“The title is meant as an encouragement for people to drop out of boring routines and start afresh doing something they love, to chase their dreams. The members of this band have all ‘dropped out’ of reality in order to fully commit to this band,” states Joel Plews, vocalist with Manchester Pop Punks, Best Years, discussing the band’s latest E.P ‘Drop Out’. “The songs are definitely catchier and, dare I say it, a little cheesier than on our previous release” Plews laughs. Loaded with nostalgic melody and sparkling guitars, each of its three songs a self-contained summery mini-anthem. Here Plews goes into more detail regarding the content of the EP, describing it track by track…
Built to Last - Built to Last is the experimental tune, it's a train wreck, but it's catchy as hell and has a guitar solo that The Darkness would be proud of. Structurally and musically it's like nothing we've ever attempted before: it's very poppy and has some totally cringe worthy moments that when we listen back to them we're all kind of a bit on edge and saying to each other 'i still can't believe we've done this'. But we're hoping it's going to pay off and people are going to enjoy having something a bit different from us! Also, yes, it is a break up song so who knows, this might just be our number 1 hit.
Overrated - Overrated is now and will be for the foreseeable future 'the Best Years' song; it's our lead single and we've got to live by it and die by it. The main riff was written by James on the toilet at university… so there's that which is an interesting piece of trivia for you! We kind of feel like it's the most commercial sounding song we've ever written, but we feel like it's also got a bit of attitude in there, both in terms of the instruments and the melodies/lyrics. The meaning behind the song is more or less self-explanatory, as are pretty much all of our songs, we get straight to the point (probably because we don't know very many big words). But if you must know, it's just a song about people who have a sense of entitlement or have a rich family that they exploit, and in turn that doesn't prepare them for reality and what's actually out there... 'Overrated, golden painted, college drop-out' is probably the best case in point from that song.
Back Then - Back Then is the arena anthem (or so we like to think), the 'woah's' over the final chorus is our self-proclaimed one way ticket to a headline slot at Wembley and the chorus will stick in your head for days. It was the first song we wrote for the new EP and it really is polished and perfected, both live and on record, as we know it so well. It's kind of a middle ground between the other two tracks on the EP and the track we're going to be shooting a live video for on our tour with WSTR next month! Lyrically the song is again, pretty self-explanatory, but it's specifically aimed at any of our fans who are stuck at home. Those still at college/working/in a band/whatever, whilst all their friends they've known throughout high school/college are away at university. Very pop punk, an anthem for missing your friends...
Drop Out is released 28/08/15 via Dream Atlantic Records. Check out the video for Overrated below:
“We started to build a fan base with our original pop-punk sound and we haven't lost that completely, but we've just tried to and add an edge to our songs,” states Jason Bishop, frontman of Bath’s Montrose: “We don't want to just be another pop punk band; as much as we all love the genre and it's current resurgence, we wanted to make ourselves stand out.” Though Monster Under The Bed is still bristling with the kind of infectious vocal hooks most commonly brewed in the pop punk gene cauldron, it’s also laden with bursts of staccato, punchy guitar that wouldn’t be lost amongst the early output of the likes of Four Year Strong, Funeral For A Friend or Thrice, where riffs and memorable melody collided with kinetic synergy. Here Jason talks us through the creation of the artwork that accompanies this offering… In regards to the creation of our artwork, we saw a guy named MarkBell post in the UK Pop Punk group on Facebook, as he was looking for bands to do work for. After checking out his portfolio of previous work for a bunch of other bands, for both CD and merch designs, we knew we had to get him in to do our EP cover.
We basically allowed him to have as much creative freedom as he wanted, as a former graphic designer I know how much this can help certain artists get their best results!
The general idea and theme of the EP itself is around the idea of having "monsters" under your bed, and how as a kid you're kept awake at night by the thoughts of monsters coming to get you. As you get older these 'monsters' just become our real life worries that keep us up at night, and that's what each song on the EP is about.
With that in mind, we had a chat with Mark and told him exactly that, and he was stoked to be able to play around with the idea. As you can see, what we got what obviously a literal interpretation of the idea and we couldn't be happier with it. He's done a great job, and I seriously recommend him to any bands, brands or companies that are after artwork!
Monsters Under The Bed is released June 15th! Check out the video for Underperformer below:
Though only a year young, UK pop punk newcomers Trash Boat have made little short of a flying start. The St Albans based quintet came bursting out of the blocks in July 2014 with their debut E.P, the aptly titled ‘Look Alive’. Boasting buoyant guitar licks and vocal melodies custom built for impregnation on the temporal lobe, ‘Look Alive’ saw Trash Boat quickly capturing attention. A flurry of live activity followed, the band hitting the road to share stages alongside Me Vs. Hero, Light You Up, Roam, Homebound, Six Time Champion and Knuckle Puck. They then secured a sought-after place on the Hopeless roster, alongside such well respected names as All Time Low, Neck Deep, Taking Back Sunday and New Found Glory. Trash Boat have been hard at work on the follow up to debut EP, with brand new E.P ‘Brainwork’, which just saw release on 18th May. Here vocalist Tobi goes through the work, track by track…
"Compared to our debut release ‘Look Alive’ we actually wrote this EP fairly quickly. Our first EP was still fresh in our minds and we felt this was going to be a solid continuation of something we were pretty happy with and had received a really good response from so far.
