A Conversation With… Rumahoy

Northumbria Academy, Newcastle. 11/02/18

Pirate metal isn’t in the mainstream audience at the moment but could that about to change? With fantastic hooks to their amazing music, the Northumbria Institute was alive and buzzing for the Piratefest Tour. I caught up with Captain Yarface of Rumahoy to see how things are going on the road.

 

Jack: Hello Captain, it’s awesome to meet you.

Captain: Ahoy matey, welcome to the sea.

Everyone: Ahoy!

 

Jack: How’s everything going?

Captain: It’s going well, can’t complain. The other night I was touching everyone’s heads and called them little boy or little man because I am Captain Yarface, welcome to the sea.

Everyone: Ahoy!

 

Jack: Was it rum you were drinking?

Captain: No,no burgundy bullets. Oh no, was some rum involved last night actually. I am Captain Yarface, welcome to the sea.

Everyone: Ahoy!

 

Jack: What’s your favourite brand to drink?

Captain: Captain Morgans obviously, or any other liquid I can pour down my throat, I am Captain Yarface, welcome to the sea.

Everyone: Ahoy!

 

Jack: Having the niche audience, when you first started that brand of music what inspired you to do pirate metal?

Captain: Well, this is just my life. I’ve lived on a ship, I was born underwater. I thought I’d write songs for people who want to listen about my life who want to jump around. I am Captain Yarface, welcome to the sea.

Everyone: Ahoy!

 

Jack: I don’t think I’m ever going to get sick of them saying ahoy.

Captain: They never stop that’s what they do. That’s what a crew does. I am Captain Yarface, welcome to the sea.

Everyone: Ahoy!

 

Jack: Oh you’ve even got me doing it now. And the record’s just dropped, The Triumph Of Piracy. How does it feel to have those songs out in the open?

Captain: Very good. I wanted to call it the triumph of Captain Yarface, welcome to the sea.

Everyone: Ahoy!

Captain: But you know, that is a bit of a mouthful so Piracy will have to do.

Jack: And the opening track is Ahoy.

Captain: A pirate’s favourite word.

 

Jack: And the last few dates of the tour how’ve the reaction been?

Captain: Oh it’s been good you know? Some people do get a little intimidated when they see a bunch of people in balaclavas but by the end of the show, we have them. We just have to protect our identities. We just do a bit too much of pillaging and so you know you can’t see people and not expect them to be upset. So the balaclava helps with that. It’s actually my face, I just have two eye holes.

 

Jack: It sounds like we’re in an episode of Rick and Morty.

Captain Oh no, Rick and Morty based their life on me. I am Captain Yarface, welcome to the sea.

Everyone: Ahoy!

 

Jack: And you guys are on Napalm Records. How’d you end up signing with them?

Captain: Well, they actually came to me and said, Captain Yarface, please let us sign you  and I said okay.

 

Jack: And hows the songwriting process on the record?

Captain: It can be easy and tricky. It’s just worked I guess. We all live in North Carolina and it just wrote it all itself and came together quite well.

 

Jack: And on the last few dates of the tour has anybody been made to walk the plank at all?

captain: No, I’ve made a lot of people jump up and down a lot though. There’s been no walking the plank because we’re on land at the moment I am Captain Yarface, welcome to the sea.

Everyone: Ahoy!

 

Jack: But what is most interesting is the sub genre. It’s always interesting to listen to something different.

Captain: Oh, Pirate metals been out for a long time.

Jack: It’s something that’s im coming to love becaue when I heard it for the first time I thought, I absolutely love this, I want to see what this is like in a live setting.

Captain: Getting drunk and being jolly, that’s what we want.

Jack: Well, then you’d fit right in down in Middlesbrough and going onto the rum talk again, in your opinion hats the best brnad in the world?

Captain: Oh I might be a bit biased on that but being from North Carolina I like Bundaberg rum. The best on the earth.

 

Jack: And what else in store for rumahoy in 2018?

Captain: Some festivals, main stage shows, Summerbreeze, the 5pm slots.  I am captain yarface because those are the best ones. Welcome to the sea.

Everyone:Ahoy!

 

Jack: And is there anything else you’d like to say?

Captain: I’d like to say ahoy, piracy, kettled corn, and chips

Jack: What about gravy?

Captain: Oh no, I had too much gravy last night.

 

You can watch Rumahoy’s video for Forest Party below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heart Of A Coward Announce New Vocalist

In March, British metal group Heart Of A Coward parted ways with their vocalist, Jamie Graham who was also a founding member of the band.

