. For the rst half of the set I
couldn’t even see the stage. Perhaps this was a positive
thing though, as I could make my judgments basedsolely on what I was hearing.
To witness such an array of extraordinary sounds was
mind blowing; it was hard to tell whether I was at an
indie gig or an underground rave. The best word I can
use to describe the atmosphere in The Wardrobe was
‘buzzing’; there wasn’t one still body in the room. It
was also interesting to see the mixture of people at
the gig, proving that Submotion’s music reaches a
wide audience.
The voice of singer Ruby could easily rank high amongst
some of the greatest dance music singers of our time:similar to Katy B, but with much more depth. This voice
is complimented so perfectly by the unique dub-step-
meets-jazz sound created by the other multi-talented
members of the band. All hailing from various different
musical backgrounds, each member brings they own
avour to the exceptional Submotion Orchestra. Their
new single It’s Not Me, It’s You is denitely one to add to
your iPod.
Stacie Lloyd
Extra Curricular @ Hi, Leeds
It’s the start of the night; we’re all thinking about dancing,
but no one is at that level where alcohol has replaced
inhibition so we’re all awkwardly shufing at the front of
the stage. The hardcore fans might take it up a gear to
a tentative two step in preparation for the band but the
whole room is self consciously holding onto their drinks,
savouring every sip, because otherwise we’re going to
have to think about what to do with BOTH arms.
However as soon as Extra Curricular take to the
stage, drinks are thrown back, clothes are coming off
and everyone, and I truly mean everyone, gets down.
Strangers are dancing with strangers and everyone hasforgotten whether their hair looks alright or if that guy
from Friday is here yet. Soon enough the whole room
is sweating, the kind of sweat that no one is going to
judge you for, the kind of sweat that makes passersby
on the street jealous because you‘ve had a better time
than they have.
It’s not just the music Extra Curricular creates - it’s
the atmosphere. The set was perhaps a little too short
(they could have played all night and it wouldn’t havebeen enough) but it did leave everyone wanting (and
chanting) for more.
Hana Walker-Brown
Arthur Rigby & The Baskervylles/Hunting Bears @
Nation of Shopkeepers, Leeds
Openers Hunting Bears have a lush, full sound
which is impressive for a four piece and owes much
to the double bass/violin combo. Battling hard against
Shopkeepers’ punk-friendly acoustics, there’s a buzz of
chatter that’s never quite quashed until gorgeous closer
‘Only in My Skin’, a tender 4-part harmony countrychorale, leaves the majority’s collective jaw hanging.
Personal favourite ‘Heavy Tree’ also packs a bit of a
punch once it gets going but this gentle band could do
with perfecting their crowd handling.
Arthur Rigby & The Baskervylles are next up with
a massive pop sound and a booming baritone vocal
delivery: I can’t help but feel like I’m being sung to by a
1920s aviator. That said, it’s the creative, vibrant brass
arrangements that make this really special: fanfares,
chorales and the occasional sweeping ute line have
a pastoral charm and give the whole sound a massive
mid-range boost. One particularly effective song has
the rhythm section pounding out a low groove that
showcases this band’s ear for the overall package.
If I am to gripe, all the most energetic and best written
songs seem to come at the start and I couldn’t help but
feel like the performance seemed to settle down a bit
too much. Also, the drummer’s sense of timing is liberal
at best but to his credit I think it added a bit of extra
energy to proceedings. These are very minor criticisms
though as Arthur Rigby... are one of the most inventive
bands I’ve seen in a long time. In a word: sterling.
Tim Hearson
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Pengilly’s/Garnets @ Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Opening up the night is Garnets who are mellow andspacey of the ilk of Hernameiscalla, Tomorrow We Sail et
al. The slow moving compositions show a lot of promise
but prove somewhat formulaic. This kind of music needs
epic rises and falls to grab your attention but Garnets
music by and large plateaus around the mid-range.
Also, the laptop additions seem slightly tokenistic given
the onstage keyboard. Don’t get me wrong, all the
ingredients are in there – Garnets just needs the stones
and the variety to shake things up a bit.
Pengilly’s are a bit special. Frontman Ric Hollingberry
has a face you’d love to punch and an unabashedly
southern whine (think The Kooks dialled up a notch) buttheir sound is captivating. Stripped back, synth laden
and cerebral, there’s a dark groove to these minimal
tunes. Lead single ‘Toby’s Hill’ starts with Hollingberry
layering up a looped chorale before dipping into a warm
bath of electronica. Add in some Radiohead-worthy
basslines – also a shameless rip off of the one from ‘The
Immigrant Song’ – and drums that sizzle and shimmer
and you’ve got a band who deserve every bit of the
recent radio airplay they’ve been granted. A home crowd
and fairly packed room give this gig a great atmosphere
leaving me very little to quarrel with.