Sound wise we were really going for that chunk, as if a hardcore band had just done a pop punk album, I’m stoked on the tone, I mean…listen to Taylor, that intro is phat as.
TAYLOR
Taylor was the first part of a longer song that I was writing lyrics for. When I laid down demo vocals over the riff we were trying out, it sounded huge and we were really pleased, we decided to keep it short as it was a perfect introduction to Brainwork, as it builds up the energy nicely.
It was the first song we heard with all the instruments recorded in the studio and it got us really excited as we’d been listening to our scratchy bedroom demos for so long, the difference was awesome and it really bought the tracks to life.
The lyrics are a reference to a certain group of medical ‘professionals’ who continuously let me down over the years, I will be writing more songs on this topic in the future, but for now it’s just this snippet.
PERSPECTIVE (Check out the video here)
Perspective (lyrically) is probably the most emotive track on the EP andit took the longest to write as it was chopped and changed a lot. It was the last song we did and the studio was fast approaching, we were spending hours every day trying to get it right and we were close to being sick of, even on the way to the studio! Once we heard it recorded properly and started tracking vocals though we knew the hard work had paid off, banger!
The lyrics cover a specific day a few years back where I was woken from what was supposed to be routine joint surgery to having a group of doctors around me with varying sombre looks on their faces, along with my parents who had already been told the shitty news that I wasn’t going to be getting better anytime soon. It was pretty tough, it exposed me to emotional aspects of myself and my parents that I had never seen before. It was pretty overwhelming being confronted with it all at once, whilst coming to terms with the fact that I just had to deal with it. Lucky for me though I have some pretty awesome friends and family who were all there to help me slap a fat smiley face sticker on the whole situation!
AS SEEN ON SCREEN
As Seen On Screen is probably my favourite instrumentally, it’s got some real fucking bounce to it and is so much fun to jam live. That song just fell together like it was written for us, barely altered, it was pretty much there in the first draft.
I didn’t want this song to be another sad jam so the lyrics aren’t as brutally emotional as the rest of them, so it keeps up the pace of being honest and aggressive in some respects, but it’s much less personal. From the age of 15 I’ve been drifting from one mind numbing job to another, under the guise of finding a career as that seemed to be the thing to do. I felt I was too young to pursue higher education, along with the maturity it required, so I held off on going to uni and got a job. I know in some respects it can seem as though I’m coming off as ungrateful, I was always appreciative of the fact I had steady work, but I was always considering the fact that I could be doing shit like this for the majority of my life and that thought scared the shit out of me! So I saved up enough to support myself while doing band stuff and wrote a fucking song about it, chasin’ the dream.
ELEVEN
Eleven is my favourite tune overall, the energy is through the roof and that’s what I’m all about, getting a room full of people to kick off and throw themselves off stuff into stuff, expect the energy to continue to rise in our future records.
Again, this was a tune that really fell together, only some swapping of the structure closer to the studio. The lyrics to this song poured out, it was tough picking the right ones as I have a bunch more that will be the topic of some tunes in the future, they mean a great deal to me, but I’m afraid their content can’t be explained as I don’t feel it is my place.
Brainwork is out now! Check out Trash Boat's new video for Eleven below:
‘Stranger Times’ marks the band’s first new music since their 2011 ‘You Call This Freedom’ E.P, and the female fronted quartet have spent the years in-between pouring all they have into the album’s creation: “The album title is a representation of what it was like to make it… they were strange and straining times, but I do feel that the trials and tribulations we encountered really helped to mould the songs and the air of the album. I feel it really has a profound attitude.” An energetic and diverse work bristling with ideas and ambition, ‘Stranger Times’ hops from rock to pop and back again, embracing sparkling synths and subtle electronics along the way, like the soundtrack to a gothic fairy tale. Ashlyn Marshall’s powerful delivery soars atop FTA’s textured terrain, offering up impactful choruses and melodies that twinkle in the album’s dark corners in equal measure. Here guitarist Callum gives you an insight into the release, track by track… PANGEA: We originally wrote Pangea as a set opener, but when it came to tracking the record it seemed like a really natural way to start the album. We wanted to create an atmosphere as soon as soon as you put the record on.
