KILIMANJARO & TRIPLE G BY ARR ANGEMENT WITH X-R AY TOURING PRESENTS
FEBRUARY 17 MANCHESTER O 2 RITZ 18 GLASGOW O 2 ABC 20 BRISTOL O 2 ACADEMY 21 BIRMINGHAM O 2 INSTITUTE 23 NORWICH UEA 24 LONDON O 2 FORUM MYTICKET.CO.UK / SEETICKETS.COM
THE NEW ALBUM
ALL THESE COUNTLESS NIGHTS OUT 27.01.17 VISI T
/DE AFHAVANA
WWW.DEAFHAVANAOFFICIAL.COM
PRE ORDER AT ITUNES FOR A LIMITED OFFER OF £5.99 OR GET EXCLUSIVE BUNDLE OFFERS ON CD / VINYL / CASSETTE FOR MORE INFO
EDITOR’S NOTE upsetmagazine.com Editor: Stephen Ackroyd (stephen@upsetmagazine.com) Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden (viki@upsetmagazine.com) Assistant Editor: Ali Shutler (ali@upsetmagazine.com) Contributors: Corinne Cumming, Danny Randon, Emma Swann, Heather McDaid, Jack Glasscock, Jasleen Dhindsa, Kristy Diaz, Martyn Young, Phil Smithies, Sam Taylor, Sammy Maine, Sarah Louise Bennett, Steven Loftin All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Upset or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally. P U B L I S H E D F RO M
THE BUNKER W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M
IN THIS ISSUE... RIOT! 4 E N T E R S H I K A RI 8 K EV I N D EV I N E
26 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 28 SWMRS 30 MOOSE BLOOD
ABOUT TO
22 MILK TEETH
BREAK
34 TRACK OF THE
12 FANGCLUB
YEAR 36 B L AC K FOX X ES
FEATURES
38 TO N I G H T A L I V E
14 AGAINST THE
40 B L I N K -182
CURRENT
42 READERS’ POLL
22 PANIC! AT THE
44 BRING ME THE
DISCO
HORIZON
24 MUNCIE G IRLS
45 PIERCE THE VEIL
And so, the end is near. Of the year, obviously - though to be fair, it’d be typical of 2016 to spring a December apocalypse on us. If it did, at least the last twelve months will have had some kind of silver lining before it all comes to a halt. This month we’re blasting through the very best of it, with interviews with a plethora of megastars and Upset faves. From cover stars Against The Current and their neon pop-rock buzz fest, through to Panic! At The Disco, Blink-182, Moose Blood, SWMRS and loads more - all the stars are out. There’s also our Albums of the Year run through (statistically proven to be correct, so no arguing), and a multitude of other goodies. 2017, we’re ready for you. x
S
RIOT ING IN ROCK E V E RY T H I N G H A P P E N
TAKE TO THE STAGE SL A M DU N K 2017 - A N D IT’S N OT J UST A N Y E N T E R S H I K A R I A R E T O P P I N G T H E B I L L AT ... WORDS: STEVEN LOFTIN. G N I AY L P E R ’ Y E H T T E S D OL
A
s the 2017 festival announcements come in thick and fast, Slam Dunk has revealed its first headliner: Enter Shikari. This bill-topping slot not only stands as their first ever full band set at the festival, but it also falls on the tenth anniversary of debut album ‘Take To The Skies’. “The first year we went we DJ’d, and this was… you know what, I don’t even know what year it was!” says Rou Reynolds, embarking on a hazy trip down memory lane. “It was way back, it must’ve been one of the first years. We just DJ’d one of the little side bars, there weren’t half as many stages as they have now.” Slam Dunk certainly has grown, starting out as a one-stage affair in Leeds’ Millennium Square, it now takes over three different venues across the North (Leeds), Midlands (Birmingham) and South (Hatfield). It was this year the band’s DJ alter ego, Shikari Sound System headlined the Uprawr DJ Stage and now they’re returning to bring the full Shikari party. “It’ll be very much a celebration,” Rou continues. “I’m really looking forward to playing the tracks again. ‘Today Won’t Go Down In History’, we’ve actually never played that live so we’re definitely going to bust that out!” On those tracks, he also offers some personal insight: “It’s crazy. Some of those songs we’d been playing for a couple of years even before we went into a studio, so some of them were written when I was 16/17. It brings back floods of memories; be it touring or just more personal life around that time. It’s crazy how much music has the power to do that.”
