Interview | Lions of Dissent answer 10 Questions

Lions Of Dissent Weigh in with their 10 Answers and give some in-depth answers!

 

Where did your band name come from?

I had the name a good year before I did anything with it, it sounded like a group of freedom fighters or activists and I knew I would use it for something vital. Originally it was going to be used as a company name for film soundtracks and multimedia projects but with a combination of coincidence and fate, things changed very quickly and we ended being a full on music and art collective. We went from 1 to 7 members in under 2 years.

What made you want to get into music?

For me it is the ultimate form of artistic expression and at times it has literally saved my life. Music is all I’ve ever wanted to do. I was obsessed with the Sex Pistols at a very early age and that was it really – they were like my musical gateway drug to a whole new world that I’ve never really left.

Best venue you’ve ever played and why?

We’ve been fortunate to have played some great places, but so far I would have to pick Newhampton Arts Centre in Wolverhampton – we did our first gig there to a sell out crowd so it holds a special place. Not only that, the production values are amazing and the stage is massive which is a big help when there are seven members to fit on.

One band/artist you’d love to support?

I could pick loads for this but i’m gonna have to say Public Image Limited.

What’s the greatest love song ever written?

God Only Knows – Beach Boys

The best album that you’ve heard this year?

I really liked Noel Gallagher’s latest LP, David Holmes who produced it is probably the best producer in the world. I think he really brought the best out of Noel. I’m also really looking forward to the new Spiritualized record too and of course there’s always a great new BJM album around.

Most overrated band/artist of all time?

I don’t want the bad karma of picking someone for this so I’m gonna go most underrated if that’s ok, I’m gonna pick my old friends Exit Calm, their bass player is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

What was the last song you streamed on Spotify?

Bells and Circles from the new Underworld and Iggy Pop EP

Which three artists/bands should we be looking out for? (Musically not for Criminal Offences)

Darryl and Si from our group are working on a new project under the name ‘Roman Missile Unit’ which is definitely gonna be worth checking out.

Burning Astronomers are great songwriters, a couple of us guested on a track of there’s called ‘Red Van’, I recommend checking out the EP of the same name – it’s a great introduction to their work.

Finally I’m gonna pick Violet, I think they’re a great young band with a big future. They supported us at the back end of last year and were really good.

What do you want to accomplish next as a band?

We want to get out and play further afield, get on a few festivals next and to just keep enjoying it and keep getting better and progressing. Being in this band is a privilege for me, I couldn’t ask for better bandmates or musicians to work with.

Just would like to say thanks once again to Tim from the band for taking the 10 Questions on. Make sure you follow Lions of Dissent and listen to their debut EP What Would It Fee Like To Be Free!

Follow them! – Twitter

Debut EP – Listen Here!

‘Honey From Hell’ – Listen Here!

Interview w/ Peaness

With their gig at The Sunflower Lounge coming up in April, I managed to steal some time off Peaness member Jess to answer some questions!

First of all, last year was a very eventful year for you guys with you playing a ton of shows and supporting some amazing bands like The Big Moon & The Cribs. Which shows really stood out for you last year and why?

Hi! Thanks for getting in touch. Jess here!

Yep 2017 was pretty amazing for us and we had lots of amazing gigs, it’s difficult to narrow them down (and to recall them all!) but the shows with The Cribs were definitely a great way to end the year. We also had a couple headline shows in Manchester, the biggest being in the Soup Kitchen (which reached max capacity!) and to have so many people come and support us, especially away from home, was very special. Festival season was great last year as well, we played 2000 Trees, Truck, HANDMADE and main stage at Indietracks. To play big gigs like that really made us believe we’re actually an alright band!
I need to discuss with you about supporting The Cribs! I’m a huge fan of theirs, and when I found out you were supporting I was super excited. How did it come about? Am I right in thinking it was a last minute thing?

They literally messaged us on Twitter. Like “hey we’re the cribs wanna play some shows with us on tour? Peace”. Rach saw the message first and started freaking out in our little group chat like “GUYZ HAVE YOU SEEN TWITTER OMGOMGOMFG”. How could we refuse?