FOREIGN WORDS: Foreign Words was the first song we wrote for the album. It was a song that we wrote fairly quickly as it just flowed really naturally. It really set the tone for the whole album. Lyrically the song is mainly about feeling alienated by those closest to you. It almost felt like a diary entry to write.
THROUGH THE TREES: Through The Trees was a song that nearly wasn't a song. James came to me with this piano line that he wasn't to sure about, I loved it and could already hear a song around it. After that point we hammered the song out within a few hours. It really came from the gut and we just ran with our instincts. Lyrically it's about feeling like everything is stacked up against you but having the strength and courage to persevere.
DRIVE: This song came from watching too many late night 80s movies, drinking too much coffee and listening to a lot of Bjork. We love the feel of this song and I feel it gives the album another dimension. It's really about our life on the road and in our band. The good and the bad times.
A CLOSE RUN THING: This was actually the last song we wrote for the album and it took various forms before it became what you hear on record. We wanted to make this album as dynamic and diverse as we could and this song kinda felt like the cherry on the cake for us. It was what the album was missing. Lyrically it's probably one of the more personal songs, but it’s up for your interpretation.
STRANGER TIMES: Believe it or not Stranger Times actually stated life as more of an acoustic song, but it quickly became apparent that we could do more with it. We really wanted to step out of our comfort zone with this track and create something people wouldn't necessarily expect from us. This track sums up our life making this album better than any other. They were Stranger Times indeed.
WILDWOOD: Wildwood to me feels like a trip fairytale. This song was another fairly quick one to knock together. We were all on the same page and it just kind of materialised within a few days in the studio. This song really is a love letter to our childhoods. But an optimistic outlook on what’s ahead. The future is scary but exciting!
BELIZE: Belize lived in our demo archives for a long time before we decided to blow the cobwebs off of it and turn it into something real. This is personally one of my favourite songs on the album. There are so many different influences in this song from Asian music to Thursday night television. The song really takes you on a journey so you really have to listen to it to get what we're on about. We like to take risks and not always do what people expect of us. We like keeping everyone on their toes, including us.
INEVITABLE: Inevitable is a song inspired by the summers of our youth. The care free feeling of doing whatever you want, whenever you want. It was one of the first songs put together for the album and was arranged over a few weeks. If you've ever been young and in love, you'll get this song.
CELLAR DOOR: This song is about beauty in all forms. Taking the best out of life and being grateful for the world and the people around you. This song is almost just a massive thank you to anyone who's ever believed in us, came to a show, bought a CD, let us sleep on your floor just generally been awesome to us. It's definitely the happiest song on the album lyrically and I feel it’s probably one of the most powerful. A real favourite of ours.
LIVE FREE: Live Free probably took us the longest to write as it took on so many forms before we came to what you hear on the record. We wanted to end the album on a really dramatic note and Live Free just seemed perfect. Its the song I think we"re most proud of as it wasn't an easy song to write at all and when it all came together it was like that EUREKA moment! Lyrically it's about not fitting into a mould and just being your own person. Life is to be lived so live it free.
Stranger Times is slated for release on the 8th of June! Check out the video for 'Foreign Words' below:
“We want to make sure we don't get lost in the crowd,” says Jason Bishop, vocalist of Bath based quartet Montrose, of the musical gearshift taken on new E.P, Monster Under The Bed; “Our sound on the new release has definitely evolved; we've beefed it up and made it a bit more gritty. We don't want to just be another pop punk band; as much as we all love the genre and it's current resurgence, we wanted to make ourselves stand out.” Though Monster Under The Bed is still bristling with the kind of infectious vocal hooks most commonly brewed in the pop punk gene cauldron, it’s also laden with bursts of staccato, punchy guitar that wouldn’t be lost amongst the early output of the likes of Four Year Strong, Funeral For A Friend or Thrice, where riffs and memorable melody collided with kinetic synergy. Jason guides us through the EP, track by track…
1. Underperformer
This was the first single we released off the EP, and is probably the most 'dynamic' track of the release.
In a live setting this song is the most fun to play, the energy it generates seems to feed back into the audience a lot of the time and it's a great closer of our set.
Lyrically, the clue is in the name to be honest! It's kind of a self reflection on how I know I screw things up but that's just how it is. No frills, just honesty.
2. The End Game
This along with 'Blush' is one of the oldest songs on the EP. Both of those we're close to being on our last release but we kept them for this one instead as they suit the sound we were going for a little better.
The end section to this song is one of my personal favourites to play live, again for the energy.
Lyrically, this song is a typical song about past relationships. Not complaining about them though, more so just accepting there's a reason that things end, it doesn't matter who's fault it is.
3. Walking Contradiction
Again, the theme of this song is pretty self explanatory. It's another self reflection on what I'm like as a person, and how it feels like my own mind contradicts itself. This is shown in the lyrics themselves, as each line is a contradiction of itself.
