Years Young – Hiraeth

The alternative rock quartet from North Lincolnshire has finally released their debut EP. The 4-piece band has already earned the title ‘One of the most anticipated bands of 2015.’ If you like bands like Don Broco, Biffy Clyro and Mallory Knox, you need to listen to this album! The six-track EP has a lot of depth to it. Strong vocals, awesome chord progressions and assertive lyrics are just a few things what the EP is all about. “Hiraeth” means ‘A homesickness for a home you cannot return to, or that never was’. Opening track “Miracles” starts off pretty mellow after the first thirteen seconds, but then it fulfils your ears making you want to hear more. The lyrics: ‘Home is where the heart is while you’re running away,’ expresses that the band want their fans to think about their lives from the past, present and future. “The Sign” is a song about rebuilding. The beat throughout the whole track is powerful and memorable. With this song the band expresses how important it is to know who you are and where your life is leading to. The band has really thought of their fans and new listeners, this song is a song you can listen to and really revaluate your life. The EP is full of catchy choruses and haunting hooks, and it shows that Years Young is more than ready to take on the rock world.

– Holly Reijs

Light Years – I’ll See You When I see You

Light Years have released their brand new second full-length album, “I’ll See You When I See You” and it is an absolute banger! The pop punk four piece from Cleveland has finally released the 13-track album and it is sure to bring a lot of pop punk to your ears. It shows the band moving on from teen angst and maturing into adults. Opening track “Are You Sure” is an upbeat tune with an energetic pop punk feel. The electric guitar riffs and big drums make the track unique so that you want to continue to listen to the other 12 tracks. Throughout the album, there is a deeper, emotional side to it, like the track “Let You Down”. A similar deeper song called “Funeral”, which is only over 1-minute-long really brings a downer towards the end of the album. Light Years wants to bring a little bit of everything to the album: happiness and sadness crammed into one. So everyone can relate to the album. It is a mixed opinion, standard pop punk album, although a lot of the tracks sound very similar to one another. It will be interesting to see what Light Years produce in the coming years.

– Holly Reijs

Jon Creeden & The Flying Hellfish – Demo

Canada, home to maple syrup, ice hockey and Jon Creeden. I'm moving over asap. Jon Creeden is an Ottawa, Ontario native that is blessed with a golden voice and a dedicated heart. Be it at just voice and guitar on his acoustic material or the more rocking material with his friends acting as guest band The Flying Hellfish, Jon will strum that axe to pieces and persuade you of his passion by voice.

His 2015 demo has been digitally released at the end of last year but will now get a limited edition 100 pieces cassette tape-approach by the ne folks at Bearded Punk Records in Belgium. Opener “Nailbiter” will get you jumping to the edge of your seat by the rst verse. Rough vocals and sweet melodies are the glue to this demo tape. Six tracks will keep you on that edge of the chair dangling for more. From “Nail- biter” to “Sensible Underpants”, this trip to the other coast is worth the miles and Jon Creeden is touring Europe as we speak, so go catch him live.

Trophy Lungs

Boston-based Trophy Lungs consists of three average Joes according to themselves, who will deny anything when asked. But once they get their weapons of sonic destruction out of the shed, all hell breaks loose. Their latest release “Day Jobs” on Bearded Punk Records is another example of fierce punk rock that even almost led to an award. If that hasn't drawn your attention yet, then it's time to meet up with Trophy Lungs and their favourite drinking game.
 

  1. Hello, Congratulations with your latest album, “Day Jobs”. It was released in October last year, how has the response been so far?

I think the response has been better than any of us could have imagined. So many people have been awesome enough to include us in their ‘best of 2015’-lists, and even though we (rightfully) lost, we were nominated for Punk Artist Of The Year by the Boston Music Awards. All of our friends and family have been super supportive and we’re just glad it’s finally out.

 

  1. For the European CD release you teamed up with Bearded Punk Records, a new label from Belgium. The vinyl is on another label. How did you get connected to them?

Bearded Punk reached out to us saying how much they loved the record and asked if we had any interest in releasing it in Europe. We obviously said yes, and within a month “Day Jobs” was out on CD, in countries we never thought our music would be played in. Gregory and Bjorn are two of the nicest dudes we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with and we’re incredibly stoked on what they have planned for us later this year.

 

  1. The album title “Day Jobs” refers to the fact that you all work fulltime jobs next to the band. Could you tell us what you do in the daily life when not living out the rockstar fantasy?

Most of us work in the hospitality industry. Growing up in working class families and living in one of the most expensive cities in the states, it’s hard to maintain a decent paying job while taking the time off to be in a band. Finding a balance isn’t easy, but playing shows and going on tour is something we absolutely love, so we’ll always find a way to make it happen.

 

  1. You all played in different bands before starting Trophy Lungs in 2012, any bands that we should know of?

Definitely not [laughs]. Interestingly enough, everyone in this band was a drummer before we started and we all came from different cities playing different styles of music I think that’s one of my favourite things about writing with these guys. You can really see the different influences come through when we’re playing.