I also saw a picture of Gary Jarman wearing some very fetching Peaness gear, which was really cool to see. Did you get a chance to speak to the lads? Did they offer any advice going forward as band?

They were all super lovely and we were really glad they were so nice! You know when you meet “famous people” and sometimes you can be left disappointed because turns out they’re a dick, well absolutely none of that happened with the Jarmans. We got to hang out and eat their rider snacks, chat about bands and life being in bands, and being in a three piece band. Gary made sure he bought the tshirt as well which was a nice touch. They’re in our hearts forever.

This year has started off quite quickly for you as well, for example you supported the incredibly talented Indoor Pets for two shows, and it looks like you had a blast. What was it like supporting them? It must be so cool supporting bands that you enjoy and get on with.

Also another set of lovely people. We’re big fans of theirs and had been listening to them for ages, so to get to play a couple shows with them and hang out was awesome. I think we’re all life long friends now – at least I hope cos Jamie is an internet star and I want to be friends with an internet star.

I’m super excited that I’m getting to see you at The Sunflower Lounge in April! It’s also a headline show for you, which is even better. You’ve play the Sunflower Lounge before, what do you make of it, and are you looking forward to play there again?

We’re looking forward to returning to Birmingham, yes! Rach was born and raised in Dudley so it’s always special stopping at home towns. The sunflower lounge is quite pokey and intimate, so should be a nice atmosphere. Make sure to say hello!

You also announced a few festivals that you will be playing this year including Distortion, Sabotage and Handmade Festival! Which one are you looking forward to playing the most and why?

HANDMADE cos Indoor Pets are on the same day ❤ We’ve got a couple more to announce soon too.

Maybe it’s me being impatient, but are you guys looking to release any music by the end of year, I really enjoyed your debut EP ‘Are You Sure?’ last year but i’m craving more music!

Not telling.

On the subject of ‘Are You Sure?’ now it’s been out there for some time now, and you’ve had some time to reflect on the release, are you happy with how it’s been received? And what would you do differently for your next EP?

I think it’s done us well! We never really thought our band would come close to the level we’re at now, so we weren’t thinking about it too much at the time. For future releases however I think we’re going to take our time a bit more.

I know this is a bit out of left field. But last year was a great year for music, were there any particular albums that really stood out to you, and perhaps even any that influenced you?

It was a great year, off the top of my head a couple of my personal favourites were Andy Shauf – The Party, Alvvays – Antisocialite, and Phoenix – Ti’ Amo. But I think the state of the word influenced us more with our writing.

And in asking that, are there any albums that you’re particularly looking forward to this year?

New Courtney Barnett record, fo’ sure.

With us being 3 months into 2018, what will make this year a successful year for Peaness? What would you like to accomplish by the end of the year?

Write some banging new tunes.

Thanks so much for taking the time out Jess to answer these questions! You can buy tickets to all of Peaness’ upcoming shows in the links below, they’re all over the place so there should be one near you!

SEE PEANESS LIVE !!

April

7th – Soup Kitchen – Manchester – Tickets

20th – Louisiana – Bristol – Tickets

21st – Green Door Store/Distortion Fest – Tickets

24th – The Sunflower Lounge – **HEADLINE SHOW** – Birmingham – Tickets

28th – Night & Day/ Sabotage Fest – Manchester – Tickets

May

5th – O2 Academy/Handmade Fest – Leicester – Tickets

6th – Sound City – Liverpool – Tickets

7th – The Lexington – London – Tickets

8th – The Belgrave Music Hall – Leeds – Tickets

9th – The Lanes – Bristol – Tickets

10th – Central Station/Focus Wales – Wrexham – Tickets

11th – Cumberland Arms – Newcastle – Tickets

19th – The Great Escape Festival – Brighton – Tickets

27th – Alexander’s – Chester – Tickets

 

Interview W/ Courtyards

Alright guys, thanks for taking the time out to complete this interview. I understand what a busy bunch of lads you have been lately, so it’s a much appreciated you doing this!