SLAM DUNK 2017 On the bill: Enter Shikari, Don Broco (UK festival exclusive), Bowling For Soup, Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, We The Kings, Cute Is What We Aim For. Dates: Slam Dunk Midlands, Birmingham (27th May) / Slam Dunk North, Leeds (28th May) / Slam Dunk South, Hatfield (29th May).
“It’s mad,” he continues. “I never thought we’d still be doing this. I actually haven’t really revisited it since we brought it out. It was a bit of a rushed album. At the time I had problems with my vocal nodules, which was pretty scary, so I actually hate my voice on it. I can’t stand it so I don’t really listen to it, but musically I love it.” With this anniversary approaching, it’s given both Rou and the band a chance to take stock of what they’ve done and what it’s given them. Some would assume that due to their longevity, Enter Shikari have always had their sights set on being in this for the long
THE BEST OF
2016 Running
14 upsetmagazine.com
Wild
From digital sensations to real world heroes - in 2016, Against The Current arrived. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
15
F
rom the outside looking in, Against The Current are such a confusing band,” admits Chrissy Costanza. “We started on YouTube, and we did all these covers, but we also did so many tours, and we played Download Festival, but then we also play in Asia all the time. ‘What is going on with this band?’” she asks, not entirely knowing the answer. “It must be very confusing for a lot of people. It’s confusing for me, but we just do it.” If you take the little things that make up Against The Current and look at them in isolation, they shouldn’t fit. Three kids from outside Poughkeepsie, New York building an online community around the idea of being your true self, a band who toured the world twice with nothing but a couple of self-released EPs, a group with a fiercely independent vision who have signed to Fueled By Ramen and are distinct individuals. They want to mean something to kids, and they want parents to like them. There are big songs and bigger dreams; milestones come thick and fast, but ATC aren’t following anyone else’s path. Maybe it’s a revolution, maybe it’s the new sound, maybe it’s just beginners luck. However intricately you want to look at the pieces, though, it’s impossible to ignore just how well it all comes together. There’s something about Dan Gow, Will Ferri and Chrissy that just works. Against The Current makes a weird sort of sense and that’s just fine. “We don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about it,” continues Chrissy. “We didn’t sit around before Download saying, ‘Hey, is this going to be the wrong look for us? Are people going to all of a sudden think we’re something that we’re not? Are people going to think we’re more rock than we are?’ No, none of that matters. We got a cool offer to do something fun, so we took it.” It’s how Against The Current run. Heart first, excitement in sight. “It doesn’t matter if we describe ourselves as underwater-symphonicmetal-alternative-nu-wave,” laughs Chrissy, adding words one at a time. “Whatever you want to describe it as, it
16 upsetmagazine.com
doesn’t matter. It should just matter if you listen to it and like it or you don’t. People get so hung up on genre, but we don’t care what you classify us as. We don’t care what our genre is. We don’t want to close ourselves in too hard. We just want to make our music, and we just want to play our music to other people.” It’s a simple dream for a band who are so comfortable wanting to be the biggest but it’s the motivation behind everything they do. Forming back in 2011 after Dan and Will, who had been friends since they were eight, were introduced to Chrissy and the band they’d been struggling to make sense, made sense. Still in school, the group played a couple of local Battle of the Bands contests, as you do, before using the internet instead of dive-bar support slots to get their music out. Weekends were spent round each other’s houses, building, practising and finding their path. Their ‘Infinity’ EP came in 2014, ‘Gravity’ in 2015 and this year saw the band’s debut album ‘In Our Bones’ released unto the world. There’s no rest for the wicked. There’s also no rest for those with dreams to chase. Years ago, a careers teacher told Dan that he and Will couldn’t do music. It wasn’t going to work out. They’d have to find something else. “That’s such a typical example,” admits Dan. Luckily, the band have always kept a very close circle of people around them, so the naysayers have become few and far between. However, “When we were having early discussions with other labels before we signed with FBR, there were people who would say things like, ‘We could do this with the band’ or ‘We could do that’.” The response was simple: “Why? Why can’t we just do what we’re doing with the band? I’ve also had people imply, ‘How long do you think you’re going to do this music thing for?’ What do you mean this music thing? What do you mean how long? It’s my job. It’s my career. This isn’t a hobby to me; this is my life. I don’t think people understand, especially when you’re looking at it and it’s not massive yet. People don’t understand it when it’s just starting out. People forget that they had to go to law school; they had to pass the Bar. We don’t just come out and get famous and be this big band. We have to start from the bottom and work our way up, but I plan on getting there.”