4. Blush
Another one of the older tracks, this one's a bit shorter/faster and is what we like opening the set with. The lyrics again follow the general theme of self reflection. The whole EP was written in the same way really, where Sam comes up with a riff or section, records a demo, and we take it to practice and beef it out and add parts to it. This is the way we've always done things and seems to work alright for us!
5. Good Old Days
My personal favourite, this track is slightly different to the rest of the EP, with a more raw 'grungey' kind of vibe to it. We didn't want to mess around too much with little extras and just wanted a more stripped down song. We actually only finished writing this song a week before we hit the studio to record the EP, but it's still the one I enjoy playing most.
6. Fit For A King
The final track is also probably the most 'pop punk' sounding song, which will appeal to fans of our previous EP. This was one of those songs that just seemed to fall into place on it's own, and didn't take a huge amount of time to write. The general feeling behind the song is one of independence, doing your own thing, etc.
Monster Under The Bed is out on the 15th of June! Check out the the video/single for Underperformer below:
With the follow up to their well received 2013 E.P Creepy, forthcoming Reasons Not To Sleep sees Southampton’s Miss Vincent switching it from creepy to gloomy. Playing their self-styled ‘moody punk rock’, paying homage to the likes of Alkaline Trio and AFI, RNTS see them take their craft to the next level. “The songs we wrote for this record have a much darker, aggressive, and unhinged feel to them,” says Alex Marshall, lead vocalist and guitarist. Set for release on 11th May via Engineer Records, you can get a taste of what to expect via their track by track guide now…
“Reasons Not To Sleep is a dark record. It wasn’t a completely conscious decision to start with. The songs naturally took a gloomier direction, and we just went with it full tilt. All the newer material was much much faster, angrier, and more unhinged, and it felt more like “our” sound.
Production wise we really wanted to capture the frenetic energy of playing the songs live as well as the more ethereal, layered elements. Recording with Neil Kennedy at the Ranch in Southampton was a great fit, he really helped us layer the songs perfectly and created the depth and atmosphere we were looking for.
DNR: We toured a lot of these songs for almost a year before recording them, and the gang vocals in this one seemed to get people singing along almost immediately. Theme wise it’s just a panicked expression of hopelessness - it’s questioning whether everyone should just give up on you, but at the same time there’s a sense of hope that if you stick together you can rid yourself of that feeling.
Gradients of Grey: The roots of this song lie before Miss Vincent was even formed. It started as a little conversation with myself about perseverance, because at the time I didn’t have a band or anyone to form one with, just a burning desire to play. There’s a counterpoint between the relatively minimal verses and the big call and response chorus. We’re big Misfits fans too so any excuse for some good old “whoa”s really!
Disparate, Desperate: This wasn’t always a slow song. It was originally double the speed but didn’t sound quite right; Lawrie suggested slowing it down and the feel just clicked. It’s a lot of fun to play live because it’s sort of sinister and introverted in the verses, and the chorus lets out all that pent up aggression. And there's a rad guitar solo. The spooky riff at the start trails on perfectly from the weird segue from the song before. If you listen hard you can hear a little bit of eBow action underneath all the atmospherics that had Lawrie and Neil on their knees twiddling knobs on pedals for hours.
The lyrics in this are pretty broad. It’s that feeling of seeing people tread a known path in the hope of success and not wanting to follow, but having a horrible internal struggle that comes with it. When I wrote this I was questioning everything I was doing, wondering why this shitty feeling got worse as I got older. I was giving advice to someone very close to me, and I sort of stopped midway through a sentence because I realised that I could do with taking that same advice. In that sense there’s some positivity blended in. At the same time I was dealing with some health issues as well, that’s where the line about hospitals comes from.
Shogun Queen: Two and a half minutes of rage. It’s a pissed off song about how badly people can act towards each other, how they repeatedly take advantage of one another. We aimed to do as few vocal takes as possible to try and capture that raw, aggressive feel, and it worked out great.
How Much Further?: This was the first song from the EP that we played live. Even though no one had heard it it’s always gone down really well at shows and people seem to remember it, so for those reasons we chose it as the lead single. It was only once we got in the studio that we realised how fast we play it live, so it was probably the toughest track to record. The lyrics are essentially reflecting on the fact that life sometimes seems to wait until things are looking up to tear you down again. As though everything you aspire to is nothing more than a shadow that you’re chasing.
