Blueprint Studios for a three hour rehearsal and due to a mix-up from C:/Dos/Pun’s live drummer Nick; we only ended up half an hour late. Seeing a duo in such a large rehearsal room is rather different to the 3/4/5 piece bands I usually come across, but nonetheless just as entertaining to watch.
The music industry is expanding every day, with exponential growth in all sides from PR to label managers becoming even greater. To see how the industry is moving, we talked to Oliver Kamyszew, a graphic designer turned PR, artist manager at Scarim Management and Black Box Booking about the industry and how it’s moving.
12:30 interview with Harmed at the Star and Garter. Easy enough unless you moved to Manchester less than three weeks ago and couldn’t tell your way to the local Sainsbury’s and back. It’s times like these where punctuality is a virtue, getting to the venue at 12 (as well as the band themselves) only to find the venue doesn’t open till 4. Times like these, you also learn to improvise with a nice coffee shop setting, that is until you have to guide 7 people to the Arndale Centre in search of food. Having no sense of Manchester’s direction helping lead 7 others who have never been to Manchester around is certainly a story for the books. Nothing stressful at all, especially when you lose the bands vocalist Levente in Affleck’s .Stopping off at a drab McDonalds around Piccadilly Gardens, sitting in the lower levels surrounded by busy adults and screaming children with 10 year old pop-hits loudly blasting over the speakers, this is more than a casual setting for an interview, but improvisation is a road we all must head down occasionally.
In the end the group whittled down to me, Levente (Vocals), Gabor (Guitar), Steve (Bass) and photographer James Barbosa sitting in a rather tight booth. Welcome to England. However, with Harmed living and growing as a band in Hungary, its learning from the stories of European bands just how difficult it can be to breakout as a band, as well as the culture shock in different countries. Following on from Levente’s slight confusion of the UK McDonalds queueing system, the difficulties of touring the UK also came to light. ‘Obviously money is an issue while on tour especially for us Hungarians cause for our Hungarian pocket England is super expensive. You pay £4 for a beer here in Hungary an expensive beer is just £2’, somewhat bringing a short introduction to the strange exchange rates of the UK. Thanks capitalism! Yet, while the UK obviously encompasses some similarities of Hungary, each city has something different to offer. Every corner of Manchester has some hidden musical experience in the underground venues, even to the buskers in Piccadilly Gardens, but it’s the different ways this is portrayed in other cities that truly got the trios thoughts going, especially from Levente. We played with a few cool bands in Brighton. We arrived at the venue and there was a 5-piece girl band, kind of punk-ish, like wow this is cool! Brighton is a place that resonated through the band, something that really left an impression on the group as a place not just of seaside’s, piers and overpriced food, but of musical expression and culture. ‘everyone looked so happy and didn’t really care about things. The artistic expression and what they do in that town is just crazy.’
Yet another interesting thing about our conversation in a cosy corner at the lower level of McDonalds, is the lack of any language barriers. The UK isn’t known for any language achievements, hell we’re probably the worst for learning languages, something realised talking to people fluent in more than one tongue. In Hungary, mainstream pop artists often breakthrough with their tasteful Hungarian lyrics, which leads to an interesting topic of why Harmed decided to write in English opposed to Hungarian. As Steve explains, ‘I’ve always imagined myself playing in an English band lyrically. I never really wanted Hungarian lyrics, I still think it’s kind of weird’. There’s a debated idea as to whether you are more likely to be known in Hungary if you sing in Hungarian, an acceptable idea looking into it with a logical mindset, so why is there a divide in musical styles and languages? Like Gabor states, ‘People get into you more if you sing in Hungarian’ in which Steve follows on with the fact that ‘In the underground scene, more than half of the bands sing in English but if you wanna be more mainstream I guess it’s easier to sing in Hungarian. Even catering more to personal opinions of musical styles Levente has an input believing ‘metalcore music doesn’t really work with any other language than English. Hungarian languages are good for poetry but using it in metalcore is just weird I think,’ or at least a personal perception of that.