First off lets start with your brand new track ‘Hear You Call’, you wasted no time really to get this track released so early in the year. Was that always the plan for this track? I’ll be honest, it’s great to hear bands start the year off early.

We really wanted to hit the ground running this year. We’ve had Hear You Call recorded for what seems like forever and definitely wanted to get it out earlier, but now just feels like the right time now to start the year off with new music and now we have the music video polished off.

The song has a really large anthemic sound to it, which is what I also get from your earlier releases in 2017 with ‘Everything’ and ‘Firelight’. Where do you draw your influences from as a band, also which albums really inspired your sound?

I think we all draw from different individual influences which is what creates our sound. One of our main drives is creating songs with an immersive atmosphere.

Bands like Grouplove, Catfish & the Bottlemen, Young the Giant and Amber Run contribute to our influences, among many others. Grouplove’s Big Mess is a great album, inspiring some of our riffs and hooks. YTG’s Mind Over Matter probably influenced our song textures, inspired us to be more creative with instrumentation, effects & harmonies.

How do you find it going in to the studio to record? Because it can be quite a tiring process when you can’t seem to get the sound you want. Also where do you record your tracks, is it several studios or do you have one go to studio?

It can be a draining process getting everything tracked in one day definitely, but we love it. The studio is our favourite place to be. The excitement when we see a track coming together compares to nothing else, we’re all like kids at Christmas. Sometimes we can go in with one idea for a track and it come out completely different for the better. We always record with Sugar House studios, the guys there are magicians of production and we really value their input as we work through the recording process.

Also I found out you guys will be playing Live at Leeds this year which must be a big thing for you lads as it’s giving you the chance to play alongside bands like Peace and Circa Waves! How did this come about? And who are you looking forward to play alongside?

Yeah, we’re pretty buzzing about that one to be honest! We’ve played smaller festivals before but this is our first bigger festival with a lineup that’s absolutely insane too.

As well as the headliners, we’re looking forward to seeing Blaenavon, High Tyde, Sunset Sons, BLOXX, Cassia, Ten Tonnes & our pal Martha Phillips from The Elephant Trees. We recently played with Sea Girls too who are also on the lineup, class band.

Yorkshire is a great place for music, my favourite band of all time The Cribs are from round that area as well as some others. Do you have any particular favourite bands to come out of Yorkshire?

Yorkshire is wonderful. There’s the obvious choice of Arctic Monkeys but they just can’t be denied, can they? One of our favourite upcoming bands Marsicans are from Leeds I think.

Yorkshire is also home to so many great venues, one of course being the Brudenell, which other venues really stick out for you guys up there, any that you particularly love playing?

Yeah Yorkshire definitely has some lovely venues scattered about. The Picturedrome in Holmfirth is probably the biggest we’ve played and it’s amazing. We also love The Wardrobe in Leeds, West Street Live in Sheffield and The Parish in our hometown of sunny Huddersfield.

I also know that the Yorkshire music scene is doing well at the moment, which acts do you think will be looking to perhaps break out this year, and who would you suggest to keep our eye on?

Well, Marsicans for one, recently playing Maida Vale and releasing tune after tune. Huddersfield pals Mahatma Raindrop and Leeds band Peace Frog are definitely worth a look at.

With 2018 in full swing, and being in a band it doesn’t offer a lot of opportunities to stop and look back as you’ve got to be constantly moving forward. What are you looking to accomplish this year, and what would make it a successful one?

This year we want to focus on reaching new people and new places so we can carry on getting our music out there. We’ll hopefully have the chance to tour up and down the country a lot more. We’ve got another track recorded ready to be released later in the year to finalise into our debut EP, and were working on new songs that we’re really excited about and can’t wait to start implementing into our live set.

Thanks for taking part in the interview guys, I know 2018 will be another good year for you lads! Hopefully will get to see you live at some point!

Thanks very much man, see you soon!

 

Interview w/ Peach Club

So 2017 was a busy year for you lot, of course with gigging and getting your EP ‘Cherry Baby’ ready. How long did the Cherry Baby take to record and how did you find the recording process?

