upsetmagazine.com Editor: Stephen Ackroyd (stephen@upsetmagazine.com) Deputy Editor: Victoria Sinden (viki@upsetmagazine.com) Associate Editor: Ali Shutler (ali@upsetmagazine.com) Writers: Dan Harrison, Dan Jeakins, Danny Randon, Dillon Eastoe, Heather McDaid, Jack Press, Jake Richardson, Jasleen Dhindsa, Martyn Young, Rob Mair, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin
EDITOR’S NOTE
Photographers: Jordan Knight, Sarah Louise Bennett Cover Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett 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 T U RN ST I L E 8 T U RBOWO L F 9 TO N I G H T A L I V E 10 A L L T I M E LOW 12 A N D RE W W K 13 S E N S ES FA I L 14 P L AY L I ST
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FEATURES
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N E RV US RO LO TO M ASS I J E F F ROS E N STO C K CA M P C O P E P I A N OS B EC O M E T H E T E ET H
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British rock music may be in the most exciting place it’s been in a generation. We’re all familiar with the names - Creeper’s cult, Milk Teeth’s parade of gigantic bangers, Architects growing larger and more dominant by the moment. With their first album, Black Foxxes set themselves on the road to greatness. With their second, they’ve truly arrived. That’s why we’re proud to give the band their first Upset cover this month. Elsewhere, we’ve got the cool as fuck Camp Cope, the brilliant Nervus, returning heroes Rolo Tomassi, Jeff Rosenstock and loads more. Enjoy!
E V E RY T H I N G H A P P E N I N G I N RO C K
ADVENTURES IN TIME & SPACE FRONTMAN BRENDAN YATES REFLECTS ON HOW TURNSTILE BECAME ONE OF THE HOTTEST BANDS IN HARDCORE. WORDS: DAN JEAKINS.
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hese days Turnstile may be considered one of the hottest prospects in hardcore just about anywhere in the world, but the five-piece from Baltimore are a true DIY phenomenon. “Our band came from a group of friends coming together who simply started playing,” frontman Brendan Yates explains. “For our demo, my best friends just picked up instruments and learnt there and then. “Franz [Lyons, bassist] had to be in the band, but at that stage, we already had a drummer, so we convinced him to play bass even though he had never touched one in his entire life. He learned to play while we were practising for the first ever Turnstile show. “To be able to play music with people I care about and who truly inspire me is incredible – it’s truly at the forefront of everything we do as a band.” From the release of their first EP their intentions
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CONJURER ARMED WITH THEIR DARK AND DYNAMIC DEBUT ALBUM, THIS FOUR-PIECE FROM THE MIDLANDS ARE PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF EXTREME MUSIC TO BREAKING POINT. WORDS: DANNY RANDON.
THE BEST NEW BANDS TH E H OT TEST NEW MUSIC
hile some bands are merely content in wedging their foot in the door between the underworld of challenging music and widespread acceptance, Conjurer are dead set on joining that esteemed league of artists who are booting the door clean off its hinges. As they prepare for the release of their debut album ‘Mire’, the Midlands fourpiece are well aware of the height to which the bar has been raised by their peers over the last few years. “People are finally ready to embrace new and exciting music,” reckons co-vocalist and guitarist Brady Deeprose as the conversation eventually gets round to the recent Grammy nod by Pittsburgh hardcore game-changers Code Orange. “[Code Orange’s 2017 album] ‘Forever’ is something so different to the status quo, and people are finally willing to stand up
and accept that.” He adds: “I think it is just a culmination of the recycled nature of music over however long it’s been. I’m 23, so I was never alive in that heyday of ‘good metal’ in the early 90s, but our generation have started to find their voice and identity within music. “It seems that bands aren’t so worried about being part of a particular scene anymore,” says guitarist Dan Nightingale, who shares vocal duties with Brady. “Around the time I was getting into extreme metal, I was very conscious of what the popular thing was; you couldn’t help drifting towards that.” As the pair grew up, metalcore was in a state of flux – bands like Bring Me The Horizon and The Devil Wears Prada were surging their way out of the commercial peripherals, but the movement was drifting further and further away from its hardcore genesis.