 

  1. If the band was to play a special occasion playing a cover set of the band that influenced them, what band(s) would you cover?

We actually did that a few years ago. We were going down to Fest in Gainesville and played some shows along the way, including an Alkaline Trio cover set for a pre-Halloween show in Brooklyn. If we had to do it again, I’d say it would be a tie between Dillinger Four and Banner Pilot.

 

  1. The song “Bathroom Graffiti” on the album is about losing people and how you remember them. But what artists that are no longer with us would you like to encounter if given the chance?

There’s a lot of powerful musicians who weren’t afraid to write about controversial topics that we’ve love to sit down with if they were still with us. Joe Strummer had a lot of guts to name a record “Sandinista!” at the time when the US government was at war with a group of the same name. Joe Hill was a labour activist who was killed by a firing squad in 1915 because his songs were too powerful. Given the chance it would be incredible to sit down with musicians who knew music could be a lot more than noise.

 

  1. Trophy Lungs is considered pop punk by most. Do you agree on that or would you call Trophy Lungs different?

I think people get way too caught up in genres and titles. You shouldn’t have to fit a certain niche or style to be a good band. We really just write music that we think sounds rad and is about things that are important to us. Let’s not forget that ‘pop’ is short for ‘popular’ which is something we certainly are not.

 

  1. You refer to the X-Files in your online bio. The new episodes are coming soon of the X-files, after almost two decades. Do you believe Mulder will find the truth (and Scully)?

Just like the opening credits say: “The Truth Is Out There”.

 

  1. Now that the album is out in Europe, can we expect Trophy Lungs on trip across the pond soon?

We’re incredibly lucky to be part of the Bearded Punk family and we’re so stoked to say that they’re working on a two-week European tour for us later this year. All dates and venues will be announced later on but I can definitely say that it’s going to be awesome.

 

  1. Any last words, plans or maybe even crazy stories you want to share with us?

Please let us introduce the game ‘Firehat’ to Europe. Originally told to us by our buds in The New Warden, this is a drinking game that involves beer, fire, and brown paper bags. What you do is get at least three friends to stand in a circle. Twist the top of the paper bags into hats and place them on your head. You then proceed to light the top of the hats on fire and the first person begins to drink their beer. After every gulp it’s the next persons turn to take a gulp. The point of the game is to finish your beer until the fire gets down to your head. And to get drunk. Good luck, you’re welcome.

 

–  David Marote  

Max Raptor

Max Raptor, fierce punkrock brought to you by four Midland, UK lads who are gaining popularity each minute. BBC's Radio One has already picked up on them and we at RMP Magazine couldn't stay behind with Auntie Beeb. Time to find out what Max Raptor has been up to lately, with a new album on their résumé and tons of stories to share about Swiss cheese and Premier League football for one.

  1. You’ve got a busy summer ahead: Hevy Fest, 2000 Trees, mainland shows and so on. Which show are you looking forward to the most?

2000 trees has always been amazing for us and there’s such a cool vibe at that festival. I suppose it's a real mix there so you get an awesome range of music lovers from all over the country. Hevy of course is a huge festival and we loved playing it a few years back and the line-up is insane: Shikari, The Bronx, Refused!

 

  1. We’ve travelled these past years from mainland Europe to Hevy Fest and are a bit disappointed about their location change. How do you (and the UK scene in general) feel about the relocation of the festival? 

Well Hevy is now up in Derbyshire and it's a cool little spot; right in the hills, pretty beautiful place. It's great for us as it's just up the road from where we're all from. It's also just down the road from YNOT festival which is another cool festival and well-worth going to. As for the UK scene, we've definitely experienced loads of tours with great bands and there are pockets around the UK where you get an amazing music scene with some really passionate people behind them. I think it's pretty strong. We're on tour at the moment with All Us On Drugs and Press To Meco that are sick UK bands so at the moment with bands like Enter Shikari, Architects, Bad Sign, Bring Me The Horizon and Lonely The Brave it feels real good. 


 

  1. In the past, you played some big shows: Download Festival, Reading & Leeds, Billy Talent, The Stranglers,… What’s the show that impressed you the most?

The Stranglers are definitely up there: they kept their original sound throughout their 30 years+ reign and still selling out and touring huge shows. That’s really inspirational. Billy talent were great and influenced us massively when we first started out as a band. Reading & Leeds and Download were all chaotic, great pits and some nuts fans going crazy to our first album. Hoping to play them again either this year or next! 


 

  1. You recently toured mainland Europe for the first time, how did that go? 

We played in Switzerland, just two dates but they were both so good. It really surprised us, we were expecting smallish crowds as it was our first time there but loads of people showed up and went crazy. Can't wait to get back 

 

  1. The band will release their new album on April, 22 via Hassle Records. What can we expect?

We had a real concentration on getting the tracks sounding as live as possible so the crossover to live is almost the same. They're 12 tracks with some raucous punk rock ‘n’ roll, anthems and we're real proud of it. There are also some tracks where we have definitely progressed in our sound. One being “Old Romantics” which Radio One have been playing and the response has been great.