Becca: We took 2 days to record it and it was so fun spending it with everyone, especially because we could take a quick swim in the pool then laze around and carry on recording!

Charlie: We had a day of playing over and over and over and then the next day was mainly mixing and mastering! It was so much fun being in a studio with all this kit that we wouldn’t be able to afford ourselves. I was like a kid in a toyshop.

What influences did you take in with you when going to record the EP, or did you go in with a complete blank canvas and do you own thing?

Charlie: We went into the studio with the songs already written and rehearsed. We write and collect songs over the course of a year and then when we felt ready to go and put them down thats exactly what we did.

Kat: Yeah we had everything prepared and just played them like we would play them live!

On any Album or EP there’s always a stand out song on there, which one do you think will shine out the brightest?

Becca: ‘Oh My God’ is a bit of crazy song and I think it’s likely to go down well with our listeners!

Charlie: ‘Death Becomes Her’ is something a bit heavier than what we normally put out there, its a really fun song to play but I think shines because its different for us.

Kat: Yeah I love ‘Death Becomes Her’ because it was hugely inspired by Black Sabbath and I feel like Ozzy when we perform it.

Shortly after the EP release you have your first gig of the year in Birmingham the wonderful Sunflower Lounge! Have you guys played there before, and if not what are you expecting?

Becca: We haven’t played in Birmingham before so we are really excited for it! We’d love to see a good turn out with the amount of people who come!

Kat: Yeah, I’ve never even been to Birmingham before! I’ve heard nothing but good things about The Sunflower Lounge so I’m super excited to see it.

The Sunflower Lounge is a really small venue which I prefer as a setting for any band, do you prefer the small shows or slightly bigger venues?

Becca: I personally love the smaller venues, and ones without stages too because it feels like your enjoying the music with the audience more.

Charlie: Smaller venues are definitely more personal and its lovely to see people, especially ones you know, enjoying your music but we’d love to give bigger venues a go!

You played a fair few shows last year, including the one at Norwich Arts Centre, are there any other than stand out in your minds?

Becca: Supporting Nova Twins at Camden Assembly was so much fun because of how much the crowd were loving it, and singing to ‘Mission Impossible’.

Kat: Agreed, there were so many people dancing in the crowd and the people at the venue and Nova Twins themselves were so kind to us.

And are there any venues you’d love to go back to?

Becca: I’d love to go back to Camden again, or the Hope And Anchor.

Charlie: Moth Club! We had such an amazing night there just having a dance with some lovely people.

The Norwich Arts Centre show was for the C-Red Event supporting the Labour Party, how did that come about and what was it like?

Charlie: We were approached by the C-Red team and asked to headline the event which we were more than happy to do as Labour supporters.

Becca: It was brilliant because everyone was there for the same reason as us, supporting the Labour Party and to share our political views, it felt extremely purposeful.

Kat: My mother is disabled and I spoke about her through the set and a man came up to me after and had a breakdown and said he felt the exact same as me and that it was inspiring to see us. It was incredibly touching and powerful.

You also had support from Black Shuk that night, which I’ve heard bits of. Are there any support acts you’ve really enjoyed playing with this last year, or anyone you’d like to do a show with?

Becca: Headlining the Owl Sanctuary in our hometown Norwich was a great night because of the local bands which joined us, it felt very homely, and all the people we knew who came along. I absolutely loved supporting Trash Talk a while ago in Norwich.

Sorry to go off topic but I love asking this question, what were your favourite records in 2017!? I’m compiling a sort of league table, so just want to see who comes out on top at the end.

Becca: I can’t stop listening to Exit Order’s album ‘Seed Of Hysteria’, and OCS ‘Memory of a Cut off Head’ is brilliant.

Charlie: ‘Bambino’ from Superfood is definitely a favourite from last year and Brockhampton’s Saturation trilogy was amazing.

Kat: Definitely St Vincent’s MASSEDUCTION or Lorde’s Melodrama!