“It’s definitely an unpredictable life path, so it makes sense,” offers Will. “But we have a lot of reasons to take it.” Against The Current have been reaching for the stars since the start, but 2016 has seen them become brighter. There’s confidence to the band, a self-acceptance and a knowing that they’re going to make it and they’re going to make it their way. “I don’t know if we were always confident, but we definitely liked to give off that aura,” laughs Will. “You gotta own it,” grins Dan. “I was terrified of walking out at Download, but you have to own it. They’ll see right through you if you don’t.” “On stage, I’ve always felt comfortable with myself but the further we get into this and the more shows we play, I’m discovering who I am more and more,” admits Chrissy. “Just having that knowledge makes me even more comfortable with being myself. I think that’s something everyone can understand, that feeling of self-discovery and that feeling of confidence coming from understanding yourself a little bit better every day.” Ask any of Dan, Will or Chrissy to reflect on the past twelve months and they’ll struggle to find an answer. It’s been relentless. So much has happened, and they’ve not had a chance to sit down and process it all. “I know it’s been a big year for us, but I haven’t been able to look at it in hindsight because we’re still doing it.” There’s a feeling of pride. Of achievement. “You get lost in it when you’re on tour, but when you’re sitting at home in the bedroom that you grew up in, in your hometown and nobody is around ‘cos they’re still in school or working you step back and remember ‘Well, we did that,” reflects Will. “Walking out on stage at Shepherd’s Bush was amazing. It’s moments like that where we realise ‘Wow, this is actually happening’,” smiles Dan. It’s in those moments a light goes on. “This is more than we’ve ever done before.” The band’s debut album ‘In Our Bones’ is the very definition of more. Distinctly ATC but dialled up, stripped back and amplified in every way imaginable, it captures a band with a world before their feet and in their lungs. Pushing them out of their
comfort zone and pulling other people in, the days, weeks and months after its release saw everything got bigger. The band made a new sort of sense. “We expected a little more negative feedback than we got. I don’t want to say no I’m not surprised [by the reaction] because it sounds cocky and douchey, but at the same time…” starts Chrissy, before pausing. “I think what it is, I’m very grateful for the reaction. We are so thankful that it’s been so positive but at the same time, we worked so hard on this record, and we’re such perfectionists. It’s so hard for us to take our hands off of anything and put it out in the world unless we think it’s perfect, so for us to step back and put it out there... We’re our biggest critics, so if we like it, we hope that everyone else will too. If people didn’t like it, I think I’d be really upset. We never think something’s awesome just because it’s our song. We’re very realistic, sometimes almost pessimistic, with our sound. We want it to be better. We’re always trying so hard to make sure that we’re putting out the best reflection of something that we really put ourselves into, instead of just half-assing anything.” Mind, body and soul, Against The Current’s debut album takes it all in. Every track, from the knee-scraping bounce of ‘Running With The Wild Things’, to the solemn reflect of ‘Demons’, hits hard. ‘In Our Bones’ swings with a twelve-for-twelve banger average and those things don’t
THE BEST OF
2016 “People
get so
hung up on
genre, but
we don’t
care.” 17
THE BEST OF
2016
SWMRS
They dropped one of the albums of the year, then signed to one of the best labels in the world. 2016 has been alright for SWMRS. WORDS: STEVEN LOFTIN. PHOTO: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
O
ne of 2016’s biggest success stories came in the form of California punks SWMRS. No only did they release their debut album independently, they were soon picked up by pop punk monolith Fueled By Ramen. This was certainly their year, with ‘Drive North’ marking the beginning of a new journey for the band. Having just wrapped up an extensive worldwide tour, frontman Cole Becker reflects on this year, their debut - and Oasis.
kind of where we come from. Some people keep commenting like, “Oh you guys are like sell outs - I can’t believe you have a song about selling out but then you sold out,” but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about not waiting for that kind of push. The reason we established the idea of do it yourself is because we know there’s a lot of kids who want to do things, to create things, that listen to our band and they’re waiting for someone to tell them to go. They need someone to tell them to go now instead of later.