Even through a divide of language, there is still a connectivity of music and an understanding behind that. As a simplistic music journalist, there is little first-hand experience that one can personally give about touring, but the hidden side many fans don’t see is something quite interesting. Through the (possible) jokes Steve gives about starting to ‘hate each other slowly’, there is a connectivity between the three, even with their photographer James casually snapping the odd shot alongside us. Negatives of touring are a given, if anything the struggle of learning to cope with 7 others in a bus is a big factor. From having to guide 7 people around parts of Manchester, it is understandable how it can be a little stressful. As Steve reiterates ‘there are 8 people in a van and each person has different needs, everyone’s different and sometimes those different needs collapse’, an acceptable reasoning for losing sanity. Yet, there are such important topics such as mental health struggles people easily forget can come to light on tour. ‘I used to get anxiety attacks and one time we were playing a show and I lost almost 5 mins of time and I don’t know what happened’ as Gabor recalls, showing these are real life issues that can affect anyone and are a hidden aspect of touring. As a more humorous round-up Levente’s biggest issue is sleep. ‘The biggest problem is that you don’t have a private life here, also, you’re not getting much sleep. I don’t have creative talks I’m just like oh food, ah van, ah gas station, ah l wanna sleep ah load in. The daily stuff just eats my fucking brain’.
The thing that connects us all through any sense is music. Being a touring musician, the last thing you can want sometimes is music. ‘Sometimes I’m happy I don’t have to listen to music, I like the quiet’, with Steve growing up in a musical household with a DJ father, its understandable, but there is no escaping the joys of talking about it and having fun debates around the topics. On the idea of genre labelling ‘you have to describe your music somehow and for me labels are not barriers they’re just the best way to describe your music type’ but while some describe it as a barrier, Harmed are adamant in the face that ‘we are not stuck in one as we all listen to different kinds of music and have different things we like so we mix it together’.
One can spend hours on such a topic, serious factors about the music industry and how people put musicians in genre boxes (as a music reviewer, something I am perhaps guilty of), but while the music industry has serious factors, most are in it for the reason of enjoyment. To have fun and let go… literally… like Gabor who fell on stage. ‘I fell on stage… but I did it in a really weird way. I just fell on my guitar’, clearly a memorable experience amongst the entire band with the instant relation to ‘embarrassing moments’ being a wave of ‘Oh! Tell them about Romania’. Even at the worst of times, Harmed take things in a way which is just move on and learn, do what you can to have fun even if it is sitting through a tour, which Levente happened to have to do. ‘ I dislocated my knee in Budapest, that wasn’t even our set I was featuring for another band! it was boom boom boom and I just realised I was on the ground like oh no oh no… one hour before our set. True rock stars in the form of a Dave Grohl style performance moment, even if the rest of the tour was on crutches and chairs, its still a one-up for completing the tour, bonus points to the band for doing so.
Rounding up 30 minutes of conversation, its clear that these three members of Harmed bring something different to the band other than musical style. As they say, ‘the thing is that normal day life we are all chill, were not crazy people. We work, but for us maybe this band is where we can just release it all. Like someone goes to the gym we do this instead.’
Releasing it all is a coping mechanism perhaps, a way of letting themselves go and as individuals they all have a personal way of doing so. Asking them to use one lyric to personally describe themselves in the band, this is where quite interesting sides are revealed (and a question of who actually knows the lyrics to the tracks!) ‘Release my worst’ because when we go on stage we lose our shit.’ Is Steve’s, referring to having a release in music. On the other hand, Gabor offers the more personal approach, along with Levente in lyrical descriptions. ‘No recognition’ because I like to hide behind my hoodies and hair and all that stuff. It’s really good to have that mystical feel to it.’ The band bring truths and acceptance to themselves, they’re aware that others may mock them, but refuse to give in to the hatred. Levente adds on for his lyric ‘in all my presence, cast me out of your circles I’m losing the essence of participation’ because we’re all a bunch of weirdos I think. People have been mocking us since were kids. Kids are evil, so I don’t want to be part of the big picture, the crowds of people because that’s kind of normal, I’m not interested in normal. Whatever you do they’re just going to bully you and you know what fuck them.