After auditioning to fill the void left by Graham, the band have confirmed that No Consequence vocalist Kaan Tasan will be taking the spot in the band.

The band shared the following statement on the matter.

“With over 200 submissions to consider, we all had something specific in mind. By no means did we want a carbon copy. We wanted someone that could give the band a new lease of life. As soon as we heard Kaan’s demos we all felt it was a no brainer. Already a good friend of the band, Kaan has been on the road with us and seen it all – so is no stranger to the way we do things. This new chapter has rekindled our love for the band and writing music together.”

 

Tasan also said:

“It’s been an exciting new path joining Heart Of A Coward. I’ve always been a fan of the band so to be involved in writing the next record is an awesome experience to say the least! The transformation has felt completely natural and everything has clicked straight away. It’s an exciting year for the band and I’m looking forward to taking to the stage and leading our most ferocious live shows to date!”

 

Alongside this, the band have also released a video of their new single, ‘Collapse’.

More Bands Announced For Download Festival

In just ten weeks, Download Festival will be upon us! With it nearing, 21 more bands have been announced.

Here’s who else is playing!

Anchor Lane

Andrew W.K

Avatar

Bad Cop/Bad Cop

Bad Religion

Being As An Ocean

Black Foxxes

Cellar Darling

CKY

Culture Abuse

DED

Ecca Vandal

Hell Is For Heroes

Helpless

Igorrr

Kaiser Franz Josef

Lawnmower Deth

Loathe

Nothing More

Starcrawler

For the full lineup, it’s below for your viewing pleasure.

Along with the new additions, the festival has announced WWE NXT Live will be returning to the festival as well!

Check out who’ll be there below!

This year’s Download Festival will take place June 8th – 10th 2018 at Donington Park, Derby.

 

Mike Shinoda, Trash Boat & More Announced For Reading & Leeds Festival

The Reading & Leeds festival just got a whole load of announcements. This includes Mike Shinoda, Chase Atlantic, The Used, Trash Boat, The Faim and so many more!

They’re joining up with Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Waterparks, Creeper and more!

The festival takes place August 24th – 26th at Richfield Avenue and Bramham Park.

Here is the full lineup so far!

2000 Trees Festival Announces More Bands

If I was going to 2000 Trees I’d be sold on the lineup already but that isn’t the end of the announcements for it yet!

The festival has announced another 20 bands to the line-up.

 

Here is who’s been added.

Frightened Rabbit

Blood Red Shoes

And So I Watch You From Afar

My Vitrol

Black Honey

Queen Kwong

Vukovi

Blood Command

Brutus

Funeral Shakes

Gloo

Dead!

Nova Twins

Bloody Knees

Muskets

PD Liddle

No Violet

Phoxjaw

Warshy

Soeur

 

The Festival takes place at Upcote Farm, Cheltenham between 12th – 14th July.

A Conversation With… Erik Chandler (Bowling For Soup)

Newcastle O2 Academy.  10/02/18.

Legends of Punk Rock Bowling For Soup were back in the UK celebrating ‘Drunk Enough To Dance’s’ fifteenth anniversary in February and with plenty of history in the band, 2018 is shaping up to be a pretty amazing year for them. I caught up with Erik Chandler to see what’s been happening and what’s coming up.

 

Jack: Hello Erik, awesome to meet you. How’s everything going?

Erik: It’s going well. How are you?

 

Jack: I’m pretty well, I’m sat talking to you. I actually just got up to Newcastle and am psyched for the gig tonight. How excited have you guys been to come to the UK?

Erik: Well, this is a really exciting tour since we’re doing our album, Drunk Enough To Dance in its entirety and you have to think about it this way. When you release an album, you ’re playing every track so some of these songs, we have not played since we were in the studio recording them fifteen years ago. But it’s been fun working them out and getting them into show shape.

 

Jack: Are are there any cheat sheets on the stage at all?

Erik: There may or may not be. There are a couple of little ones for the show last night but they’re all gone now.

 

Jack: And soon you’ll be celebrating your twenty-fourth year as a band right?

Erik: In June it will be twenty-four years.

 

Jack: Oh god, I cant think of doing anything for twenty-four years. And what do you make that in terms of longevity into your guy’s career?

Erik: We never had any idea when we started out that it would be going on for this long and that wasn’t the plan to be able to make a career out of it but we’re all extremely luck yot be doing this and still be doing it and having fun which is the most important thing about it.

 

Jack: But there’s always going to be some ups and downs along the way. I remember saying you guys wouldn’t be coming back to the UK.

Erik: Now wait, we never said we weren’t coming back to the UK. This is where you guys little rumour mills occur. We said we were taking some time and figure out how to do this and manage our home lives.