You Can't Spell Blame Without ME: This was the last song we wrote for the EP. It was a little strange for us recording this because it was the only song we hadn’t played live before, so it took shape purely in the practice room and the studio, but we were blown away by the outcome. We completely let rip on the last chorus and it's probably our favourite part of the EP. There's layers and layers of vocals and a super fuzzy drop tuned baritone guitar, which was more of Neil's input. It’s also a very personal song, looking at things in your life that are out of your control but you still blame yourself for. I have a lot of unexplained guilt that crops up in places on the EP, but more so here than anywhere.” Reasons Not To Sleep is out via Engineer Records on the 11/05/15!Check out the lead single 'How Much Further' here:
Averaging an age of just 18 (17 when they wrote and recorded Equal Measures in 2014, with former Bring Me The Horizon / now All Time Low sound guy Phil Gornell), Milestones have meticulously constructed five songs that positively belie their young age and relative inexperience. The EP is the glorious, compelling sound of raw, natural talent put to the test. Tracks such as anthemic single ‘Nothing Left’ offering up simple but soaring melodies that tingle the nape of your neck and leave you totally hooked. Here vocalist Matt Clarke guides you through each of the 5 tracks…
Track 1 - More To Me:
More To Me focuses on the first theme of the EP: losing family and friends. MTM is focused on a personal time for myself, of when a loved one was terminally ill. It shows my frustration of the lack of support I received from those who I'd been giving it to for years. We recorded MTM aside from the rest of the EP. We'd only practiced together a few times before we headed to the studio in September. It was a load of fun because we hadn't learnt how best to budget ourselves, so we got a hotel and had a load of fun being a band. Although we don't regret it one bit, because it created a great initial vibe of recording with Phil and Sheffield as a city.
Track 2 - Equal Measures:
Equal Measures was probably the easiest recorded, it was the least changed and the quickest to create. Lyrically it focuses on how changing certain aspects of your life can turn you upside down. The term "Equal Measures" is about regaining balance and composure.
Track 3 - Nothing Left:
Nothing Left is probably the most honest track on the EP, it focuses on the second theme of the EP: losing love. I recall finding it particularly hard to record "I didn't think that you'd leave me on this day, when the car drew up I refused to feel the weight" because those lyrics were probably the most personal I'd ever written... It's a direct train of thought I had on possibly the worst day of my life. I really shocked myself when I made it through all of that, but I suppose I have my band mates to thank for that!
Track 4 - Counterweight:
I personally wrote acoustic track Counterweight before the band was practicing, with Drew helping to later adapt it once we decided to use it. It's a great little sing along that I feel has a good impact on the EP, allowing the dynamics of the record to really show.
Track 5- Sleepless Nights Are Put To Bed:
I suppose this track is self-explanatory. It seemed fitting to put this one at the end due to the entire EP's journey lyrically and musically, coming to a resolving end on this track. This one is probably the harshest side of our sounds; the most aggressive for sure. I believe that after a certain time you should stop allowing yourself to be upset and just draw a line. That's what this song was, the line for me, and I've never looked back.”
Equal Measures is out the 6th of April. Watch the video for 'More to Me' below. You can also check out the video for Nothing Left here.
Pop Punk: just in case you missed the billboard sized memo, it's back, hotter than ever, and it now comes in a fetching shade of British. Hot on the heels of fellow countrymen Neck Deep, ROAM, As it Is and Trashboat, Brighton quintet Six Time Champion are making their presence felt with storming new five-tracker Expecting Honesty. Released on December 1st, the work is buoyant with hooks and drives its point home with fiery panache, Six Time Champion's rougher edge reveals their boisterous live energy. You can see the video for Expecting Honesty below. Here they talk you through the forthcoming EP, track by track... When we first began writing for “Expecting Honesty” we had no specific aim, other than to put together a few tracks that we could enjoy playing and performing, however as we delved further into these tracks, they started to become something so much more for us. We went for a slightly grittier, raw sound whilst still clutching to our pop punk vibe, in an effort to stay relevant whilst creating a sound that could set us apart from the rest. Safe to say the songs that started out as a bit of fun turned into something that we felt was a massive step up from anything we had written in the past, and something that we all feel extremely proud of. Track 1: Running Dry: “Running Dry” was initially written within just a few months of the band forming, before we had even recorded our previous e.p. We had written numerous tracks around this time, however this was the only one which really stood out to us, and after various alterations, became one of our heaviest songs. It hits hard right from the very start, and for that reason has always been our opening song for any shows we play. The lyrics express adistaste to the busy, overwhelming lifestyle that most of us find ourselves a part of, and try to show that if we slow down once in a while, we can actually see what’s important and what truly brings positivity into our lives. Track 2: Happiness In Emptiness: This one kinda came out of nowhere, it was one of those songs that just fell into place right from the start, the upbeat melody of the guitar gives this track an extremely catchy, uplifting vibe. The lyrics on the other hand are somewhat of a contrast, based around personal feelings towards a sense of isolation from others, that is needed to instill a positive state of mind throughout everyday life. Track 3: Expecting Honesty: The title track of our e.p and our first single. This was one track that took some serious work, in fact it was chopped and changed numerous times over a good few months. We knew that it had serious potential, it was just figuring out how to obtain the fast paced aggressive sound we were aiming for, whilst still having an enjoyable song to play and perform. It wasn't until the night before we were due to record this track that the lyrics finally came together, based around an acoustic song that I had previously been working on. The rest of the band didn't get to hear any of the vocals until we actually recorded them in the studio. Despite the last minute approach, this song instantly became a personal favorite for us.Lyrically this song is far more boisterous than the rest, voicing a lack of tolerance for all the pointless dishonesty in life. It pretty much sums up the entire theme of the e.p. Track 4: Dragging my feet: “Dragging My Feet” initially started out as a slightly softer tune for us, but in typical “Six Time Champion” fashion, it was very quickly beefed up into something far more bouncy and upbeat. The song is based around other people's misperception or over glorifying of who you really are as a person. Track 5: Separation: Another energetic, fast paced song full of catchy melodies and hard hitting breakdowns. This has to be one of our favorite tracks to play live. The extremely personal lyrics, are based around dealing with sudden change, and the consequences of a life long relationship becoming controlled by distance. Six Time Champion Release ‘Expecting Honesty’ on 1st December.