Harmed refuse to fit the normal, something that is good. From the two-hour experience I had talking with the group (and trying to find their respective tour/bandmates in the busiest part of Manchester), there was a lot to be learned and a lot I reflected on from our conversation. Not only was there the cultural aspects and the differences between Hungary and the UK, but also learning how they are ones to accept themselves and do what they want to when they can. Harmed come across as a band of substance, there’s something within them that has that determination to work hard, get out there but have fun at the same time, just one conversation can show this. Be sure to listen to their music and more. Engage in the music, catch their shows, start a conversation with them. You can check them out at the links below.
FACEBOOK: https://m.facebook.com/harmedfromdayone/
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/harmedfromdayone?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=oj3t8gz3h5wz
Words: Caitlin Homfray
We had the chance to chat with Neil Sanderson from Three Days Grace about touring, Africa and even chilling with Mick Jagger! Check it out below!
I’m Stephen Beerkens and I play bass and keys. My favourite album for this year would have to be the new Boston Manor record which was released a few weeks back!
There are! Some of the demos that we recorded at the very beginning, before heading to LA for the first time, will be featured on our debut album.
I would say that the diversity in our music is both something that we strive for and that comes naturally. We’ve grown up listening to so many musical influences and wanted to express all of that in our music in a way that is true to us.
It was a truly amazing experience that pushed us as both musicians and songwriters. John brought us out of our comfort zones in the best way possible, to tap into parts of ourselves that we’d yet to express until that point.
Absolutely! We learnt so much about the process of songwriting that we implement in everything we write today. We found inspiration mostly in the events that have made us the people we are today. It’s these experiences and emotions that we tap into in our writing that keeps our songs personal and true to ourselves.
We’re just stoked that people are loving our music and live performances. We want to share our art with people all across the world, so to be able to do that so early in our careers is a real blessing.
The crowds in the UK are definitely the most passionate crowds that we’ve played to so far. They bring a real energy to the show that makes us feel right at home.
Individually, do you feel that different locations have an impact on how you perform through different shows?
Whether I’m performing to 10 people or 1000 people, I’ll always give it my full effort. The same goes for location; it doesn’t matter where we play, putting on the best possible show is the priority.
Definitely working with Pete Wentz and learning from the advice that he gave us was a moment that I’ll forever remember.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve tripped over Against The Current’s drum kit during our set!
Definitely Summer! It’s the best time to get outdoors, hit the beach, and see friends.
A Song Which Made You Want To Make Music: Ramones – Oh oh, I Love Her so. Brilliant song writing.
Best Experience While On Tour: Ofcourse when there’s a sick show. I remember playing Munster, Germany the first time, that was amazing.
Cover you would really like to do? We don’t do a lot of covers, but we did Waiting For The Man by the Velvet Underground, so I’ll go with that.
Deepest Lyrics One Of Your Songs Features: Hmm, tough one. “Still Searching” is one of the deepest ones so far.
Easiest Song You Wrote: “I don’t wanna be the one”. Wrote that one in 5 minutes and stole lyrics from another song I wrote before.
Favourite album/single/EP you have released: The next one! “Fading Into Oblivion” will be the shit.
Greatest Show/Festival You Have Played: Uppsala shows are always the best.
Happiest Moment You’ve Experienced In The Band: When a record is out, it’s all done, and you head out on tour.
Interesting Fact About One Of Your Members: We’re not that interesting.
Jokes You Have In The Band: I did a thing where I tried to look like a lion by just open my mouth and everybody freaks out screaming “there’s a lion in the room”. Everybody thinks we’re the most stupid people in the world.
Kicking Off Your Set Is Best With Which Song: We’ve done “Wish You Were Gone” for well over a year now, so I guess it has to be the one.
Longest Distance You’ve Travelled To Play A Show: Oh, it has to be Sydney – Brisbane last year. At least it felt like it took forever.
Movie That Best Represents The Band: Goonies.
New Band You’d Recommend: Svart Katt from Sweden. Sick band.