So tell us about your year. You put out ‘Drive North’, and then re-released it after signing to Fueled By Ramen? It’s been awesome… we were lucky because they wanted to re-release it so we kind of got to breathe some new life into the tour cycle and now we can stay out longer, play more shows play bigger shows because they keep growing which is really cool. They’ve [FBR] been so cool and they really care about music.
Going for it has definitely worked well for you. I mean, there’s a stigma attached to a band that do want to turn it into their life I think. We just know so many people who live or die by it by doing it for pure love, the difference is we
What does it mean to have found FBR, it must’ve been a confidence booster? It’s good to have that reassurance that we’ve done something right, you know? But then the process is going to remain exactly the same as we approach this next one because we don’t want to readjust who we are and our standards of music because now we don’t want to approach it like, “Oh we’re a major label band so we’ve got to think differently”. It’s like, we’re still going to do our thing, but it’s nice to have that confidence boost for sure. It’s a nice thing to have, it’s cool that they understand where we’re coming from and the kind of things we want to do. What does ‘Drive North’ mean to SWMRS as a band? For us, it just means don’t wait for anybody. Do it now and do it for yourself and nobody else, that’s kind of what ‘Drive North’ is about. We don’t actually hate Los Angeles, it’s just about kids in a bunch of places who are like, “Our lives are going to start once we get the fuck out of here and move to LA and NY.” The reality is, start the life now. You don’t have to wait for anyone, just do it. That’s an ethos that’s certainly rich in ‘Drive North’, how does this new success affect the working of the band? We’re not by any means a “real” DIY band, just all the shows we played, we cut our teeth in that world and that’s
“ YO U D O N ’ T H AV E T O WA I T F O R A N YO N E , J U S T D O I T. ”
treat this equal parts love and this is our craft, this is our career. If we take it very seriously and think the music we make isn’t always meant to be put out there for free, some people go for quantity and we try to do a small amount of like really tediously crafted music, you know? The thing is there is no better feeling than playing to a full room of people and the best way to do that is to take it really seriously and make it your life. Where did the inspiration come from to throw everything into ‘Drive North’ as SWMRS’ starting point? I think it kind of runs parallel with Oasis being big in the States again. We all had our Oasis phase when we were like nineteen and when we heard ‘Definitely Maybe’ for the first time we were like, “Damn, so that’s what a first album should be.” You should come out firing, so that’s when we were like, “We’re definitely starting a new project.” There’s that really funny Noel Gallagher quote: “You know, people always talk shit on me for being so
arrogant and not giving respect to like Paul Weller or Mick Jagger, but the truth is, I know all these other British bastards personally and I wrote the best first album.” That’s certainly one hell of an album to set as inspiration. Didn’t that add pressure to what you were doing? The cool thing is like, we do this because we love it and it wasn’t pressured, we were ready. We were ready to do something that we took seriously and that’s where the album came together. We didn’t pressure ourselves into writing songs too much. It helped to have Zac [Carper from FIDLAR produce] because he helped us differentiate which ones we were gonna put out there in the universe forever, and that was really cool. It didn’t feel like pressure as much as it did excitement. With the tours being extended, has that taken a toll on you guys yet? I still haven’t got sick of any of the songs yet and it’s been almost a year, which, I have a very short attention span so I’m really very proud of that. Even after 175 shows this year, it still feels really magical to get up there and play these songs with my best friends. We’re all really serious about our instruments and stuff but we don’t like to add pressure on ourselves because that stifles creativity. I’m really proud of how we approached it. You’re over in the UK early next year with All Time Low, how’s the SWMRS reception been here? People are like insane about music there, I love that. People are really passionate fans of everything. It’s cool to see how there’s just a different identity to British people when it comes to enjoying music, like they go crazy, and it translates over too, like when they watch rap shows, we saw BBK at Reading Festival and that was probably the most punk show I’ve ever been to in my life, it was so cool. I like that it seems that it’s giving a voice to a lot of people who weren’t like a big part of older British culture, you know? I really think that’s cool and I think that’s something that’s really important to have, in the same way, hip-hop did that in the 80s/90s. Absolutely. What does the future look like for you guys? I don’t know. You never know where creativity will take you, and to see how the last two years of us translates in the studio. P 29
THE BEST OF
2016
Milk Teeth
Upset’s first cover stars of the year have delivered, but they’re not sitting back now. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER. PHOTO: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