 

  1. How did the recording process go? Has the process changed or evolved as you guys get older?


We've always concentrated on tones and live recording and getting some brutal vocals down as you'd hear at our shows. I guess as we've gotten older it hasn't really changed. I think the writing process has changed. Pete (drummer) wrote a bunch of tracks for the album as well as Ben and Matt so it's really dynamic and takes a load of all of our influences. 

 

  1. How was working with Jag Jago (ex-Ghost Of A Thousand) as producer?

He is just great, GOAT were also one of our influences when we were starting out. He's got some great ideas and has had some massive successes on albums he has worked on recently (Maccabees) so we're hoping for the same response for our new record. He's a good laugh too and we've got a really great bond as mates and as musicians which is really important. 


 

  1. In what way is Hassle records different now than it was when you signed? Has your collaboration changed over the years? 

They've been hugely supportive and everything's moved really quickly since we signed which is awesome. We want to get as much great music out there and Hassle has loads of cool ideas and enthusiasm. They're fiercely independent and well-respected in the industry and have released some top records over recent years (Lonely The Brave, Cancer Bats, Brand New, Alkaline Trio, Frank Iero, Alexisonfire). 

 

  1. The band even made a soundtrack a couple of years back. Is there anything you haven’t done? 

We’d love to tour the states and Japan…and sell thousands of records!


 

  1. We spotted a few food photos on your Instagram feed. Any foodies in the band? If so: what’s the best meal you received after a show? 

[Laughs] The six slabs of Gruyere cheese we had as part of our rider in Bulle, Switzerland. Any local delicacies are always welcome on our rider. We don't want to just eat crisps. You get a real feel of a place when you're eating local dishes. It makes it more interesting than rocking up, playing, eating shit food and leaving. We like our food. 


 

  1. Who has been a bigger influence for the band: David Bowie or Lemmy Kilmister? 

You know they both had and still have so much to offer and that will be the case for decades to come. Bowie's amazing ability to adapt and change his style is incredible and no one will ever come close to that. Lemmy on the other hand, a man who stuck to his guns throughout his career and never wavered away from his rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities. They both didn't give a damn about what people thought about their image and that's how it should be. 

 

  1. It’s the band’s 10-year anniversary this year. Any specific plans to celebrate this, except the tours and the new album?

Oh fuck, 10 years?? Is it? I think we really started taking it seriously as of 2009 and our first release wasn't until 2011 so we'll hold off until 2021 for our 10-year party. 

 

  1. Looking back on those years, would you’ve changed something? 

I think no; no regrets. 


 

  1. Do you still think about those days? Are you still in touch with Barney Hall?

[Laughs] Yeah, from time to time we see him about. He's really tall now and we're always reminded of that day where we played in his bedroom off the back of a Facebook campaign. 4000 people tuned in online. So much fun. He's big into music now and sings for a band called Pale Cheeks.

 

  1. The Premier League has been insane: ManU and Chelsea are disappointing, Tottenham and Leicester are the revelations of the season. If I’m not mistaken, you’re from the Leicester area. Are you cheering for them to win the league?

We are from the area but I'm an Arsenal fan and we really need a trophy that isn't he FA Cup. But saying that, I'd be so happy if Leicester wins the League. It would be insane. On a par with Forest winning the European Cup or Blackburn winning the Premier League! It would be a great shakeup for the League.

 

  1. Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers?

Just come down to a show when we're in Europe. It's our first time so you bring your punk spirit and we'll bring ours!

Ignite

Ignite, the burning match that comprises their older logo sums it all up: volatile hardcore punk delivered at a scorching pace. With their previous release some years ago, the Orange County outfit set out to release their latest album “A War Against You” in the beginning of 2016. And the responsibility of releasing a new album means touring the hell out of it for these guys. Luckily Europe was graced with The Persistence Tour passing by some time ago and Ignite was headlining it. Time to find out some more about the revived Ignite and their new album with bass player Brett Rasmussen.

 

  1. Congratulations with the new album called “A War Against You”. It was released last week and you just started the Persistence Tour in Europe. How are the first reactions from the fans?

So far it has been really good! A lot of the reviews in magazines and online have been really positive and the emails and messages that we have received from our fans have been really good as well. It is nice to get such positive feedback from fans and critics early on.

 

  1. “A War Against You” is the follow up to “Our Darkest Days” and almost took a decade (9 years). Zoli played in Pennywise in between the two records and the other band members also ventured off into other projects. How did you experience this slowed down process of writing and recording?

Well, to be honest the writing and recording experience was very similar to the previous album. But yes, there were a few extra years of us playing in other bands or projects that prolonged the time in between albums, but when we actually started working on the songs it was very similar. The team that we had (producer Cameron and Sergio), the same recording studio here in Orange County, the basic same line-up of the band gave the whole recording process a very comfortable feel.