Opening For This Band Would Be Ideal: Don’t really get the question here.
Place You’d Most Like To Tour: South east Asia, the US, South America etc. Everywhere!
Quote That You’d Like To Pass On To Readers: “A cancelled gig is also a gig” – Ulf Lundell
Reason For The Title Of Your Recent/Forthcoming Release: It just fits well with the lyrics. The lyrics are dark and pessimistic so “Fading Into Oblivion” fits well.
See Us Live At: Every show you can.
The First Song You Ever Played Together As A Band: “Damaged State Of Mind” I think. That was the first song we had.
Unusual Merchandise: Don’t have anything strange now, but I wanna make all kinds of things.
Variations You’d Like To Do On Any Of Your Songs: I guess some songs could be done acoustic, but it’s not something we wanna do at the moment.
Worst Experience On Tour: Haha I can’t really say where and when this was, but we played a few shows a couple of years back in another country and everything around it was completely shit.
X–rays Or Any Other Treatments For Band Related Injuries: We’re good people. We take care of ourselves, so no.
Your Favourite Show You’ve Ever Played: First show we did in Uppsala. Sold out house in our home town with all our friends. A special night for sure.
Zoo Animal That Best Describes The Band: I heard something about an immortal jellyfish, so I’ll go with that.
Dirty Sound Magnet, the uprising band from the depths of Switzerland are taking over the UK once again this September/October on their 35-date tour across Europe (Dates at end of article). So suddenly accelerating forward with the release of ‘Western Lies’ in 2017, as well as solid touring for the past few years, what do the band have to say about it all? We talked with Stavros Dzodzos from the band to learn a little bit more about the musical groups true perspectives into touring, music and culture.
‘Western Lies’, the band’s latest album, was released to the public in 2017, bringing themes of capitalism, rebellion and a reflection of society together. Through the power of their music, this is where the band believe they can show a true reflection of society. “Being an artist means that, in one way or another, you mirror the society you live in. You’re showcasing what society is and it’s therefor important to be an external actor enabling you to be as neutral as possible. Nowadays, it’s pretty old fashioned to rebel but we do it anyway cause it’s important to us. I will never talk about politics in an interview or so but if I can convey a message which I have thought about, I’m convinced about in a song, why not?” Writing stories of society is important to the group, yet despite being from a small Swiss town, they’re enticed to write their messages in English over their native language. “The great thing about touring in the UK is that for the first time people actually understand what I’m singing about. InSwitzerland, people speak German, French and Italian. My lyrics are not relevant in that context and I know that.” The fact of the matter is, your audience shrinks if you sing in another language than English on an international level and for the band, even the melodies can be altered if written in another language. “The thing is, if you sing in French it automatically becomes French pop, even if you do rock music. In French, the words are more melodic already so you already have a rhythm and a melody in the words. Words take over and become dominant. In English as the language is more neutral, it has a colder rhythm and less melody. Words get into the music instead of over the music and vocals become an instrument.”
Throughout the chaos of constant touring, luckily the band have still found time to devote themselves to recording. “We just recorded a new album over the summer, which we’re going to release single by single to give every song as much exposure as possible. The album’s coming Spring 2019 I hope!” Interestingly, this album, while wanted and anticipated by the group, in the end came as a bit of a surprise. “One month before that we didn’t expect to have an album. It’s like an unanticipated baby that’s just arrived! This new album comes as a blessing because we were like: ‘when are we going to record it we’re touring all the time!’ We were so lucky cause things happened really well and we were able to get a fantastic studio – a really top-notch studio for a month. We’re really Happy about it and yeah looking forward to releasing the tracks.”
Having toured 2017 and the majority of 2018 straight, it’s no surprise that the musical trio have developed themselves not just as a band, but as people through their experiences. “Every conversation revolves around music and how to make it sound better. You go from being a passionate musician to perceiving music almost as a religion. Our principle is simple: ‘Music is our way of life. There’s no plan B’. It’s the only way nowadays.”