2018, the EP is coming out and I’m sure you have a lot of gigging ahead so I guess 2018 is all planned out for you. Or is there other things in the pipeline this Year?

Charlie: We have a fair amount planned for the beginning of 2018 but we’re always looking to do more and definitely visit new cities!

Becca: We are quite addicted to getting lots of merchandise at the moment and I think this year we’ll build up a super big collection.

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview, I understand how busy you all must be with the promotion of the EP, all the best for 2018, you are firmly on our radar!

Interview conducted by Alex wise @AJWise

 

Interview with Remo Drive!

Photo by Trevor Sweeney

With their debut album out in full swing, Remo Drive have been making a name for themselves with their release of Greatest Hits. It’s inspiring to see the amount of attention the band has received since then, so we managed to catch up with them earlier in the week to find out exactly how the record was made and where the band are looking to take this momentum!

So glad you guys accepted to take the interview, I cannot believe I hadn’t heard more of the band! So where did it all start?

Thanks for asking us! We started in 2014 in Bloomington, MN. Stephen and I are brothers so we’ve been playing together for years. Sam eventually joined us. We wrote a lot of music and stuff between then and now but here we are!

I really enjoyed the album, and I’m sure I saw on one of your tweets that it was recorded in someones basement, is that true? Did you find it difficult recording there?

We recorded it in my parents living room/ basement/ my bedroom. It was difficult in some respects but also a lot more comfortable for us. We’ve never been in a real studio setting so recording at home was really nice for us.

I love the sound that you achieved on the album, what sort of equipment were you guys using? Was there a particular sound you were trying to get to?
Thank you! I’ll just do a little bullet point list for each instrument:
Guitar Gear:

-PureSalem Jimmy
-Fender MIJ Jazzmaster
-Mesa f100
-Earthquaker Dunes and Dirt Transmitter
-Hall of Fame reverb
-Hardwire Delay

Bass Gear:
-Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass
-Orange Bass Terror through a 4×10 and 1×15
-Sans Amp Bass Driver
-ZVex Basstortion

Drums:
-Infinity Drumworks Kit
-Meinl Cymbals

Recording:
-Focusrite Saffire Interface
-A lot of mics (mostly dynamic)

What are some of the influences that you took into the album?

We listen to all sorts of music! For Remo Drive’s writing we love Jeff Rosenstock, PUP, Vampire Weekend, and Weezer.

The album is pretty stacked with songs, how long was the album in production, how long have you been working on it?

We wrote from March of 2016 to July of 2016. We began recording in late July and finished right before we left for a tour in early August. The instrumentals were recorded pretty quickly. I did the vocals in October over the course of a week or two.

Is there a song on the album that you’re particularly proud of, and why?

Name Brand. I think that song signals the direction we will be heading with future music of ours. It is the most complex song on the record and loads of fun to play!

You guys started to get a bit of a buzz with the release of ‘Yer Killin me‘, did you have a feeling the album was going to be as well received as that track?

I was worried from the moment that we started getting buzz that people would be disappointed by the album. I’m not really sure why I felt that way (if seems kind of silly in retrospect). I think I was worried that people would expect all the songs to sound like that.

How are you guys going to capitalize on this momentum you’ve gained through the release of the album?

We’re hoping to tour and continue to make videos! I hope we continue getting reviews and interviews like this as well.

Which venues are you looking forward to playing? also is there a possisbility of coming over to the UK?

We just announced a show with Sorority Noise and The Obsessives in Chicago! I did some research on the venue and I think that’s the biggest place we’ll have ever played; I’m so excited! I hope we make it over to the UK but as of now we don’t have the resources.

I know it may be too soon to ask, but when can we expect the next release from the band and will it be another step in this direction, or do you think you may try something different?

I’m not sure when we’ll have another record ready but we’ve been writing since we finished recording Greatest Hits. I think it sounds different in a really good way. We want to preserve the energy of Greatest Hits but come at it from a different direction.

Thanks so much for answering the questions guys!

Thanks for asking! we appreciate it!