Inspired by a plethora of musical backgrounds, Forever After have spiced newly released EP ‘Just Another Year’ with suitable diversity. “We all have different influences, from grunge to folk, blues to pop punk and metal. So, we wanted to write a EP that we felt had a little bit of each influence in it,” says vocalist Dom Littler. Indeed, from the aching 90’s nostalgia of lead track ‘Inhaling, Falling’ to the riff infused punk of ‘Miles Away’ and the grungey pop rock of the title track, Just Another Year is buoyantly reflective of the band’s broad palette. The Essex lads additionally describe themselves as having “British geezer vocals”! Following the release of the EP on Monday the 25th, Dom guides you through it track by track now…
“When we started writing this new EP Dom, Sam & Harry had all started new jobs, so there was a lot of struggle when it came to all getting together and writing. Sam & Harry also had relationship troubles on the horizon, which later lead to break ups. This is what our new EP is mostly about.
She's Leaving: We finished this track the day before we went into the recording studio, so it was a massive rush, but I think it was a risk that payed off! I wrote the lyrics about Harry's (Bass/Vocals) relationship with his ex-girlfriend,who left him earlier in the year. I watched him fall apart and it was horrible, I was so sorry for him and it inspired the lyrics for the Chorus “I'm so sorry, Shes leaving this town”.
Miles Away: We wrote Miles Away earlier in the year, but didn’t get around to adding lyrics until later. We wanted to add a more punky feel to this track with the drums being up beat and fast! I wrote the lyrics about starting a new job, one of his closest friends going travailing to Australia, and a couple of other friends moving out to new cities or Unis. The line 'Just another year' in the chorus is also the title of the EP, as it is relevant to everything that has happened in the last year and also how long it took for us to write and record the new EP!
Inhaling, Failing: Harry came up with the main riff on guitar and we loved the sound, so 90's grunge. I wrote the lyrics about my addiction to sugar and my bad habits. It was shortly after the New Years and I had rapidly failed at all of my New Year’s resolutions: Stop Biting my nails, Smoking, Cutting down on sugar!
Throw It Away: Harry wrote all the guitar parts, he has a very metal background and so we decided to spice things up a bit. I wrote the lyrics about a couple arguing, who always put the blame on each other… basically I was watching too much Jeremy Kyle that day.
Twenty Two: I wrote this song about my Girlfriend, who I met in September 2012, while out for my friend’s birthday.I thought she was leading me on and that I had no chance with her but after I gave her my chair we sat together chatting all night, one thing lead to another and.. yeah! I remember showing her the demo for the first time and being so nervous/embarrassed, but she loved it, and now I get to embarrass her at every gig of ours she attends.