Already coming across as a multicultural band, with an Italian bassist (Marco), a Swiss drummer (Maxime) and Greek-Hungarian guitarist (Stavros), the mixed mashup has many varying contributing factors into their music. Speaking on his most memorable moment on tour, Stavros describes how “We played in Budapest and that was a magical place. It was an old ship on the Danube river and they made it into a very nice venue. I was so happy to bring my friends to Hungary, to show them my culture that is so different from the Swiss one.”
Yet, with a music scene so varied across Europe, it’s the UK that stands out the most to Dirty Sound Magnet. Speaking on the topic of Black Sabbath (Who originated from Birmingham) comes a realization that “We don’t have that culture here. To you, Black Sabbath is the band next door. To us they seem unreal, untouchable and therefore the city of Birmingham becomes a romantic place in our fantasies. It’s probably not in real life but to us that’s not important. To us rock music has always been dreamlike and you can here it in our music. When you think about it, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, King Crimson are all bands from the UK. And somehow they are our favorite ones. So you can understand our enthusiasm about the UK. ” The culture around music here to the band is “almost mystical” coming from such a different culture themselves. So what influence do surroundings truly have on their music? “We come from a small city in Switzerland called Fribourg. Before we started exporting our music, we had limited possibilities to develop our careers. It seemed impossible to anyone else but we believed in ourselves. That’s why we practiced in our rehearsal rooms for ten years, every day for 6 hours. The struggles we encountered in our town gave us energy to develop and create our own genre. Surroundings are very important indeed.”
With culture having such an influence on the group, what specifics give them such a psychedelic style? “We’ve got some more exotic influences due to our origins. At home I’ve heard a lot of Greek, Hungarian traditional music and these harmonies are part of our music nowadays. We started with that vision of rock that is raw, just rock and from there we started to get more progressive and psychedelic. We don’t really think about, it just happens.” With so many influences in the mix of Dirty Sound Magnet’s style, to define them as a singular genre is difficult. In a world where new genres and labels are always being created, how can music be defined? “Branding is very hard, you’re calling us psychedelic rock but in a way, I wouldn’t. We call it creative rock because the music can go anywhere. Of course there is a psychedelic tone to our music but to us it goes farther than that. I would prefer if there was no labeling to music, it’s a restriction but you need it from a commercial perspective.”
On the other hand, with the digital age of music evolving so fast, even the blessings of social media promotion have dark undertones. “Sometimes we think that even the blessing part of it is a curse. Thinking about Instagram which is the popular thing right now, it’s actually the worst thing for a musician, you can’t even post your music, you post a minute and you have to sell your image before you sell your music so you end up creating music for your image instead of the opposite.” To release music is so much easier, but with increased ways to share and promote music, it is easier to get lost in the crowd. “If you think about what rock music meant even 20 years ago it was so much more mainstream. Now it’s a very small current of music lost in the immense Spotify!” So, with a new path to quick fame, what happens to those who don’t want to conform to social media promotion? “If you’re not on that path, it’s really taking a long time especially for a band like us from Switzerland. It took us 10 years to get to the UK! As I said, our rule or saying is NO PLAN B, just do it give it everything!’
Dirty Sound Magnet have a very interesting approach to music, as well as the processes behind it. After an hour long interview, Stavros’ final statement to our readers: “Please listen to albums and not just to Spotify playlists. I think that it is where the real art and music is. An album is where you have space to express as an artist. Every song in our catalog is different so if someone only listens to the single Homo Economicus, it won’t represent the band correctly.” The trio are touring across the UK this September/October and this is one interesting band you are not going to want to miss.