10 Question for The Americas!

 

Ahead of their UK tour that’s taking place in March, I got to interview up an coming Birmingham Band The Americas for the very first time on this site. After listening to their music I really got a feel for the sound they were developing and had to know where it came from, so they took on the 10 Questions!

1)First things first how did you come to be?

Me and Harry met a couple of years ago… I’d just got back to the UK after living in Sydney for a year or so and was looking for like-minded musicians to play with… We started writing and demoing songs… We played with a whole bunch of different people before we finally found Alex and settled as a three-piece.
2)What genre of music would you say you play?

Genre is always hard to answer… Thin wild mercury, metallic and bright gold!
3) Which bands/artists do you take influences from?

People with interesting things to say… The more believable the better… We don’t listen to beautiful people… They tend to make ugly music…
If you crashed one of our parties you’d probably hear a lot of late 60s early 70s stuff…

4) Best venue you’ve ever played and why?

02 Academy main room in Birmingham blew our little minds
5) Best gig you’ve ever attended?

Alex: A toss up between Tame Impala in Amsterdam and Arcade Fire in Lisbon last summer…
I’m going to speak for Harry (because he’s not here) … We both saw The War on Drugs in Barcelona… The Mediterranean at our backs… Sunset… Oh man sweet deathbed memories.
6)A band you would most like to support and why?

Courtney Barnett? She’s fantastic.
7) A band that you would like to work with?

Daniel Lanois.
8) Top five albums you’ve ever heard?

What a question… Here are some good albums we dig
Aaron:
Takk (Sigur Ros)
Time Out of Mind (Bobby)
The Suburbs (Arcade Fire)
Crime of the Century (Super Tramp)
Trouble Will Find Me (The National) 

Alex:
Exile on Mainstreet (Stones)
Do Hollywood (Lemon Twigs)
Hills End (DMAs)

Comfort (Splashh)

Is This It (Strokes)

Harry (again making these up):

Anything by Neil Young

Anything by any of those blues men who sold their souls to the devil…

Spice girls

JLS

McBusted

9) Biggest accomplishment as a band/solo artist?

Completing these 10 questions…

10) What’s next in the pipeline?

This..

 

Thankyou guys for taking on the 10 questions, really appreciate it cannot wait to hear some new music!

10 Questions for PEANESS!

 

Photo Taken By Debbie Ellis

In the middle of their very busy touring schedule Peaness found the time to answer the 10 questions! Also there’s only a few dates left of the tour so if they’re round your area, make sure you get down!

1) First things first how did the band start?

We met at uni and started messing around in Rach’s room, enjoying making a bit of noise. 

2) What genre of music would you say you play?

It’s a hard one, but probably indie-slow-punk-fuzz-Pop. Haha. 

3) Which bands/artists do you take influences from? 

Recently we all love:

Margaret Glaspy, Courtney Barnett, The Beatles, Death From Above 1979, Biffy Clyro, First Aid Kit, Mew, Andy Shauf, Pixies. 

4) Best venue you’ve ever played and why?

Telfords Warehouse, Chester. It’s always great playing a home show, and it’s always insane when we play there. The staff are all lovely, you get treated amazingly and it’s just an all round great venue.

5) Best gig you’ve ever attended?

We all go to a lot of gigs but:

Balla: Tame Impala, Manchester Arena, 2016. Rach: Green Day, Birmingham LG Arena, 2009. Jess: Andy Shauf, The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool, 2016. 

6) A band you would most like to support and why?

Biffy Clyro, because three pieces rock. 

7) A band that you would like to work with?

We’re pretty happy with the dynamic we’ve got going on with just the three of us. 

8) Top five albums you’ve ever heard?

Honestly, we all just sighed when I read this question out haha. 

Machine Head – Through The Ashes of Empires

Spice Girls – Spice up your life.Five – Greatest Hits

My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the black parade

Dream Theatre – Images and Words. 

9) Biggest accomplishment as a band artist?

When we sold out of our latest 7″ on pre-order alone in 2 days. 

10) What’s next in the pipeline?

Wembley bitches. 

Thanks Peaness for taking on the 10 Questions!