“When [Bring Me The Horizon’s] first two albums were out I was going around like, ‘Oh they’re rubbish’, but secretly I was listening to them in my room and absolutely loving it,” Dan admits. “I don’t whether it was [because] we just went further underground, but it just felt like there was no-one really flying any flags anymore. “When we were starting bands, there were sort of guidelines for how to be in a band, but the absence of these great superstars leading the way has led to bands being more honest with themselves.” The origins of Conjurer can be traced back to 2014, after Dan and Brady had “played around each other and with each other, but we weren’t in bands together” on the Midlands metalcore circuit for a few years. “We both split away from our metalcore bands – we were enjoying it, but it just wasn’t what we wanted to do,” explains
Dan. “We were kind of hovering around, and one day on Facebook Brady said he was getting into extreme metal and that he’d love to do a band that’s inspired by The Black Dahlia Murder and Gojira, so I was sold. “It wasn’t until we saw Yob and Pallbearer at The Underworld in Camden that we started jamming. It wasn’t like we weren’t taking it seriously at that point, but when we saw Yob, it was like the nail in the coffin and [we knew] we were going to be doing this, and that the band is a thing now.” As punishingly heavy as it often is, what makes Conjurer’s full-length debut one of the most captivating British metal records of recent years is its fearlessness to be beautiful at times. There’s a sharper sense of melodic playing in the more expansive moments which push ‘Mire’’s envelope into ambient post-metal territory, but it’s still executed with all the voracity of the crushing blastbeats and tar-thick guitar grooves.
“BANDS AREN’T SO WORRIED ABOUT BEING PART OF A PARTICULAR SCENE ANYMORE” “The breadth of influence that we take has always been far more than we can handle,” says Brady, hinting at records as bizarrely leftfield as System of a Down’s ‘Mesmerize / Hypnotize’ as an inspiration. “But we definitely did a better job on the album of bringing that in and making it work.” Even for a band that is still so young, Conjurer have made outstanding progressions on ‘Mire’ – something they in part put down to being part of the roster at Holy Roar Records, a label which is gaining prestige for its work in championing some of the world’s most extreme and esoteric artists.
Brady recalls: “We were in a hotel on one of the nights when we were recording the EP, and Dan put on [Holy Roar labelmates] Employed To Serve, and I was like, ‘What the fuck is this? This is awesome!’. Then Jan was going on about [British hardcore band] Svalbard. “Their whole ‘no bullshit’ attitude comes through in the bands that they work with, and getting to play with bands like OHHMS and Wren and be part of that group has been one of the biggest influences on us.” P Conjurer’s album ‘Mire’ is out 9th March.
FLOAT BLACK FOXXES’ FIRST ALBUM ESTABLISHED A BAND OF LIMITLESS PROMISE, BUT WHAT APPEARED ON THE SURFACE TO BE AN UNQUALIFIED SUCCESS TOOK A MORE CHALLENGING PATH BEHIND THE SCENES. NOW BACK WITH A SECOND ALBUM EVEN STRONGER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR, THEY’RE A BAND READY TO TACKLE THEIR DEMONS.
WORDS: JAKE RICHARDSON. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
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A trip to Iceland proved to be the inspiration for much more than the title of the latest Black Foxxes album, as Mark tells us… “I’d actually been to Iceland before I started preparations for this record – I’ve been three years in a row now. That country is just incredible, I’ve never been anywhere else that’s even remotely like it. The weather conditions are unforgiving, and you genuinely feel like you’re on another planet. There’s just something about the place that keeps attracting me back to it. “The first half of the track ‘Oh It Had To Be You’ was written while I was watching the Northern Lights. I’d seen them before, but never like that. It’s mesmerising to see the colours dancing across the sky, and it would’ve been impossible not to write about it. “‘The Big Wild’ is about that want to adventure. Because of suffering from Crohn’s and mental health issues, I’ve spent so much of my life saying ‘no’ to things, but in my heart, I’m such an adventurous guy, and I want to experience all these different cultures. I’ve now arrived at a time in my life where I’m physically and mentally well enough to do that, so ‘The Big Wild’ is about saying ‘yes’ to everything, and that directly relates to my trips to Iceland.”