T
he road to ‘Vile Child’ was an uphill struggle. People left, doubts were had, but Milk Teeth never said die. “It’s been the craziest year to date,” grins Becky Blomfield, coffee in hand and looking back over the past twelve months. “It’s been nice to see lots of the world, see lots of people, and have an actual album out. It feels like we’ve been waiting for it for so long, so it was cool to have a solid set and be stoked to go out and play new music. It’s still such a baby band, but it’s grown massively.” Back in January, Milk Teeth were preparing for a tour with Tonight Alive, and they all shared a feeling of “we don’t know what the fuck we’re doing.” Now they’re at the tail end of the year, about to head out on a tour with Against Me! and it feels right. “I wouldn’t say it’s been plain sailing, it’s been great to have the opportunities, but there are times where we’ve wanted to kill each other because we were on tour for five months straight.” Surviving the tour, the band are now an even stronger unit. “I’ve seen Chris, Oli and Billy more this year than I’ve seen my family,” laughs Becky, but the group, missing each other when they’re not on tour, are like a family all of their own. “You learn to appreciate the people you’re around. We were thrust into this like, ‘Okay, you’re now legit doing this’. It was a hell of a lot to take in. There was an adjustment period, but we now know it’s what we want to do.” No doubts. Since ‘Kabuki’ and the headline tour, so many kids have come up to me after shows and spoken to me about mental health. You do want people to see it as less of a taboo. If I can publicly expose my more human side, then maybe that might help some other people feel
more comfortable.” The past year has taught Becky that “this has a purpose bigger than just
“IT’S BEEN THE CRAZIEST YEAR.” me selfishly writing songs to deal with my shit. I think that’s made me grow up quite a lot. It is nice to talk to people through music; you’ve got that instant connection. You get to know strangers, and they become your friends, which shows what music can do.” “It’s just encouraging people to have a voice. Our generation has been so downtrodden, and that’s half the reason people don’t vote because they feel like, well, what can I do? I want people to be like what CAN I do. I don’t want us to be seen as that band where the other stuff takes away from the music; I just want to use the music as a platform. We talk about it ‘cause we care about it, and we’re in a position where people may pay attention to what we’re saying. We’re just trying to encourage people to be accepting of everyone.” “To think that people have been sat at home listening to our record is so strange because to me, that’s just what I do with other bands,” she laughs. “I’ll
buy whoever’s CD and listen to that in my room. You don’t think of that happening to you. It’s a weird concept, but amazing. I try not to think about it though because it might drive me a little crazy.” As well as connecting to strangers, Milk Teeth have played shows with some of their favourite ever bands this year. It’s situations like that where they “feel super lucky. I’m never complacent about that. I’m always trying to level down my excitement, so I don’t look like a complete nerd. I’ve still got the excitement.” That excitement carries over to new material. Album number two is written, and the band are “in the process of making changes and trying to get them to be the best songs they can be.” The relentless tour schedule has influenced the new record in part “but because touring is something a small number of people get to do, I’ve tried to broaden it. I don’t want to isolate anyone. There’s a lot of personal stuff on there, I’ve had relationships start, and I’ve come out of relationships while I’ve been on tour,” so there are songs inspired by that. There’s a fullon love song, capturing that ultimate gooey phase and the whole thing still feels “like a diary.” “We always want to be better. We’ll watch other bands, and we’ll ask, what are we missing, what is not in our live show, what can we do to improve this and we’re constantly thinking about the next step. That’s so important. Nothing’s ever good enough. Not in an ignorant way, we appreciate everything, but once you’ve reached a level, you should be shooting for the next. That work ethic keeps us ticking along. As soon as you think you’re the best band on the planet, you’ve fucked it.” P 33
T
wenty sixteen has been quite the year for Black Foxxes. Having released debut album ‘I’m Not Well’ in August, which was received to mass acclaim, they’ve suddenly found the future is looking a whole lot more promising. With a sound that has an earnest but unapologetic savagery, Black Foxxes are more than in control of their fate. Mark Holley talks us through their year, including stand-out moments, not being a “cool” band and what the future looks like. So Mark, how’s your year been? It’s been really good! Obviously, this is the year that the album came out so it’s all been gearing up to that. We’ve done pretty much all the major UK festivals as well as going over to America which was huge for us as a band. It’s set us up for the bigger stuff next year, we’ve done everything, and more than we intended to, but with things progressing so quickly behind the scenes it’s more planning for next year. It’s quite nice because we have November and December off now to chill then we’re going to write as much of a new record as we can and use that