 

  1. The new album is 'classic' Ignite material if I may say so, but with a touch of evolution. An even more melodic and mature sound. How did you experience this album?

I think that you really have to somewhat re-create yourself each album. I think bands sometimes make the mistake of trying to emulate a previous album exactly, instead of taking the basic DNA of who your band is and expanding on it. I think you need to surprise your listeners in a good way, instead of re-hashing something that you recorded years ago. I always love when I put a new cd on from a band that I know and hear unexpected great things in the style or flavour of what made the band great! It’s a delicate balance, but when done right it makes for great albums!

 

  1. The new album was released on Century Media, how did you end up with them?

We put out our last two releases on Century Media (“Our Darkest Days” in 2006 and “Our Darkest Days Live DVD” in 2012), so we were very familiar with the CM team and we trust them and how they work.

 

  1. One of the songs that is quite emotional is “Nothing Can Stop Me”, regarding a friend lost from cancer. Writing such personal and emotional song must be hard to perform live sometimes?

Actually the girl the song is written about is recovering. She has shown a lot of strength and determination to beat cancer and we wish her all of the best of luck in her continued fight! You can check out some details here.

http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/blele_01634932

 

  1. Ignite has been tied up with The Sea Shepherds since long time, since the mid-90's or so. Now the movement of Paul Watson has become quite popular with touring bands and in the hardcore scene. How do you feel about this evolution?

It’s great. Zoli was the one who brought this environmental aspect to the band back in 1994. Zoli was involved with all of these environmental organizations like Sea Shepherds, Earth First and Pacific Wildlife Project long before Ignite started. When we started working together, Zoli asked all of us in the band if it was cool that he addressed these issues on stage and with lyrics. He didn’t want to push a cause that the entire band didn’t believe in. Zoli educated us on a lot of these issues. This is something he would be involved in and supporting today even if Ignite never became a band. Pelican Rescue Team, Zoli’s non-profit organization, is the only organization in Southern California dedicated solely to the rescue of pelicans and other seabirds in distress. Zoli serves as board president, executive director, and primary rescuer.

 

  1. Machine Head covered “Our Darkest Days/Bleeding” some time ago. Must have been weird to hear them play one of your songs?

We were pleasantly surprised when we heard that Machine Head was going to cover two of our songs. I read the blog that the singer wrote about what our album meant to him and it was a really cool thing to hear them play those songs on a record and to hear them play the songs live too. I think one of the biggest compliments somebody can give you is to cover one of your songs. Then we heard the 10” from them and we were blown away. Very cool!

 

  1. Dee Snider of Twisted Sister is supportive to the new album. He gave it much praise on YouTube. Was Twisted Sister and Dee an influence to you?

Dee Snider has been a big supporter of Ignite for years now and we are humbled that he likes our music so much, it’s very cool. We grew up in the 80’s so we watched Twisted Sister on MTV like most other kids did at that time. But the coolest thing that Dee has done, in our eyes, is when he went in front of a Senate hearing in 1985 to stand up for the first amendment and our right to free speech in America. That was awesome!

 

  1. The vinyl release of “A War Against You” holds like ten colours or so. Are you aiming on the collectors or just loved to have so many options?

We had a bunch of the distributors asking for exclusive vinyl colours, that’s the main reason why there are so many colours. We picked one colour (green) that we sell on the road and the rest of them are done at the request of different distribution places. Good luck!

 

  1. Any last words?

Thanks for all the support, hopefully we will be getting out and touring a lot of different and new places on the album!

De Staat

De Staat are one of The Netherlands emerging bands. With a sold-out tour in their home country and branching out to other European countries, we at RMP took the opportunity to witness De Staat live during the leg of their Belgian shows at the infamous Ghent-based cafe, Charlatan.

Vocalist and guitar player Florre Torim took some time off to chat with us regarding their latest release “O” and the ongoing tour through Europe.

 

  1. Hello Torre, first things first, congratulations with the new release “O”. It's been out for some weeks now and the first part of the tour in The Netherlands is over. How has it been this far?

 

Very good, real nice. That tour was completely sold out. It's great to be back on the stages again. At least now in The Netherlands, for the bigger shows, we brought along visuals for the first time. It's something different for us too. We're putting on a different show than before. It's a step forward on all fronts. Lots of cool stuff happening

 

  1. Yesterday you started with the conquest of Belgium, all shows are sold out already. Is Belgium falling for De Staat?

 

I hope so. It's smaller venues of course but it hasn't happened before that venues in Belgium are also packed. I'm very happy. They say that Studio Brussel (Belgian radio station) is very important and for the first time in my career as a musician they are playing one of our songs at night. I'm already very happy with the way things are going in Belgium. We've waited for a long time to witness it going good over here. Slowly but surely the people are getting to know us and come out. But I love playing this sort of venues.

 

  1. It sure seems to be busy times for you guys, still a part of Europe to tour in the nearby future and at the end of March you're booked as the support band for Muse in Germany. What cab we expect from this show?