 

Jack Oh absolutely, I can imagine because you guys have families.

Erik: Yeah and there’s stuff happening everywhere. People having kids and people having personal issues and stuff like that where we were going so hard for so long so we needed to take a break and get all this other stuff sorted before we end up ruining our idea of the band before it doesn’t feel like fun anymore and becomes a job or a chore to do. And we took a little bit of time off and managed to do that, everyone’s got their stuff worked out now and we’re back in full force.

 

Jack: And the band released Drunk Dynasty via Crowdfunding. How exactly did you guys to do it like that?

Erik: Several years ago, it started becoming obvious that was the direction the music industry was going and if you can figure it out and do it well then it’s an amazing way for your fans to be completely interactive in the whole process of making the record. I remember it was originally supposed to be an EP but the idea was to do six songs and while we were in the studio we were recording so fast and kocking the songs out, we came into the studio one day and we thought new plan where the pre order from pegdemusic was in affect so we decided to announce instead of an EP, this is going to be a full-length album and you can still pre order it for the price of an EP at a reduced price which turned out to be a great way to give the fans soething a bit more than what they initially paid for andeveryone was really stocked to do that.

 

Jack: And has there been any more collaborations? I know you guys did Happy as Happy Gets with Kelly from The Dollyrots whom you guys have worked with a bunch of times. Has there been any more with anyone at the moment?

Erik: Not with the full band, Kelly and Jaret are work on a duets album at the moment but that’s not Bowling For Soup.

 

Jack: And is there anything you’re working on personally at the moment?

Jack: Personal I am writing new songs for my solo project but that’s a little bit down the road. We released a few years ago and bowling for soup will be really busy for the next several months so I’ll just be writing and we’ll get the songs together so we’ll get studio time figured out when studio time comes about.

 

Jack: I remember maybe about six or seven years ago, you and Jaret did Bowling For Soup Acoustic, would you ever do that again?

Erik: Absolutely, it’s just we haven’t had the opportunity to do that and so, it’s been a while since we’ve done it but it’s not off the table because we had a blast doing it and the reaction we had on the last couple of acoustic tours has been great. You’ve been into it but we’d love to do it again but that would be a little down the road if we were to do that again.

 

Jack: Looking forward into 2018, would you guys be coming back to the UK for any festivals?

Erik: That’s up in the air right now because it’s getting close to the time where it needs to be booked. We’re doing the final Vans Warped Tour in the States so we’d be able to fit festivals in with that schedule.

 

Jack: Oh, I’d probably say I’d love to come across and see you and that festival more than anything in the summer. It’s the final hurrah for that.

Erik: I don’t think it’s going to be the end of Warped Tour, just the travelling Warped Tour. There’s not been anything specific but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned into a centerally located festival like you guys do here because people in the states have figured out that that’s a great way to do it with Coachella and Lalapalooza.

 

Jack: I’ve seen pictures from all the different festivals and I’ve thought right we’ve got download and Leeds and Reading, Slam Dunk so at least we have those.  You guys played slam dun, didn’t you?

Erik: That was great. We really had a blast, and it’s always fun playing those sort of festivals.

 

Jack: And is there anything you wanna say before we wrap things up?

Erik: Thank you for coming out to chat to me

Jack: And thank you for taking to the time to. It’s been awesome.

 

Here’s Bowling For Soup’s latest video for ‘Catalyst’.

Eva Plays Dead Announce UK Tour

Yesss! In Addition to their new EP, ‘The Fix’ as well as their two headlining shows celebrating the release of it, Eva Plays Dead have announced a run of shows at the beginning of May. Support will be from All Ear Avow

Here are all the upcoming dates for Eva Plays Dead.

 

April 2018

26th – London Thousand Island *EP RELEASE SHOW*

30th – Nottingham The Bodega *EP RELEASE SHOW*

 

May 2018

2nd – Newcastle Little Buildings

3rd – Birmingham The Hammer & The Anvil

4th – Manchester Satan’s Hollow

5th – Lancaster The Bobbin

6th – Leicester The Shed

7th – Ashford The Junction

 

Tickets are available now.

 

 

You can listen to their latest single ‘Get Back’ below.

 

Following the release of ‘Get Back’, lead singer Tiggy has been extremely open about her experiences with mental health and aims to help improve awareness of mental health conditions. She has produced a Q & A video answering fans questions on loving with Bipolar Disorder.