time wisely before we come back stronger with everything in January. What are your stand out moments? The NME / Radio 1 Stage at Reading & Leeds was a really big one, we did it the year before on the Lock Up Stage and we said it’d be nice to go up to the bigger stages, which we did within a year. And just having the album out. We’ve all been in bands before, we’ve all experienced touring and day to day band life so none of that was new, but having a record in a shop was. That was quite a surreal feeling, it was something that we all felt really proud of at that moment. It’s quite a daunting and terrifying thing, having your album come out to the world, because we were quite stoked on that album, especially given its content - it’s a really important record. Just being able to go to HMV and pick up your own album is such a cool feeling. It certainly gives you the tangibility of something you’ve worked on. Yeah, and I think as well, this industry is all talk half the time. Sometimes when you’re touring it’s just like travelling, you go away travelling and you go, “Ah shit, that was so good!” You’re obviously having such a good time while you’re there but I’m one of 36 upsetmagazine.com
these people where it doesn’t really click until I’m not really doing much. When you’re touring you get caught up in it, it’s day to day so it just becomes a routine, and then you go home and it’s like I’m not really able to take it all in. Let’s talk about the album - influences, lyrics, content... I think we started writing after we’d already written an EP that we liked a couple of tracks on, but we’d only been a band for a couple of months, so you can hear we’re trying to sound like other bands. We didn’t like that, so we just went into our practice space and wrote whatever came naturally; this honest and dynamic music. It was just flowing out, which is great, and the guys gave me free reign with the
“WE DIDN’T JUST WA N T T O BE A HYPE BA N D.”
lyrics. I found it was the last six or seven years of my life in which there was depression and chronic illness, I just kind of went through it and looking back you could almost say the album was a concept album, I don’t really like using that term too much because it wasn’t at all intended to be that way. I think it’s quite funny looking at it now where I can see a real movement with the tracks and there’s the theme overlying it all. We just wanted to do something, there just seemed to be so much beige rock music at that time, and we just wanted to do something really gripping that was just really honest. I feel like I’ve done that and the connection has been incredible, especially with this headline tour it just clicked; same thing when the album came out, some things just click. It really does touch upon something that’s been missing. Yep, I think as well we’re one of these bands that’s not really in the cool clique, we’re not mentioned in magazines amongst all these cool hip bands, so the majority of people
aren’t sure if it’s “cool” to get into us yet. It’s quite funny but the fans that have been there from the start, and then this new wave of fans that have heard the record, the connection they get instantly is just massive. The whole point of this band was to never be a part of a mould, to just completely be our own thing. I think that will take longer to get successful but I think once you get there you’ve got fans who stick with you ’til the end because there’s nothing fickle about it. We’re not writing music that’s cool that month, or that year, we just wrote an album that’s important to us and I think that’s where we stand out compared to the other bands. We didn’t just want to be a hype band, which is kind of everywhere at the moment but you know, fair play to those bands that are doing it but we want a career in music so that’s what we’re aiming for. Talking of career, you say this year has set you up for a good new year, what does that look like? We’ll 100% record the new record, which is obviously the big one as far as I’m concerned. Writing a debut album, it’s really important to get it right but if your debut album sucks, I don’t really see where you can progress that much. You would’ve had those songs for a while, they’re not rushed, you don’t find a deal and then come out with an album filled with half-arsed content. Now we’ve got to go and write a better second album. That’s all we’re concerned about, no ifs and buts about that, the second one’s always the hardest. We definitely need to make sure we leave ourselves enough time to do that, it looks like we’re going to go with Adrian [Bushby] again because we love the guy, on a personal level he really smashed the first one and I think with more time and an even better studio and more people on board with it, we can write something really special. I think we’ll also be getting some pretty big tours and festivals and all of that stuff, there are things in the pipeline that I obviously can’t say but we’ll definitely be getting out of England a lot more next year. And one final question - what are your favourite musical moments of the year? Foals at Reading was amazing. As well as Biffy, that was really special. I’d also say the Radiohead album, that was great. Was that this year or last year? That’s definitely up there. P
THE BEST OF
2016
Black Foxxes
First Muncie Girls, now Black Foxxes: there must be something in the Exeter water. This trio’s debut album was one of the unexpected gems of 2016. 5* all the way. WORDS: STEVEN LOFTIN
37