Tim Hearson
Asa Hawks/Round Window/Iona Dhrum @ Carpe
Diem, Leeds
Last time I was at Carpe Diem, someone came in and
spat at the barmaid, followed by a pitchfork wielding mob
shouting ‘burn the witch!’ I really should get down more.
Actually, it’s not been that long (though the spitting part
is true) but it has been rather remiss of me not to check
out CD and Grain Division and to keep a weather eye on
what’s going down in the town. Naughty Ed.
I’ve always been a bit wary of ‘projects’ and when Jess
Kershaw announces herself as the project Iona Dhrum,
warning bells start to chime. She then strikes up an
ethereal key on her Roland and sings about drifty stuff.
The drifty stuff is not really her though and hardly a
decent match for her voice, which is strong and warm.
Fortunately she picks up a guitar and does herself
justice with some more earthy tunes. This is the good
stuff, stick with it – be loud, be proud, be Jess Kershaw.
I start doodling a bit of stick man porn during Round
Window’s set, which is never a good sign. They are
denitely procient, but the music is interesting ratherthan exciting – a blend of prog, folk and good old
fashioned rock. It’s a bit... indulgent and twiddly and can
be summed up by the lead singer’s confession of ‘writing
this one in a conservatory’. The last song really steps
it up, though, in classic ‘Who’ style – this is really whateverything else should sound like too. Get out of
that conservatory.
Despite coming on at 10.45, The Asa Hawks show no
signs of fatigue and strike up a jaunty country... sorry,
‘Americana’, number that is chock full of joie de vivre.
Katy, in a very sparkly top, comes across as a Yorkshire
Kirsty McColl, vocally charming and approachable, while
the rest of the band creates a Dick Dale/James Yorkston/
Johnny Cash groove. It’s funny, it’s enjoyable... it’s bloody
cheeky in places (especially the lifting of a Cure riff and
the casually dropped in homage to the Dueling Banjos ) but
more than that, the band are loving it. That makes themvery likeable, for me and the rest of the audience. You
might like them too.
Rob Wright
Kane-Hession-D’Silva/Swinepipe @ The Fox & Newt,
Leeds
This was the rst in a (hopefully long running) series of
jazz/improv gigs under the new Fusebox banner, actually
a collaboration between a revived Leeds Jazz and a
reactivated Leeds Improvised Music Association (LIMA).
Don’t know about you but I’m excited already.
Prior to this gig I hadn’t really appreciated the full range of
instruments included in the clarinet family. Swinepipe, a
trio consisting of Richard Ormrod, Helen Baines and Ollie
Dover, come armed to the teeth with different versions of
the instrument, and are here to educate anyone prepared
to listen. They open with an Astor Piazzolla tango which
highlights the traditional, warmly woody sound of the
standard clarinet, but then move on to a piece with three
bass clarinets to create a deep, hypnotic drone, and nish
with their eponymous anthem which does a good job of
creating an ear splitting storm of noise not unlike electric
guitar feedback. No, really.
Leeds born drummer Paul Hession and Leeds based
double bassist Dave Kane are no strangers to the
national and international jazz and improv scene, while
saxophonist Karl D’Silva may only be familiar to Leeds
audiences from his other band The Trumpets of Death.
Hession and Kane dominate this trio with some typically
furious playing from the former that cooks the music to
boiling point repeatedly throughout the set, and Kane rises
to the challenge with some raging playing that’s clearly
utterly exhausting. D’Silva seems a bit unsure of what to
do in the quieter passages, possibly prompting Hession
and Kane to keep things loud and fast, an approachwhich seems to suit the saxophonist’s penchant for short,
repeated phrases anyway.
Steve Walsh
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The Pigeon Detectives @ Elland Road Stadium, Leeds
18 April
Leeds’ denitive beery lad’s band literally plays to theterraces in what is probably their spiritual home. This
date precedes a 16 date UK tour in May of considerably
smaller indoor venues.
Born to Brew/Chris Sharkey @ Fox & Newt, Leeds 20
April
Virtuosic, maniacal jazz keysmith Matthew Bourne
brings his esoteric duo Born to Brew to the Fox & Newt,
supported by Trio VD guitar demon, Chris Sharkey. Moist.