Music Video’s 27/03/18

Hey everyone, apologies that this post is coming late at the moment. Things are crazy on my course and everything in between at the moment so I haven’t had the time to do this post but it’s here now. Let’s get the music posts going but first, if you’re new, the list is ten of the best recently released music video’s from around the world and it ranges from the Pop-Punk, Rock, Metal, Heavy genres so first up is I Don’t Know How But They Found Me. It’s the creation of Dallon Weekes and Ryan Seaman’s delight of a project and here is their latest video.

 

Now, this next video is from Best Ex. Formally known as Candy Hearts, the band changed their name but still going in that rocking direction for the music. Here is their latest video for Jellyfish.

 

Back in January, Modern Error were the ones to keep an eye on and with Blackout Poetry their first offering for music in 2018, it’s evident that this is true.

 

Next, this band are due to set off on a huge 22 date headline tour of the UK which is rumoured to end the cycle of their sixth record, ‘Safe In Sound’ and ahead of this trek, dropped a video for ‘I Would’. IT showcases achieved footage of the band’s time on the road since dropping their latest album.

 

The next band in question The Bunny The Bear released their latest record less than a year ago but now they’re working on the follow up at the moment. For now, though, we do have their lead single, ‘Let Go’. It’s also the first to feature their new vocalist, known only for now as The Bear replacing Joseph Garcia who stepped down from vocal duties last year.

 

Up And Comers from Birmingham, UK are Layover. They’ve just recently dropped a video for the track ‘Slumber’ of their soon to be released EP, ‘Your Laughter Never Leaves’.

 

Currently touring off his tenth studio record, Say10 and with an upcoming co-headline run of shows with Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson has now released a video for the track, ‘Tattooed In Reverse’.

 

Next, is Queens Of The Stone Age. They’re preparing for their biggest UK to date this summer at Finsbury Park but until then, they have released the video for ‘Head Like A Haunted House’. It’s taken from their seventh record, ‘Villains’ which was released last year.

 

Going to the metalcore genre for the penultimate video is the band Shields. They’re gearing up to drop their full-length record ‘Life In Exile’, next month and ahead of its release they’ve released a video for it’s second single, ‘Black Dog’.

They’ve dedicated the track and video to George Christie, the band’s guitarist who tragically took his own life earlier this year.

 

Now here we are at the last video. They only released their brand new EP ‘All The Things I Never Said’ a few weeks ago and now Pale Waves have dropped a brand new video for their stunning track, ‘Heavenly’.

 

And that’s it for another round of music videos. I am doing my best to keep up with these posts but life sometimes just gets in the way and you have to prioritise things in your life. I am going to continue this but the next music video post will be coming back to the usual Friday upload from next week!

 

Mark Hoppus, Hayley Willams and More Take Part In “March For Our Lives”

Popular musicians including Mark Hoppus, Billie Joe Armstrong, Alex Gaskarth, Hayley Williams and more have voiced their support for the ‘March For Our Lives’ which took place across the US this past weekend (March 24th). The event was organised in response to the February shooting at Stoneman Douglas Highschool in Parkland, Florida Which left 17 people dead.

Thousands attended marches across the country with the central event in Washington DC led by several survivors from the shooting who gave speeches at the rally.

 

Here’s what happened at the rally.

 

so proud of my hometown and so proud of the students that started this. we’re back here in nashville callin BS! #EnoughIsEnough @march4OLnash pic.twitter.com/JXPJxtlPWY

— hayley from Paramore (@yelyahwilliams) March 24, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

TODAY I SAW THE FUTURE WITH MY OWN TWO EYES #marchforourlives #neveragain https://t.co/bD1M2DIlCh—
h (@halsey) March 24, 2018

 

 

 

 

March safely, friends! ♥️✌️#MarchForOurLives

— LANEGŌØN (@LYNNGVNN) March 24, 2018

 

 

 

Keep on marching.
Keep on demonstrating.
Keep on fighting for what’s right.
❤️

— Alexander William (@AlexAllTimeLow) March 24, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Candid photo of my family, me, and a few hundred thousand of our closest friends at the March For Our Lives event today.

A post shared by Mark Hoppus (@markhoppus) on Mar 24, 2018 at 7:59pm PDT

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

#marchforourlives #notrumpnonranofascistusa #gunreformnow #neveragain #oakland

A post shared by Billie Joe Armstrong (@billiejoearmstrong) on Mar 24, 2018 at 1:30pm PDT

Jonathan Vigil (The Ghost Inside) Offers Health Update After His Latest Surgery

The Ghost Inside’s Jonathan Vigil has provided an update on his health after his latest surgery.

Vigil underwent an angle fusion in September 2017 but has now said, “My doctor told me that my bott can come off and I can start physical therapy to learn how to walk again.”