 

Well, I don't know what to expect myself really. I know we are playing on a round stage. That’s actually nice for us since our whole album is based around a circle. We are going to perform in a circle. But we don't know yet how this will be done. We don't know either what they're expecting from us from Muse’s side. It's going to be awesome anyway, it's basically an arena. We don't know if it's on invite of Muse themselves, it was just one of those moments you get a phone call.

Of course it's a result of building the band over years. Where you happen to be a name on a list. I'm very happy with this. I suspect that the band proposed it, I'll know for sure when we play the show.

 

  1. The new album was recorded in your own De Staat studio in your hometown Nijmegen (Netherlands), the old venue Doornroosje has been transformed into your very own workplace. How it the new location?

 

You're up to date! It's really great. We've been over there for over a year, a year and a half actually. It took some trial and error at first. I used to own a small home studio and our rehearsal space was somewhere else. But now it was the first time we brought those two together. It was a learning process for me to find out how to handle it. It's basically just a black box where paint chips of the wall. Just a rock 'n’ roll hole. It's very sweet, we're having a lot of fun over there where we can work in peace and quit. I wouldn't want it any other way than like this. It's a really nice method of working.

 

 

  1. A while back, you also invited 25 fans through a contest to witness live recordings of two new tracks in the studio. How was the response?

 

It was very exciting. They hadn't heard anything yet, for the first time they were going to listen to the new tracks. The response was very good. There were a few journalists present who said it was the best material they heard from us so far. It's a very uncertain time. When an album is about to release, you start thinking that it's crap on one side while on the other side you think it's real great what you've done. And then you think it's quite boring what you've done. You've been at it so long that you can't judge it anymore and then you are dependent on other people their opinions. Then you realise ‘Yeah, this is actually quite good’. It was a very interesting period but it was fun doing so.

 

 

  1. The video clip for “Witch Doctor” from your previous album has really become a hit. YouTube views alone are over a million and a half. It's a visually very attractive video with the CGI circle pit and apparently it's also becoming a hit during live shows where people perform the dance around you in the middle of the crowd?

 

It's going in the direction of two million as we speak. It' s not really a circle pit, it's more of a dance than a pit. Sometimes blogs write about the circle pit during De Staat show and then some methalhead start responding that's not a real circle pit. And they are right, I agree with them. If it happens these days, also live, then everyone is neatly into formation and dancing around me. Not much happens during the dance.

 

  1. But you also have a new video in the make. Something with a circle-shaped stage.

 

Yes, that's right. It' going to take a while before it is released, but it will be something special. I can't talk about it yet; it's set for release in two months.

 

  1. The new album gravitates around cyclic movements, from artwork “O” up until the track “Round”. What attracts you to these mysterious circles?

 

That is something that grows organically. When we recorded over half of the tracks, I realised that I needed to go all the way. I'm a fan of clear concepts. ‘Theme’ on its own is a wrong definition but I always try when releasing a new album to make sure it's a certain thing. One story, it can go all directions into my mind. By accident all tracks in the beginning of the recording seemed to have a mutual theme regarding repetition, about cycles, about infinity or about quitting something, the void what translates to 0. Not all tracks fitted this scheme. When we reached the end of the recording there were almost no other titles than this one. But I'm very pleased with it.

 

  1. The artwork to the album is quite basic and contains all instruments inside marked with a tracking number. Inside the CD-booklet each track holds these numbers to define what instruments where used on a certain track. I noticed a lot of analogue instruments and effects, certainly in this day and age of digital recording. A conscious decision?

 

Yes, that's also because basically the recordings were all digital with a computer and mixed from there, I've mixed it all digitally in the box. We just work with those materials because they are so great to work with. It's more practical to play live the same way. Everyone has their own little station with their effect pedals and with those we make the sounds and record them. If we want to use more digital effects, then it would become more complex. It's just fun to work with a pedalboard and two synths that have their limitations, with that you instantly have your sound because of the limits of the machines. When you try to do everything digitally, then suddenly a whole array of possibilities appears and then it can get hard to pick the proper ones. That is one of the reasons. I won't say that we will record digital in the future. It's not that we find it very important to record analogue. I'm no Jack White concerning that topic, who wants and needs everything analogu. I don't find it that important. We've been using more synths throughout the years. Compared to “I_CON” is the same amount of synth used. Only this time they get a more central part and the guitar sounds sound more like synths, but that has all to do with the sort of pedals we used.

 

  1. Any plans concerning De Staat in the nearby future you want to share with us?

 

I can't really tell all too much, we do have plans. We're going to play festivals this summer, also a few Belgian shows are coming up. What we will be doing by the end of the year, I can't tell yet. I hope to be going abroad again, chances are big.

 

– David Marote

Homer

Punkrock and Belgium, it appears that in every corner and crevice of Belgium a band is formed. From city, town to the smallest village possible, everywhere people are getting together, making music and building their own scene while they are at it. One of those particular vibrant scenes is the Hageland scene and Homer has been fronting the banner for the Hageland for over 17 years already. With their latest release “Loved Loss” being released end of last year and plans for a new full album buzzing around, we thought it was time to hear what the members of Homer liked to share regarding their future endeavours.