Already on their third release in just two years, Nathan Detroit have clearly been on a creative quest to find their best self. Mission accomplished. To be sure, forthcoming release Peace Of Mind sees the Wiltshire quintet frothing with melodies and punchy, infectious hooks, the EP’s four tracks feel positively jam packed with killer choruses and memorable refrains. Here vocalist Jamie guides you through the themes and lyrical inspirations behind the offering, track by track… "As we embarked on a further release, we wanted to make sure we were happy with the general direction we were heading in. As we began writing, it became pretty obvious to us that it was going to be a step forward and one in the direction that we had all talked about at the start. The finished product has a clear path from song to song, with a general theme of progression from beginning to end and a feeling that can be related to so many different situations and circumstances: mostly those that helped write these songs in the first place, those that everyone goes through in life. ‘The Way Down’ Having established what the direction of the EP was going to be, we were able to start right at the beginning with ‘The Way Down’. The general feel of the song and the lyrical inspiration revolve around those regular day to day things that can feel like as if they are just getting too much. We have all had that poignant moment when we think, “I can’t take any more of this” and “enough is enough”. This is not necessarily a negative point of view, it can be seen as a positive message through hard times, signifying a turning point. I think it’s an honest song and one that emphasises the importance of balance. ‘Never Enough’: When approaching this EP we determined that it was important for us to touch on things which we had never addressed before. ‘Never Enough’ was written to portray a time in all of our lives, when being yourself is scrutinised to the nth degree, perhaps to the point of oppression in some cases. Everyday life can be pretty strenuous, but as the song progresses it demonstrates the need to continue with things, prioritising and living by your own terms. The message is to have the strength to recognise what you need to do to keep going. ‘I Will Always Be Part Of This World’: This was a massively emotional song to write and by far the most vivid in terms of imagery. I address some issues which had been presented in ‘The Way Down’ and ‘Never Enough’, but with an element of reflection and contemplation. It was always an important part of the message of the EP to encourage taking steps forward and as the Chorus states, it’s a slow and steady road but one which does have an end, there is a realisation that things are going to be ok. ‘Every Heart’: From the beginning we knew we wanted to clearly address a specific idea with ‘Every Heart’, the idea that no matter what happens, we all have something to offer. It was my vision to take the emotional elements explored in the EP and at the end, put a fun twist on them, leaving listeners with the general message that we can all contribute something. In fact we probably already do. ‘Every Heart’ marks the final step on the journey from feeling emotionally drained to knowing there is a positive future. Guitarist Callan also describes the process behind the artwork... “For this release we definitely wanted to focus on the packaging, as we felt this is a genuine step up with the band. Before I had even joined Nathan Detroit as the second guitarist, I had made artwork for the band, but had never considered myself as an “artist”. In fact, I have only really taken art seriously over the past year or so through my venture (C.Milward Graphics & Art). With this cover I wanted to make it feel more organic, so I decided to make it a hand-drawn effort. I began with the ‘brain-guy’ in the centre of the piece. I’m not really sure why I decided to go with this idea, but I had recently been really digging the cover for the new Polar Bear Club recordand wanted to put my own spin on the style. I also have been liking a lot of posters coming from Rockets are Redand wanted to use a similar bold & natural colour scheme. The overriding message of this release lyrically focusses on switching from a negative state in your life to a positive, (hence the title “Peace Of Mind”), so I wanted the cover to represent that transition in one scene, as well as give it a“Sci-Fi” theme… After drawing the brain character I moved on to drawing the scenery, such as “the hill” and “ray of light” beaming from the top of it. Once assembled together I played with a lot of simple colour schemes to give it a “evening woodland” feel. I actually hated the cover at this stage for a while! I think a lot of artists go through this with their artwork. Everyone is their own worst critic of course. However, once I started playing with the detail work I really began to fall in love with the piece and call it “finished”.Working on the whole thing, it took the best part of 8 hours a day for a week. This is the longest period of time I’ve worked on artwork, but turned out to be one of my favourite pieces I have produced. I can’t wait until the release date just to hold a physical copy of it! Oh and see if you can spot the Squirrel with the final cover, it’s tricky to spot!” Peace of Mind is released on August 11th. Check out the video for The Way Down below:
South East pop-punk quintet Homebound have spent a year behind closed doors, writing,
writing and writing some more, until they were ready to share their infectious fruits with the
world. The result is their 6-track debut EP ‘Coming Of Age’, complete with hook laden vocal lines aren’t without substance and context: “The lyrics deal with that time in life when you start having to make decisions regarding your ‘future’” states vocalist Charlie. Here he delves further into the thought processes and meanings behind the tracks of ‘Coming Of Age’…
Valour: After what was originally a full four minute song, we condensed it down to be the perfect intro track for our EP. It reveals feelings of regret and self-pity at a time I didn’t feel I had much to shout about. I knew it was the start of a long year and that I wasn’t gonna get through it like this. Sometimes you have to keep a level head and believe that things will turn out for the best.
Turning Point: It was also the first song we recorded up at Emeline Studios with Ian. We had only really played this song as a full band 3 or 4 times before going to record so we were surprised with how good the outcome was! Lyrically, it is quite aggressive. It’s a build-up of feelings over time that at some point were going to boil over. Sometimes you have to take a step back and see that things aren’t gonna work if they keep going the way they are. Some people might find comfort in this song about a girlfriend or a boyfriend but that is not what I wrote it about!
High Ground: High Ground was the first song idea conceived for this EP and has undergone many changes. If you listened to the early demos of this song you would be surprised with how different the final outcome is. We all look to learn from previous experiences and use these to help make better choices in the future. This song shows my sporadic thought process. The up and down feelings you have, the overthinking of situations and the conflicting interests.