• 16.08.2018 Rock Oz’Arènes Festival– Avenches , CH
• 25.08.2018 Openair Zamba Loca– Wohlen , CH
• 14.09.2018 Sunset Bar– Martigny , CH
• 20.09.2018 The Underworld– London , UK
• 21.09.2018 Stramash– Edinburgh , UK
• 22.09.2018 Nice n Sleazy– Glasgow , UK
• 23.09.2018 Stereo– Glasgow , UK
• 25.09.2018 The Bowery– Dublin , IRL
• 26.09.2018 Crane Lane Theater– Cork , IRL
• 27.09.2018 The Jacaranda– Liverpool, UK
• 28.09.2018 Bad Apple– Leeds , UK
• 29.09.2018 Independent– Sunderland , UK
• 30.09.2018 The Cluny– Newcastle , UK
• 01.10.2018 Westgarth Social Club– Middlesbrough , UK
• 02.10.2018 The Maze– Nottingham , UK
• 03.10.2018 Alexander’s Live– Chester , UK
• 04.10.2018 Fuel– Manchester , UK
• 05.10.2018 Zephyr Lounge– Leamington Spa , UK
• 06.10.2018 Ships and Giggles– Preston , UK
• 07.10.2018 Cafe Jazz– Cardiff , UK
• 08.10.2018 The Black Heart– London , UK
• 09.10.2018 The Latest Music– Brighton , UK
• 10.10.2018 Phoenix Bar– High Wycombe , UK
• 11.10.2018 The Smokehouse– Ipswich , UK
• 13.10.2018 Spinnerei– Bern , CH
• 19.10.2018 Le Port Franc– Sion , CH
• 20.10.2018 Sommercasino– Basel , CH
• 21.10.2018 Coq d’Or– Olten , CH
• 24.10.2018 Bastard Club – Osnabrück , GER
• 25.10.2018 Lila Eule – Bremen , GER
• 26.10.2018 Molotow– Hamburg , GER
• 27.10.2018 Bollwerk – Mörs , GER
• 29.10.2018 Musik & Frieden – Berlin , GER
• 30.10.2018 Museumskeller – Erfurt , GER
• 31.10.2018 Factory– Magdeburg , GER
• 02.11.2018 Lux– Hanover , GER
• 03.11.2018 Festival Rare Guitars– Münster , GER
• 15.11.2018 Dynamo– Zürich , CH
• 07.12.2018 Case à Choc– Neuchâtel , CH
• 08.12.2018 Nouveau Monde– Fribourg , CH
• 14.12.2018 Gare de Lion– Wil , CH
• 15.12.2018 BFM– Saignelégier , CH
• 22.12.2018 Kulturfabrik KUFA– Lyss , CH
Read below as Die So Fluid attempt our A-Z interview…
A Song Which Made You Want To Make Music:
Adam and the Ants singles Ant Music, Stand and Deliver and Prince Charming definitely
triggered something.
Best Experience While On Tour:
Besides the great experience of playing live shows it’s really cool when crazy stuff happens like chatting to Gene Simmons in the entrance to Hooters, visiting Graceland on a day off in Memphis, voodoo houses in New Orleans, having Bernie Shaw from Uriah Heep come to your show, exploring and hanging out with friends we’ve made around the world in their home towns…
Cover you would really like to do?
Manic Depression rocks hard and is full of soulful yearning.
Deepest Lyrics One Of Your Songs Features:
Drew and I worked together on the lyrics to the title track of our album:
“How many versions of the truth
demand faith without proof
and murder unity
before it bears its fruit.”
Easiest Song You Wrote:
Some songs kind of write themselves, Happy Halloween did that.
Favourite album/single/EP you have released:
One Bullet From Paradise. https://diesofluid.bandcamp.com/music I like the single Bittersweet cus it’s so fun and sassy.
Greatest Show/Festival You Have Played:
One time we played Hard Rock Hell and we were having a tough time touring in heavy snow, but we made it, played a phenomenal set, and a fan who became a great friend brought all his ingredients with him and made us curry in his cabin that night. It’s a great memory of a fun night, great festival, great friends, great times.
Happiest Moment You’ve Experienced In The Band:
My happiest band moments are always when I’m lost in the music and I’m deeply connected to everything and everyone.
Interesting Fact About One Of Your Members:
I’m a certified yoga instructor and reiki practitioner.
Jokes You Have In The Band:
We have a lot of stoopid in- jokes that would make no sense unless you were there at their birth. We shared a bunch of silly music references especially Al who would throw in comedy backing vocals and song lyrics. It’s one of the things I miss most about him, he was a very funny man. I should add that he tragically passed away when we were about to record our latest album. Our friend Justin from Skinny Puppy stepped in and played on some tracks and mixed some too.