 

  1. Last year you released “Loved Loss”, a six-track EP. How has the crowd responded so far?

Johan: So far the reactions are really good; a whole lot of people that follow us for already for a long time were surprised because it sounds different.  Still Homer, but different; or like some of our friends expressed it: ‘Homer – the next level’. The reviews so far have been great too and now we’re booking the shows for his year, it’s looking better and better!

 

  1. The new EP seems to be one the most diverse records Homer ever released. From different voicings to the musical styles applied, almost a magnus opum for Homer. How do you feel about the new songs?

Mattias: It seems like the older we get, the more diverse the songs become. It’s not interesting for us to keep doing the same thing over and over. We are influenced by so many different styles and they all find their way into the music. We are also trying to approach the way we write songs from different angles and keep growing. These songs have been more refined in preproduction together with Edje (Arizona, NØFX,…) and in the studio with Ace.

 

  1. One of the songs that has taken a twist is “Death Is A Threat”, with the blastbeats and guitars I'm guessing some black metal influences. Is metal and extreme music an inspiration to the band?

Mattias: Metal has always been an influence for all of us. In “Death is a Threat” they might be more visible with the blastbeats and chaotic parts, but you can probably find traces of metal in most of our songs.

I don’t really pay attention to it.

 

  1. During the release the band also incorporated visuals into the show. How did this enhance your performance?

Mattias: Hard to say because we were on stage looking in the other direction. We had the opportunity to work with Sam for visuals. I hope it made the show a bit more special for our audience. They made an effort to go out and paid money to have a good time and to support us, so it’s cool if we can give them something extra.

 

  1. The artwork for “Loved Loss” is very tight and a visual treat. A graphic representation of some sort of gem stone on a blue background. What was the main idea about this design?

Mattias: Hanna has made the artwork for pretty much all of our records. She came up with this design. It’s very atypical for a heavy record, but who wants to be typical? We didn’t even make a typical Homer records, so it’s perfect. 

Johan: To be more concrete about the design: it kind of reflects the title because you can recognize a diamond in the design which stands for something precious, something of a certain kind of value (literally or symbolical). It stands for something nice, something you love. The diamond is shaped as a tear, which stands for loss, grief and regret. If you look at the design, you have a visual interpretation of the title “Loved Loss” and it has the Homer logo in it too, so that makes it complete.

 

  1. Your producer on the EP was Ace Zec, known as drummer for Customs and his Oceanside recording studios in Ostend. Ace also has quite a punk and hardcore background. Did that help out when working with a producer?

Mattias : It probably helped that he has the punk background, just because he understands where we come from and where we are trying to go. But he knows music in general, which helped us to do things we haven’t done before. It makes no sense to work with people if they don’t have anything to add to our ideas and knowledge. Our last record was self-produced, this is the first time we worked with a producer and it takes it to the next level. I think finding the right person for your band to produce your record is essential.

Johan: For me it turned out great. Ace is a very creative person and someone who isn’t afraid of pushing the people he works with. He’s that kind of guy that gets things out you didn’t even realise you had in you. He can give constructive comments and makes you look at things from another side or perspective. That worked great and made me discover some new musical ranges.

 

  1. “Loved Loss” is actually more of a teaser for the upcoming album that is ahead. Could you let us in on how and when we can expect the bomb to drop?

Mattias : That’s not really how it is. “Loved Loss” is an example of what you can expect from us in the future. We are currently not working on a new album. The plan is to play shows with the new songs this year and we’ll start writing new stuff soon.

 

  1. In the new track “Indifference” there's a line about 'These times I see'. Given the political and economic climate. Could you give us an insight on what Homer sees as the sign of the times?

Johan: Wow, first off: we’re not that kind of band that likes to shove our opinion down someone’s throat. In the lyrics, be it personal or more related to socio-economic topics, we like to touch issues we are confronted with. “Indifference” deals with the fact that people these days are treated like puppets that are a part of the economic system. It seems that leaders and politicians look at all problems from an economic side of view.   The economy has to become bigger, better, have more results and if that turns out great, people will get better too. That’s kind of the way things are treated these days. While a lot of the global problems like war, refugees and environment issues are things that should be looked at from an empathic, social and caring kind of way.  People should be put in the first place, not economy or whatever. Luckily enough, if you look for it, you see that there are people standing up who offer alternatives for a society that’s based on economy. But those people, collectives are often shouting in the dark. It all has to do with the sort of collective of ‘individuals’ our society has become instead of a collective consisting out of united individuals. It’s sometimes hard to be positive these days, still I think it’s very important to stay positive. Becoming a fatalist about everything is standing still and that’s never a good thing.

 

  1. On title track “Loved Loss” you get some backing vocals by fellow punk rockers: Hans from F.O.D. and Teun from Generation84, both great vocalists from Belgian bands and an excellent choice for this track. Where they the first who came to mind when you searched for backings?