Monmon/Round Window/Snakepot Fanny @ The
Packhorse, Leeds 21 April
The lowly showing of the headliners Garage Rock albumin last year’s Vibrations Fight Before Christmas shouldn’t
put you off going to this gig. The album just gets better
with repeated listens and the songs have extra wallop
when played live.
Rhubarb Bomb 5th Birthday ‘The City Consumes Us’
Launch @ The Orangery, Wakeeld 21 April
Wakeeld music fanzine, Rhubarb Bomb, is 5 years of
age and it looks like they’re having a bit of a do. The
lineup consists of a stellar bunch of Wakeeld staples
including The Spills, Piskie Sits, Runaround Kids, Mi Mye,
Imp and St Gregory Orange. The launch is also in aid
of release of a special book, The City Consumes Us, apledge-funded biography of the Wakeeld music scene.
Renegade Brass Band @ Hi, Leeds 22 April
A horn-based funktacular from Shefeld, these can hold
their own against the likes of Hypnotic Brass, Youngblood
and Horndog.
Sir Richard Bishop/Michael Flower Band/Herb
Diamante @ Fox & Newt, Leeds 24 April
The Fox & Newt is rapidly becoming THE place tocatch the cream of avant garde and left eld bands and
musicians in Leeds. Guitarist Sir Richard Bishop founded
Sun City Girls thirty years ago but is a prolic collaborator
and, probably his modus operandi at this gig, solo
performer. Michael Flower does magical things with noise
and Herb Diamante does weird stuff in song.
Submotion Orchestra @ The Trades Club, Hebden
Bridge 26 April
Classy Leeds jazz/dubstep outt featuring some of the
top jazz musicians the city has produced in the last few
years (including Tommy Evans, Simon Beddoe) and
the seductive, smoky vocals of Ruby Wood. Last year’sexcellent debut Finest Hour deserves a wider audience.
From A Bad Girl @ Heart Community Centre,
Headingley, Leeds 28 April
This quintet features Norwegian vocalist Kari Bleivik,
recently voted Vocalist of the Year in the Jazz Yorkshire
Awards 2012, and the band use jazz, Scandinavian folk
music, experimental and improvised music in settings of
the words of Swedish poet Karin Boye. The venue is a
recently opened community and arts centre in Headingley.
Live at Leeds @ All over Leeds, 5 May
Yes, it’s time for the annual day-long music slog thatis Live at Leeds. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll probably
need a nap half way through. Absolutely something
for everyone with Los Campesinos! Marina and the
Diamonds and The Enemy rubbing shoulders with the
likes of Scroobius Pip, Ghostpoet and Blacklisters (though
probably not actually, could you imagine..?).
W o r d s b y T i m H e a r s o n / S t e v e W a l s h
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It is a sad fact that the music industry is not as
groovy as everyone would like to think – there
is still a lot of gender-based inequality out
there… and it really needs to go the way of the
dinosaur. Fortunately, music tends to attract the
sort of people who want to do something about
it, as Kate Wellham discovered at the inaugural
Wombeatz Conference. Some of this may come
as a shock to you…
It’s International Women’s Day and we’re on our way to
a man-hating, hairy-legged musical event so militant that
it’s been organised exclusively for girls. I’m imagining it as
a sort of training camp where we will learn such dark arts
as how to render a man infertile with the ick of a single
drumstick, and how to close the pay gap by taking our 17%
from the removal and sale of his now unnecessary organs
as maracas.
The inconspicuous venue has been made slightly more
conspicuous by the sporadic hanging of pink and blue
balloons both inside and outside – the only indication thatanything sinister is going on.
Yes, pink AND blue. AND there’s a boy here! And instead of
plans to take over the world, there are biscuits.
What subversion is this?
Sneaking a peek into the various rooms reveals many
perfectly friendly-looking women teaching and learning
the basics of sound engineering, DJing and recording –
the technical sides of the business where females are
undeniably underrepresented.
What is clear from the happy participants is that this
obviously feels to them like a safe place to ask any kind of
question no matter how silly it seems, to play, to get things
wrong a few times, and to try something completely alien,
without worrying about the consequences: a fundamental
need in order for many of these women to even begin to try
some of these things, as they each later explain.
“We’re not saying we’re better than guys or we want to be
seen to be better than guys, it’s not about that, it’s about
offering the opportunity and encouragement to get more
women to try stuff like this,” says Sarah Statham fromLeeds-based organisation, Wombeatz, who are responsible
for the event.