Kicking Off Your Set Is Best With Which Song:
Bitterness by Discipline
Longest Distance You’ve Travelled To Play A Show:
I guess 6000 miles to play the US starting in AZ, but I live in LA now so it’s all relative.
Movie That Best Represents The Band:
Lost Boys? Vampire films have the best symbolism and hey we’re a gang that will live forever in our music.
New Band You’d Recommend:
Ultraphonix- George Lynch’s new thing with Corey from Living Color.
Opening For This Band Would Be Ideal:
Deftones
Place You’d Most Like To Tour:
Australia and Japan.
Quote That You’d Like To Pass On To Readers:
Remember, true strength is not found in the stone, but in the water that shapes the stone”
Reason For The Title Of Your Recent/Forthcoming Release:
The album is called ‘One Bullet From Paradise’ and the title questions the dogma that has been warped into a tool to embolden soldiers. It was inspired by an essay from a journalist embedded in the wars in Daesh.
See Us Live At:
The Lexington, London UK, November 11.
The First Song You Ever Played Together As A Band:
Something off the first album – we really only play originals.
Unusual Merchandise:
We have a cool baseball shirt available at https://diesofluid.bandcamp.com/merch featuring the unusually brilliant artwork of Dan Schaffer, creator of Dogwitch.
Variations You’d Like To Do On Any Of Your Songs:
A lounge version of Kiss The Floor. We heard something in the background of an old Bettie Page burlesque dvd that sounded just like it!
Worst Experience On Tour:
Take you pick between getting electrocuted by a mic with ungrounded wiring, sleeping in a rat infested backstage bunker or on the floor of an airport with delayed flights…it’s all part of the rich tapestry of tour life.
X -rays Or Any Other Treatments For Band Related Injuries:.
I had to have a hip X-ray after falling down a 6 ft hole at the back of the stage in the dark. It was the end of the set in Leeds, I managed to clamber out to play the encore with tears in my eyes. Adrenalin is an amazing thing.
Your Favourite Show You’ve Ever Played:
Sold out hometown London show at Dingwalls. Amazing energy and atmosphere.
Zoo Animal That Best Describes The Band:
Rhino! They’re built so fierce but beautiful and unique. Please check out my friend’s cause, there’s some awesome photos there too. http://www.pedalingagainstpoaching.com
Have we ever met a band who loves cheese quite as much as Dead Hands? No, we haven’t. We got to chat to the guys in Dead Hands after their set supporting Employed To Serve at Wolverhampton’s The Slade Rooms!
Check out CRYPITUS as they take on the A-Z interview below…
A Song Which Made You Want To Make Music:
Pete: When I was a really young kid I loved doo-wop music so probably Rockin’ Robin.
Zach: Metallica’s master of puppies and Pantera’s Cowboys from Hell.
Joe: Frayed ends of Sanity by Metallica.
Doug: 99 Ways to Die – Megadeth
Best Experience While On Tour:
Pete: Crowd surfing at the Psychostick show we played.
Zach: Our airbnb in Baltimore. I felt really pampered
Joe: Canada is cool.
Doug: We had some amazing beach time in Quincy on this last tour!
Cover you would really like to do?
Pete: Good Mourning/Black Friday by Megadeth
Zach: Toto – Africa
Joe: I don’t like covers that much.
Doug: The Ultra-Violence – Death Angel
Deepest Lyrics One Of Your Songs Features:
Pete: “Now we all live in a world with danger”
Zach: Check out Symphony #1
Doug: “In the dark of the world where they all lay, broken matter, dreams are shatters such disarray.”
Easiest Song You Wrote:
Pete: Symphony #1 because Doug already had it written.
Zach: No such thing
Joe: Doug writes most stuff. Breakdown is easy though.
Doug: Seriously, what are easy songs to write.
Favourite album/single/EP you have released:
Pete: Our demo still kicks some ass.
Zach: Our full length… Not released yet
Joe: We have a demo and a single that are cool.