Mattias: They are two of the best voices we have around us. It’s really a no-brainer. We invited them to the rehearsal room, we made some bad jokes, they nailed everything in the first takes and we were done.

 

  1. Homer always releases on the label of vocalist Johan, Funtime Records. What are the plans for Funtime in 2016, new releases we need to know about?

Johan: Well, since about two years, the label is a collective again of eight people who work with their heart and soul for everything Funtime-related, so you can consider Funtime Records and concerts anno 2016 as a collective, just the way it started about 20 years ago with the magazine and the concerts. It has always been a family of likeminded people and it still is today. We have been releasing records on Funtime since the very beginning and it always worked great for us; although we also worked with other labels in the past like Indiebox in Italy, Bad Mood in Switzerland, Meter Records in Canada and Thanks But No Thanks for the live CD/DVD we put out a couple of years ago. But as said before, it’s great and easy working together, so why change it? About other releases on the label: Funtime is putting out the new Belvedere record in May, F.O.D. is planning a new album and there are some more things coming up, but I can’t tell you much about that at this very moment.

 

  1. Thank you for the interview, any last words?

Johan: Well, it has been said a thousand times before but seems more relevant than ever these days: become an active participant of the scene, put up shows, write, participate, go support local and underground bands. That’s very important if you want to support music that operates outside the mainstream.  And in general: don’t let negativism get you down!

 

–  David Marote

We Came As Romans

We Came As Romans is on a global attack conquesting their empire. Recently they toured extensively leading them into eastern territories such as Russia, Latvia and Lithuania. RMP took some time to get to know some more of the Troy based gladiators during their UK stop. With a new self titled release under the arm and a new direction soundwise we thought it would be nice to dig in and find out what We Came As Romans see  for the future of their music in 2016.

  1. So, how’s the tour going?

Tonight’s technically only the second night but we’ve been out for two weeks previously in Russia, Latvia & Lithuania, it’s been an extensive trip already.

 

  1. Awesome! So which has been your favourite show?

Russia was pretty wild, they’re just always so crazy over there! Not many bands get to go through there so when a band does make it through people just lose their minds. Plus, they’re so drunk on vodka and emotions [laughs]. Obviously the crowds on this tour have been bigger so far but it’s hard to top that type of energy.

 

  1. You guys released your self-titled album “We Came As Romans” earlier this year, and it’s a bit of a different sound – it’s awesome by the way – how do you think it’s been received?

We knew we were going to lose some fans because it’s a step in a different direction, but I think for every couple we’ve lost we’ve picked up a few new ones and that was kind of the goal. You can’t just keep writing the same shit, you have to change and unfortunately with change you’re going to lose some fans but you just have to hope that the new music is good enough to pick up some new fans.

 

  1. Do you have any big touring plans for 2016?

We’re coming back here for a lot of the festivals so that’ll be cool! I think especially with the new sound the festivals will be really good for us.

 

  1. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen a lot of venues close down due to a lack of funding and a lot of bands break up because they can no longer afford to tour or commit to the band full time, what do you think we can do to keep live music from becoming irrelevant? 

It’s a really big problem with millennials, they don’t want to pay for music and they don’t want to pay for your show, they just want to watch it on YouTube. I’m not saying that everybody does this, but for venues and bands that are just trying to sell records to live, it’s really starting to hurt. My only advice for people that like music is, go fucking see them. As soon as bands stop getting support, as soon as venues stop getting support that’s when bands stop coming around and venues start shutting down. It all comes down to the listener. We get a lot of fan mail where people say ‘Oh please come to Florida’ or wherever and it’s down to them, if you like a venue and you like a band: go. If you’re going to listen to music on Spotify instead of buying an album, use that money to buy a ticket to see that band play live. 

 

  1. Do you think there’s a way to encourage people to come down to shows more?

Unfortunately, bands don’t make money selling music anymore so bands have to tour which means there are so many bands and tour packages competing for audiences. Bands have to think about what’s going to make people come see their show instead of the one down the street and I think on the band’s part that just involves making sure you keep the tour packages interesting, so right now we’re on tour with One Ok Rock and I don’t think any of their fans have heard of us and I don’t think many of our fans will have heard of them so it’s a good way to get too.

 

  1. Finally, what does music mean to you?

Beyond being my entire livelihood it changes my mood, helps me pass the time, I hate saying something generic like ‘music means everything to me’ but when I’m travelling I’m listening to music, in my down time I’m writing music, when I’m working I’m making music. It just consumes my life. 

 

– Jake Bower

Comma Commander

Coma Commander, repeat it fast for ten times and you'll probably blur out something resembling an 80's hit by Culture Club. But enough with the crap of male cow, time to introduce Belgium's newest punk heroes, Coma Commander. Hailing from Diest, these fellows have recently released their second EP since their conception in 2012 on the brand new Belgian record label Bearded Punk Records. Coma Commander had the pleasure to have the first release on the new label and RMP is here to bring you the grit and dirt about their hit EP “Council Of The Jackalopes”.