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hen a young Mark Holley began playing music, he dreamed of being in a successful band. It was more than a hobby to him – it was his life’s ambition; a destiny he was bound to fulfil. Inviting bassist Tristan Jane and drummer Ant Thornton to join his fledgeling band, the Black Foxxes vocalist/guitarist set about achieving his goal of becoming a musician known around the world. All the ingredients were there for Black Foxxes to start making big things happen fast. In Mark, they had a songwriter with ambition and a genuine vocal strength many young rock singers lack, and a fastgrowing reputation. But away from the music, things weren’t so rosy. When he was 21, Mark was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a condition without a known cure, which can cause severe stomach pain, diarrhoea, fever and weight loss. It’s an illness that requires constant medication and treatment, which makes life on the road a challenge. On top of that, Mark also suffers from anxiety and depression, and it was his experiences with mental illness that fuelled Black Foxxes’ 2016 debut album, ‘I’m Not Well’. Their first full-length saw the Devon trio emerge as one of rock’s brightest new bands – it was, on the face of it, a huge success. Behind the scenes, however, Mark was falling apart. “When we were making the first record, I didn’t really want to do anything,” he remembers. “I didn’t want to be in the studio, I didn’t want to tour, but music was the only thing I felt I could do to get everything off my chest. I wasn’t sure if I’d get out of the rut I was in.” Making ‘I’m Not Well’ was tough, and while the band experienced runaway success on the touring cycle that followed, when things began to wind down, Mark struggled to adjust to life back home. “I found it hard coming off tour and having to reintegrate to home life, and I think that’s one of the reasons things went sour with my ex-girlfriend,” he recalls. “It’s strange to go from being social with people every day, and then come home to a completely different environment – it’s like starting a new job. I read something a while ago about how so many touring musicians struggle with depression and anxiety because
of that, they find it hard to readjust to ‘normal’ life.” It’s a story that’s been told before, and one that has, thankfully, been pushed into the limelight over the past few years: that of a touring musician struggling to cope with the strain that a career in music places on one’s mental health. Looking to clear his head and find inspiration for album two, Mark turned to the sense of adventure he’d always possessed and travelled to Iceland, a country he’d been to and found solace in previously. There, surrounded by some of the most stunning landscapes he’d ever seen, the future of Black Foxxes began to take shape. “My mental health was so bad the first time I went to Iceland,” Mark explains. “But I was starting to see progress every time I went. It was a big step for me to go to a place that is barren, with no-one there and insane weather conditions, and do it all by myself. It felt like there was a mutual relationship between me and that place because I overcame a lot out there. I wrote plenty of music when I went to Iceland the second time, and our new record reflects that.” Black Foxxes’ upcoming second album, ‘REIðI’ (“It’s pronounced ‘Ray-dee’, and is Icelandic for ‘rage’,” Mark tells us), exemplifies the transformation their frontman has undergone since the release of ‘I’m Not Well’. An expansive, shapeshifting and at times abstract record, it’s a bold leap from the formula that brought the band their early success. But in light of all the change in Mark’s life and the journey he’s been on to get to this new album, it was never going to sound like ‘I’m Not Well’ 2.0. “’I’m Not Well’ was such a labour of love – it was so hard to write and record that album, and you can hear it when you listen back,” Mark says. “The one thing we’ve said is that, on reflection, we would have sonically changed ‘I’m Not Well’. The album is all the same – every track is dark and loud and sounds similar to what’s come before it. So, we wanted to make sure that with ‘REIðI’, we had a dynamic record. I felt much better in myself this time, and I reflected that in the music I made and naturally a lot of lighter songs came out. The moment that happened, we decided to push for a light-dark record.” When putting together the music for ‘REIðI’, Black Foxxes went old school,
“THOSE DEMONS WILL ALWAYS BE THERE” and thought about the experience of a listener hearing the music through a vinyl record. Writing an album with two distinct parts, they were keen to show a softer side to the band, but retain that element of dark ‘depression pop’ with which they’d always been associated. “The way it was written was to have the first half of the record be super light, and then the second part be really dark, so if it was a vinyl, side A would be light and side B darker,” Mark outlines. “It’s really dynamic in the sense that you have tracks like ‘The Big Wild’ and ‘Saela’ which are real pop songs, and then you can flip the album over and hear ‘Flowers’ and ‘Float On’, the latter of which was written about my cousin who drowned - the music is super dark and twisted. I think the message of doing that is, while my mental health was better when making this album, it’s something I’ll always live with – those demons will always be there. It’s letting the listener know that this is still Black Foxxes, but we’ve grown, and we wanted things like strings and horns. We wanted to make a sonically ambitious record, and we have.” Clearly, ‘REIðI’ is designed to be not as restrictive – musically or lyrically – as ‘I’m Not Well’. Black Foxxes’ first album is a great record, but it’s an album that finds its sound and sticks to it, rarely challenging the expectations of the listener. Similarly, as its title suggests, ‘INW’ is a record that’s occupied with Mark’s battle with mental health. The material is compelling, but again, not particularly diverse. ‘REIðI’, on the other hand, does away with that singular style. “You never truly move away from mental health issues – it’s more about understanding and realising that it’s a part of you and that’s okay,” Mark explains. “But the subject matter on this album has definitely moved on from entirely being about mental health, because the previous album was pretty self-explanatory in what it was about, whereas on this new record I challenge loads of different subjects. I tried to be more open-minded with my songwriting
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STRUGG LED WITH IDENTITY, OR FELT THE NEW ALBUM FROM NERVUS IS FOR ANYONE WHO’S ANGRY AT THE WORLD. WORDS: ALI SHUTLER.