Doug: Danger is the best yet!
Greatest Show/Festival You Have Played:
Pete: The Psychostick show
Zach: The first time we went to Lewiston Maine. It was fucking nuts.
Joe: I don’t know about greatest but sammys patio in revere beach is cool.
Doug: Im gunna second Zach on this one.
Happiest Moment You’ve Experienced In The Band:
Pete: Getting to make music with my best friends.
Zach: The moment we realized Joe Minard II was in it for the long haul
Joe: Just hanging with friends makes me happy.
Doug: First successful tour!
Interesting Fact About One Of Your Members:
Pete: I was born in Texas.
Zach: Dougles Friends pronounced dug-els friend, and it’s really his real name.
Joe: Zach has lots of puppies
Doug: Zach is the master of most reality.
Jokes You Have In The Band:
Pete: Our song Out of Line is really called Apple Pie
Zach: The cumming of the whale snake… Cumming soon
Doug: Our members hahahah
Kicking Off Your Set Is Best With Which Song:
Pete: Breakdown or Danger
Zach: Danger
Joe: Danger
Doug: Ash
Longest Distance You’ve Travelled To Play A Show:
Pete: 5+ hours to Maine or Connecticut
Zach: Richmond VA. It’s a few hours away
Joe: I can’t remember 5+ hours to a few places.
Doug: Richmond was ten hour hours from home atleast.
Movie That Best Represents The Band:
Pete: Fear and Loathing
Zach: Don’t mess with the Zohan
Doug: Bill and Ted
New Band You’d Recommend:
Pete: Epicenter
Zach: Obtusum
Joe: An Unction in Braille
Doug: Xenophile.
Opening For This Band Would Be Ideal:
Pete: Exmortus or Between the Buried and me
Zach: Blotted science
Doug: Vovoid
Place You’d Most Like To Tour:
Pete: Australia
Zach: Singapore…. Hong Kong…. Seoul Sydney
Doug: Scandinavia
Quote That You’d Like To Pass On To Readers:
Pete: “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”
Zach: Always keep a jar of marbles. Don’t lose them
Doug: Be the creator of your own fate.
Reason For The Title Of Your Recent/Forthcoming Release:
Pete: Our latest single was just the song name “Danger”
Zach: I have no idea
Doug: Our forthcoming is nameless at the moment.
See Us Live At:
Florence Ma 7-19
Wallingford Ct 7-20
Mechanicville Ny 7-21
Auburn Me 7-22
Revere Me 8-24
Rutland Vt 8-25
Richmond Me 9-1
Wallingford Ct 9-7
Burlington Vt 9-29
The First Song You Ever Played Together As A Band:
Pete: Breakdown, I think
Zach: No idea. It was 1 of 5
Joe: I think when I joined we played breakdown first.
Doug: It was one of the songs off the demo.
Unusual Merchandise:
Pete: We have T-shirts, patches, and stickers. Not that unusual.
Variations You’d Like To Do On Any Of Your Songs:
Pete: We’re always making changes or variations to our songs.
Doug: I’m always down for autobles
Worst Experience On Tour:
Pete: Doug being really hungover.
Zach: Having the owner tell us to leave before the shooting.
Doug: This fucking parking garage in Montreal that were being super shitty to me and ended like taking 30 CAD from me and I never even got a parking spot.
X-rays Or Any Other Treatments For Band Related Injuries:.
Pete: I broke my knee in a mosh pit with Doug and had to get it x-rayed, CT scanned, and drained of 100 ccs of blood. Still played our set that night too.
Doug: I broke Pete’s knee.
Your Favourite Show You’ve Ever Played:
Pete: Psychostick.
Zach: Psychostick.
Joe: Too many to name.
Doug: We had a basement show for my 21st Birthday that was pretty wild.
Zoo Animal That Best Describes The Band:
Pete: Chimpanzee
Zach: The duck billed platypus. We’re really unique and we have venomous spurs on our heels
Joe: giraffe.
Doug: Monkeys; better keep an eye out for all the shit we are throwing your way!
EUPHORIA OF BREAKDOWN 