Clutching Straws: We wanted to write a simple verse chorus structured song. It’s one of the more ‘old school’ sounding songs on the EP. The riff played after the chorus is reminiscent of Blink 182 as a form of homage; a way to show our appreciation for their music. It’s about not giving up on something you feel passionately about however improbable it seems. There will always be setbacks and people will tell you to think otherwise but sometimes you’ve got to be gutsy and do what’s right for you. We wanted an upbeat and positive song on the EP and I think lyrically and instrumentally, that’s demonstrated in this song.
Second Best & No Regrets: As a band this is definitely the song that we are most proud of. It’s another song that went through a multitude of changes. Vocal parts were completely rewritten and the drum parts dramatically changed. It took a while for us to get a solid version of this song down for the studio but on the day it came out better than we could ever have expected. We all have different things going on in our lives, some more important than others. You may have to make sacrifices for what means more to you and that’s what this song is about. I found myself in this position and took a matter of fact view on it.
Coming of Age: This song was a very late addition to the EP. We started improvising together at a practice and realised what we were playing was worth something. We managed to completely write the song only a few weeks before we hit the studio and it turned out to be one of our favourites. With this being the EP track title, you can already guess it has the most relevance to the EP and its meaning. I think like most people my age, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life. I didn't even know where to start looking with the all the endless possibilities. I think the freedom of it all scared me the most. So this song explains how I came to terms with it all.
Though only officially founded at the start of 2014, pop-punk quintet Trash Boat have already played their first shows and recorded their debut E.P, ‘Look Alive’, which is set for release 23rd June. Bursting with buoyant guitar licks and the kind of vocal melodies you only need to hear once before they’re imprinted on your temporal lobe, ‘Look Alive’ is a formidable first strike from Trash Boat’s arsenal. Here vocalist Tobi gives us some insight into the creation of the EP…
'Most of the writing for the EP tracks took place in Oak’s room, we’d play around with riffs, record them on his computer and generally spend hours doing trial and error to see what sounded good. When we all went home or to work we would still be sending each other ideas we recorded on our phones and ideas for the vocals.
Every song was pretty slow to begin with, trying stuff out, binning it, repeat etc, refining it each step of the way. But once we had an idea we thought was solid for each song, it was really fun to build on and stuff started to flow. We spent a good few months ironing out creases and changing bits here and there, but once we were happy we booked our time at the Ranch House Studio and went down there to stay for the week. We smashed it out, had a cool time and we’re really pleased with how it has turned out.
Cluttered and Boneless are very similar, they use the same base when it comes to theme I just went in two different directions with it. ‘Boneless’ is very blunt and honest, it’s an insight into the previous few years of my life in which I had faced some drastic lifestyle changes due to a lot of knee surgery, stuff got pretty bleak pretty fast. I met the guys in Trash Boat right about the time I started to get my shit together and it was really fun to write about it all. The lyrics to boneless are pretty bleak but I’m not in a bad place, that’s the point of the song, I’ve grown from that and can now look back and appreciate that those experiences are why I am who I am today.
Cluttered uses similar elements, but it’s less macroscopic than Boneless, Boneless looks back at those experiences over the entire period, Cluttered is how they were effecting me in the present moment and influencing my song writing. Gnarmalade is my favourite track ‘cos it’s got the most energy. The lyrics came from a part of me that changed during the recovery periods; I was bedridden for a period and started boning up on social issues, activisms and the like. Everyone always has a really detailed opinion on stuff like that so I won’t go really deep into it, but it was great to be able to put that time to positive use. Gnarmalade (lyrically and musically) is the first of many similar Trash Boat tunes.
Lock in is written about an old friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in ages, he called me up one night and asked me for a lift to a mates house which I thought was weird but he seemed in a bit of a state so I said yes. Unfortunately life wasn’t going great for him and his family and friends weren’t doing him a lot of good. It made me think about how lucky I am to have such a cool group of friends and supportive family around me, most likely the main reason I’m doing so well today and able to reflect on things with a clear and happy head.
Playing this EP live is what it’s all about, and I can’t think of anything more fun, we get a really good crowd participation thing going, with Boneless especially. I can’t wait to take it on tour and play to as many people as possible.'
“The title is meant as an encouragement for people to drop out of boring routines and start afresh doing something they love, to chase their dreams. The members of this band have all ‘dropped out’ of reality in order to fully commit to this band,” states Joel Plews, vocalist with Manchester Pop Punks, Best Years, discussing the band’s latest E.P ‘Drop Out’. “The songs are definitely catchier and, dare I say it, a little cheesier than on our previous release” Plews laughs. Loaded with nostalgic melody and sparkling guitars, each of its three songs a self-contained summery mini-anthem. Here Plews goes into more detail regarding the content of the EP, describing it track by track…