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use this pen, for words I dare not speak. I use these strings, for words I still can’t say,” sings ‘A Retraction’ on Nervus’ debut album. Figuring out depression, addiction and life as a transgender woman, ‘Permanent Rainbow’ started out as a record of isolation. An exercise in self-exploration. The songs weren’t written for anyone but Em Foster, and it wasn’t meant to be heard until her best friends wanted to get involved. Giving them an excuse to hang out, how could she say no? Paul Etienne, Karl Woods, Jack Kenny and Em set about taking those quiet reflections and dialling them up. It’s then that Nervus became Nervus. Finding strength in shared experience, the band took those sad, lonely songs and made
them sing. A little joy here, a glimmer of hope there, the idea that maybe things would get better played out in real time as they realised they weren’t alone. As the album spread and the live shows brought things into reality, more people came to the same realisation. “That writing process was me addressing a bunch of stuff that I hadn’t previously addressed. I offered myself the room to explore my identity, but I didn’t necessarily pay all that much attention to the self-acceptance or the self-love parts. Since we released it, the reception has been great. I wasn’t expecting there to be an audience. I didn’t expect anyone to give a fuck really. Releasing that album was for me, and it was my shy way of coming out to people that I knew but
not well enough to tell them, or didn’t feel like I could do it, face to face.” Inspiring a reaction through its stain glass honesty and fractured power, ‘Permanent Rainbow’ sparked, connected and inspired as people found themselves within it and the band rolled with whatever came their way. ‘Everything Dies’ is more direct, more urgent. “I think the record is great,” beams Em. “Listening back it’s like, ‘Bloody hell; there are loads of songs on this album. I don’t mean there are loads of tracks; all the songs are good songs.” Using every bit of free time they had last August, in-between work, touring and playing in other bands, Nervus recorded their second album while the ideas were
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SOUNDING BIGGER, BOLDER AND BRIGHTER ON THEIR FOURTH STUDIO ALBUM, PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH ARE POISED TO TAKE ANOTHER HUGE LEAP SKYWARD. WORDS: DANNY RANDON.
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CAMP COPE HOW TO SOCIALISE AND MAKE FRIENDS
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amp Cope are a rare and beautiful gift. As one of the best bands to have risen up from down under in years, the Melbourne trio find poetic brilliance in straight-up refusing to hide behind metaphors on their second full-length record. From the bright and breezy start of ‘The Opener’, singer Georgia Maq is ferocious in her diatribes on subjects such as the gender gap on the gigging circuit,
sexual assault and mental health, and rightfully so. Despite the touches of warming Americana and angsty alt-rock that’s evocative of the days when Alanis Morrisette reigned supreme, this Melbourne trio are punk through and through. They sound radical thanks to a modest production along with drummer Sarah Thompson’s thumping backbeat, but then Georgia’s infectious Aussie twang and Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich’s cucumber-cool basslines offer something
refreshing and delightfully moreish. The only thing on ‘How To Socialise & Make Friends’ that beats those flashes of fierceness from Georgia is her ability to bear her vulnerabilities. Her performances on ‘Sagan-Indiana’ and ‘Anna’ are powerful, but it’s the emotional cracks in her voice on tracks like ‘Animal & Real’ and ‘I’ve Got You’ – the latter closing the album with a profound ode from the singer to her late father – which truly define a record already filled to the brim with heart and humility. With an album which will only grow on you to the point of obsession in 2018, Camp Cope have made a statement of solidarity and sisterhood at a time when the world needs it most. And there’s not a chance in hell that you’ll be able to drown it out. Danny Randon
RECOMMENDED RECORDS The best albums from the last few months.