Sarah – who is in a band herself, Esper Scout - goes
on to explain that today’s event is not about hating men
and wanting them to go away and leave music to us, it is
merely about giving women an environment where they
can experiment with some new skills outside the typically
testosterone-heavy music scene in which they will nd
themselves immersed if they dive straight in.
And it’s the diving straight in that is the only way to learn,but which sadly seems to be the most intimidating part for
women who want to try their hand at anything to do with
music technology.
If you’re a man reading this, and you’re in any way
involved in music, then you’ll probably have felt some
trepidation at attempting something beyond your technical
ability; maybe if you’re a musician you’ll have felt the
nauseating nerves that come before a performance; or
if you’ve promoted then you’ll have had to front up to
someone at some point. But the chances are you won’t
have felt on the back foot from the very start, because of
your gender; you won’t have felt all eyes in the audienceon you for the wrong reasons; you probably won’t have
been referred to as a boy band; you won’t have been
blanked completely by a business contact who refuses
to talk to your sort; and you won’t have experienced –
actually experienced, rather than imagined – the crushing
expectations from everyone around you that whatever
you are about to do is probably going to be a little bit
shit, with any mistake you make merely cementing
preconceptions of your inability, adding extra pressure
to everything you do.
Is it any wonder that fewer women than men are willing
to venture into that world? And because they don’t,
they remain a rarity, and the whole cycle perpetuates.
Welcome to just some of the reasons that events like
this one are so important. Clearly it’s the initial lack
of condence that ALL newcomers of either gender
experience which is holding only the women back.
And if you’re wondering why I think this is how women in
music often feel, it’s because this is what they talk about
during today’s panel discussion.
The discussion begins tentatively, but quickly becomes
painfully candid, with audience members sharing theirconcerns – both real and imagined – with a panel who
have all seen, heard and experienced similar things
This Women’s Work
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before. Although there is very little in the way of downright
disrespect that has been shown to anyone in the room
by men in the industry, it is the innocent assumptions that
hurt them the most. The assumptions that they won’t be as
good as they are: “I get ‘you’re loads better than I thoughtyou’d be’ a lot, which is nice but when you think about
it it’s really sad,” says Kelii Compulsive – front woman
of Obsessive Compulsive, label owner, punk clothing
entrepreneur and ‘zine editor - of the feedback she gets
during gigs and sound checks, probably from people who
don’t have a tenth of the experience she does.
And it’s not just the performers who get it: “I always feel
that a male sound technician starts with 100% credibility,
and then anything he does wrong is taken away from
that, whereas I start with 50% and have to work so hard
to bring that up to a level where I’m respected as much
as he is,” says Hazel Plummer, one of the best sound
technicians of either gender in the country right now. She
also reveals that she once worked for someone at a venue
who would not talk to women at all, and to get around this
she hired as many females as she could, to make sure he
had to get damn well used to dealing with them.
Also on the panel are Jo Kira – a DJ who concedes (to
the general agreement of all) that other women in the
business don’t always have the most helpful attitudes
either (“women can be bitches”), and who dresses up
when she plays, but strictly for herself.
In fact, all women in the room acknowledge that how
they look is often made much of, which can lead to some
W o m e n i n
M u s i c
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confusion when wanting to express themselves, but
without buying into the idea that it’s the most important
thing about them. “I like to make an effort, but I don’t see
why women should have to get their kit off or be sexy
in a situation where a man wouldn’t”, says Kelii, who isalso keen to point out “I don’t have a problem with men
in music at all, I’m in a band with some of them and
they’re brilliant.”
Casting a glance at the piles of feedback forms piled on
the desk at the end of the day, I can’t see a single one
that hasn’t marked the event as a 10/10 experience, with
comments highlighting how relaxed, fun and valuable the
day has been.
Clearly not everybody will be naturally skilled, dedicated
or interested enough to continue to a professional level
simply because they’ve been offered the opportunity
to learn, but without the opportunity to learn, the music
industry could be missing out on those who are that
skilled, dedicated and interested.
Wombeatz need funding to continue their brilliant work
in events, equipment hire, training and networking aimed
at women in music technology, and the more interest
there is in their work the more likely they are to be able
to get it. So if you think you can help them, would like
to participate, or would like to learn, have a look at their
website www.wombeatz.com. Also, I cannot end this
piece without mentioning Immi Cardy aka DJ Immi Yeh,director of Wombeatz and without whom this event would
not have taken place.
W o r d s b y K a t e W e l l h a m ~ I m a g e s B a r t P e t t m a n
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