Here is his full post from Instagram.

“Although I tend complain about the speed of it, progress is progress. I decided to go through with a (very dreaded) ankle fusion in September. After spending two years in/on wheelchairs, crutches, walkers and canes, I decided that I couldn’t live with the pain anymore. The benefit being a more solid joint with significantly reduced pain. The downside is a complete loss of movement in my ankle. Coming from being fairly active (playing shows, hockey, etc.) it was a very hard reality to accept. In my heart of hearts, I knew things were never gonna be the same again but that didn’t stop me from always wanting to believe otherwise.

You may read that as me being pessimistic but it’s actually the opposite. Things aren’t how they were anymore, they’re just different. It’s the fact that I can get around easier now with less pain. It’s me not having to rely on others to do basic things anymore. It’s me regaining self sufficiency. It’s waking up everyday a little bit better than the day before. It’s beginning to live my life again, not necessarily worse, just different.

And at a time when it felt like it was going to be terrible forever, I progressed. Strides were made. Every day. Some days more than others, some more noteworthy than others but strides nonetheless. Today I progressed. My doctor told me that my boot can come off and I can start physical therapy to learn how to walk again. With no more pending surgeries or hospital stays planned, I can’t help but be happy.

Progress is slow. Progress is tough. Progress is frustrating. But after everything, progress is still progress.”

View this post on Instagram

Although I tend to complain about the speed of it, progress is progress. I decided to go through with a (very dreaded) ankle fusion in September. After spending two years in/on wheelchairs, crutches, walkers and canes, I decided that I couldn’t live with the pain anymore. The benefit being a more solid joint with significantly reduced pain. The downside is a complete loss of movement in my ankle. Coming from being fairly active (playing shows, hockey, etc.) it was a very hard reality to accept. In my heart of hearts, I knew things were never gonna be the same again but that didn’t stop me from always wanting to believe otherwise —- You may read that as me being pessimistic but it’s actually the opposite. Things aren’t how they were anymore, they’re just different. It’s the fact that I can get around easier now with less pain. It’s me not having to rely on others to do basic things anymore. It’s me regaining self sufficiency. It’s waking up everyday a little bit better than the day before. It’s beginning to live my life again, not necessarily worse, just different —- And at a time when it felt like it was going to be terrible forever, I progressed. Strides were made. Every day. Some days more than others, some more noteworthy than others but strides nonetheless. Today I progressed. My doctor told me that my boot can come off and I can start physical therapy to learn how to walk again. With no more pending surgeries or hospital stays planned, I can’t help but be happy —- Progress is slow. Progress is tough. Progress is frustrating. But after everything, progress is still progress

A post shared by Jonathan Vigil (@jonathanvigil) on Mar 22, 2018 at 5:14pm PDT

As It Is Announce Acoustic Tour

As It Is have only finished up their recent UK dates and now, they’ve announced their UK headline tour return with a twist! They have now announced they will tour the UK for an intimate stripped back and acoustic shows across the UK ahead of their Slam Dunk appearances in May!

The evenings are set to see the band play stripped back versions of their track with conversations about the band’s history to date.

Here are the dates for the tour.

May 2018

21st – Norwich Arts Centre

22nd – Sheffield Plug

24th – Bristol The Lantern

25th – London St Pancras Old Church

Real Friends Cancel Upcoming Appearances

Real Friends have sadly had to cancel their upcoming shows all over the place in places such as Australia, Europe and the UK to focus on their mental health.

 

Dan Lambton wrote the following statement.

“Hello everybody, Dan here. I wanted to let you all know that Real Friends will be cancelling our upcoming international appearances in Australia, Europe, and the UK,”wrote frontman Dan Lambton.

“This has come recommended by both the band and my psychiatrist so I can have time to continue learning to live and deal with my diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Since coming home from recording, I am sober, on new medication, and undergoing an intensive outpatient group therapy program per the recommendation of my therapist.”

“I am continuing to better myself so that Warped Tour this summer will be a fresh start for not only me, but for Real Friends as a whole. We all want to be the best possible versions of ourselves as individuals and in turn be the best possible version of Real Friends.”

“We appreciate your support and understanding, and we want to note that this conversation about mental health will continue, but for now I’ll be continuing my treatment, and we’ll make Warped Tour something so special for you all. Thank you all for your love and support.”

 

I plan on making a more detailed and elaborate statement concerning these cancellations once I can give the proper time to it because I feel that you all deserve to know what is going on, how my actions have affected those around me, and how I am taking steps to better myself.

— Dan Lambton (@donnylumpkins) March 23, 2018