MARMOZETS
KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW NOW
The Northern powerhouses’ second album is nothing short of remarkable.
FALL OUT BOY
MANIA
Straight down the line. Middle of the road. Predictable. None of these describe the wild world of ‘M A N I A’.
WATERPARKS
ENTERTAINMENT
On their second fulllength, Waterparks prove all that potential pays off. Meet your new scene icons in waiting.
AMERICAN NIGHTMARE
AMERICAN NIGHTMARE eeee With their first album in nearly fifteen years, and only their third since forming two decades ago, Boston hardcore crew American Nightmare may not be what you’d call prolific. After temporarily losing their name and breaking up, their return sounds as fresh and essential as the eagerest of young pups. The first time all members have contributed to the creation of a record, the self-titled album sparks with possibilities. From the frenetic ‘American Death’, to the short, sharp blast of ‘Dream’, it’s all done in twenty glorious minutes of unending front on assault. Enough to keep us buzzing for another decade at least. Dan Harrison
ESCAPE THE FATE
I AM HUMAN ee
“I am strong, I am weak, I am everything between,” proclaims Escape The Fate vocalist Craig Mabbitt midway through ‘I Am Human’’s titular track, engraving his band’s tombstone with a phrase so relevant to their career it’s nigh-on impossible not to laugh. Bursting with arena-ready anthems, ‘I Am Human’ is a half-hearted attempt at merging their revisited former glories with carboncut copies of your favourite metalcore bands mainstream breakthrough songs; so much so you might as well rename them Bring Me Asking Alexandria’s Fate. Much like its predecessor, it’s an album that reaches for the stars and misses by a country mile. Jack Press
FOR THE FALLEN DREAMS
SIX eee
You don’t need a search engine to tell you ‘Six’ is For The Fallen Dreams’ sixth release. Their first in nearly four years, it has the assured quality of a band who know exactly who they want to be. Never less than tight and poised to strike, opener ‘The Stone’ is a blast to the senses - a teaser for the punchy aggression to follow. Described by the band as their favourite album to date, ‘Six’ could well be the best. Dan Harrison
REGGIE AND THE FULL EFFECT
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The solo project of keyboardist for poppunk royalty The Get Up Kids, James Dewees’ latest record as Reggie and the
ROLO TOMASSI
TIME WILL DIE AND LOVE WILL BURY IT
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n what could prove to be their most pivotal release since 2010’s Diplo-produced ‘Cosmology’, Rolo Tomassi’s fifth album teeters ever so masterfully on that line between beautiful and blisteringly heavy. With its verses verging on tender dream-pop territory, and a chorus as monolithic as the stone pillars which adorn the album’s artwork, ‘Aftermath’ is Rolo Tomassi as we’ve literally never heard them before. It’s also just the start of an exceptional performance from Eva Spence, who trades ruthless blows her brother-keyboardist James on ‘Rituals’, atop heavy-footed hardcore stomps and scattergun blasts of black metal. From there, the five-piece dart between both sonic landscapes with mathletic agility – ‘Whispers Among Us’ is dense and menacing, particularly
thanks to Spence’s monstrous bellowing, before ‘Risen’ brings things to a hauntingly minimalist climax. What is truly special about ‘Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It’ is that it’s the bearer of what could easily be credited as this band’s masterpiece. ‘A Flood of Light’ is astonishing in the way it switches from blistering technical grooves to vast, atmospheric rock almost effortlessly. At a modest eight-and-a-half minutes long, it’s just testament to the cinematic nature of the record which, much like the best psychological thrillers, will have you in its vice-like grip throughout. Even in a year which will see them blowing out the candles on their 13th birthday cake, Rolo Tomassi continue to be one of the UK’s most unpredictable bands. It’s about time for them to have their moment of greatness. Danny Randon 43