 

 

  1. Hello, first things first, congratulations with the new release “Council Of The Jackalopes”. It's been on the streets for some weeks now, how has the response been so far?

Thanks man! The response has been pretty amazing so far. Some people really seem to dig the new songs, which is really cool. We’re also quite happy with the way the EP turned out ourselves. It was a real treat working together with Thomas Valkiers at his Hightime Studio. We had the best time recording these songs, and I somehow like to believe you can hear that on the record.

 

  1. Coma Commander was formed late 2012, this release is already your second (excluding the demo), could you introduce Coma Commander and its current path to the readers?

Sure. We did our first show in Diest at the end of 2012. Then we went on playing shows for an entire year without releasing anything. At the end of 2013 we released a first EP which contained six songs. The next year or so we kept on playing these songs over and over again whilst slacking off completely writing-wise. Then when we started writing again and it turned out we’ve gotten a little better at it so we got super excited for doing the “Council Of The Jackalope” EP, which we released at the end of November. Right now we’re keeping ourselves busy trying to get the new songs out there and we’re also writing new stuff already in the hopes we get a little better at it this time.

 

  1. “Council Of The Jackalopes” is the first release on the spanking brand new Belgian label Bearded Punk Records. Coma Commander is the first band releasing on it, how does it feel?

It feels amazing, man! It’s been pretty rad having Gregory and his crew helping us getting the EP out for the masses to hear. I’m pretty sure they’re destined for great things and bands! They’re also just really cool and fun people doing this thing they love in their spare time, just like all the bands they sign. That’s something to admire. DIY ethics and such.

 

  1. You recently performed the release show in your hometown of Diest. Was it an all-nighter that has left Diest with some deep wounds or even worse?

I think it’s safe to say it was even worse. We had the best time that night! More or less 200 people were crammed into our local youth club ‘Jeugdhuis Tijl’. The sets from Old Souls, Off The Charts and the almighty Cornflames were super sweet and we might have played our best set yet ourselves. To top it all off, Piekpries spun some sweet records at the after party. We couldn’t have wished for a better turnout.

 

  1. Early December Coma Commander embarked on an international mission. A prolonged weekend-tour starting in France and ending up conquering the UK territory. Any dirty deeds from that tour you wish to share?

I’m going to have to let you down here man, no dirty deeds for these fellers. Turns out we’re a pretty boring band. We basically did some sightseeing and somehow always ended up playing pool and drinking expensive beers at some bar in the afternoon. Our pool skills got way better though!

 

 

  1. The artwork of “Council Of The Jackalopes” is an eye catcher. It features a rabbit with antlers aka the mythical creature ‘the jackalope’. But what is ‘the council of jackalopes’ then? Horny/horned rabbits on sexual a quest?

Well, basically it's a metaphor for the way politicians run and promote their agendas. Most of them claim to serve the greater good, but in the end that greater good often turns out to be non-existent, like a jackalope. It's easy to sell people on the idea that they exist because admit it, what would be cooler than rabbits with antlers? Sadly though they're just a myth.

 

  1. The first music video is also out on the world wide web, “Christopher Robin And The Giant Blisters” received the honour of being immortalised by an animated video. How has the response been?

Pretty okay. At least three people told me they really like the song.

 

  1. It's actually a lyrics video that sports Popeye the sailor man. What led to the choice of that spinach industry supporting cartoon figure and how should we perceive the connection to the band?

Yeah, there's not really a story behind the Popeye. He's just a cult figure from our youth and we love hinting towards old pop culture in our music. For a large part they sort of shaped our creative minds, just like Christopher Robin from the title did, or Scooby Doo from the song “If It Wasn't For Those Meddling Kids”.

 

  1. The band has been compared to some varying bands yet, from Lagwagon and NUFAN to the more gruff-orientated bands. But what defines Coma Commander to yourselves? Bands, scenes, movies anything goes.

I’m going to go ahead and give the cliché answer most bands give. It’s the sum of all our different influences that makes Coma Commander what it is. We all listen to so much different styles of music, so it’s hard to really name bands that influence us as a band. We mostly write the basic songs as a three-piece because Bram’s a famous graphic artist and has no time for our shitty punkrock band and Jef’s a psychologist in Gent, so he actually has stuff to do. Jeroen, Ward and me work out the basic parts, riffs and structures for the songs, then Jef puts on a bassline and Bram adds the main vocal part. We come up with all the harmonies and dubbing stuff in the studio. I don’t really know how other bands work on their songs, but this could define us, I guess.

 

  1. Any news, gossip or future plans that you wish to inform of us?

We’re busy writing new stuff right now. We hope to hit the studio again around February and to release two songs in the form of a split 7” with a cool band by next summer. In February we’re also going on a three-day French weekender with our new buddies in The Burnt Tapes (UK). We’re playing Crossbonefest, our favourite Belgian fest, so that’s really cool. Maybe a full-length by 2017? Who knows, we’ll see how writing goes.

 

– David Marote