wasted! magazine issue 15

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w w w. e d w a r d r o b e r t. c o m

EditorZoe Blush

DesignersZoe Blush

ImageryJake Owens

Rosie WadeyMatthew DraperAmy Desmarais

WritersZoe Blush

Jake Owens

Event Organisers Zoe Blush Dan Laws

THIS MONTH:

05 ALT BEAUTIES: RUBY HEELS

07 INTERVIEW: THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

09 LIVE REVIEW: THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA & MORE!

11 INTERVIEW: WE CAME AS ROMANS

13 LIVE REVIEW: INME @ IVY BAR!

16 EVENTS

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[W! #15]

Hey everyone!

We start over on page 3 by introducing you to a lovely bunch of lads - ‘THE SECRET YEAR’, ‘TSARS’, ‘TROPHYS’ & ‘FIRST SIGN OF LIGHT’.

We have interviewed the frontmen of both ‘THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA’ (page 7) & ‘WE CAME AS ROMANS’ (page 11) head over & to read those!

We’ve got the fierce looking Miss Ruby Heels for this months ‘ALT BEAUTY’ over on page 5, photographed by Amy Desmarias.

We’ve been busy bees & could’ve been sighted at the likes of ‘TDWP’ (page 9), ‘ALESANA’ (page 10) & ‘INME’ (page 13) shows, go & see what we thought of them.

Next month will be featuring an interview with the likes of ‘INME’ & more! We also hope to be featuring reviews of In Ruins latest & may even have a little catch up with Silent Descent about their new album which is set to be released late March. We’re also going to be featuring a new rant column provided by Mr Steve Cross (Cross is Cross) STAY WASTED!

Lots of love, Zoe Blush xo

CONTENTS:

05 WE SEE WHAT GETS A VERY FIERCE LOOKING RUBY HEELS TICK

10 LIVE REVIEW: ALESANA

11 WE NATTER WITH WE CAME AS ROMANS FRONTMAN DAVE STEPHANS

07 SEE WHAT MIKE HAS GOT TO SAY

INTRODUCING:

WHO ARE YOU? We are 5 best pals from the county of Shropshire who love writing and performing music together. WHERE ARE YOU GOING? 2012 we plan to kick start off our first set of tours around the UK with Aperture Artist Management (www.facebook.com/aperturemanagement) WHAT ARE YOUR INTENTIONS? Our intentions are to make people as happy as we do when listening to our music. We feel that music is a very touching and emotional thing

and we want to send those posotive vibes over to our fans!

WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT? We don’t scream, We don’t have breakdowns. Don’t get us wrong, some of us love metal and heavy music but our music will never be anything close to that. WHY SHOULD OUR READERS LISTEN TO “THE SECRET YEAR?” We have our debut EP coming out soon along with our debut music video so there will be plenty to look forward to!

3

WHO ARE YOU? We are Trophys, a 3 piece electro/synth/pop/alternative band from Maidstone in Kent. We are Conor Rowlan (Synth,samples,vocals), Mitch Duce (Guitar, vocals) and Ben Fagg (Drums, samples, vocals). We all when to the same school together but there is a two year difference between Mitch, Ben

and Conor. Conor was in a previous band called ‘Audio Karma’ and as that band ended were looking for a new guitarist. This is where we met Mitch and went onto form Trophys. Ben is our most recent member joining around Christmas time 2011. WHERE ARE YOU GOING? We are looking to release an EP before the

WHO ARE YOU? We are First Sign Of Light from the Gravesend/Medway area.

Adam – Guitar Grant – Bass & Vocals Ian – Guitar & Vocals Tom - Drums

WHERE ARE YOU GOING? We are currently working on our first album ‘Humagnitude,’ which we are recording and producing ourselves. Also, we have just started performing live, so we’re hoping to get an impressive number of dates under our belt this year.

WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT? We have the mantra that every idea should be explored. As a result we tackle everything from jazzy riffs and acoustic numbers to sludgy walls of noise. Currently we’re working on

a song in 5/4 and a trip-hop/rock track, so we have plenty to keep ears bending!

FUTURE GIGS We are honored and excited to be sharing a stage with Maine River and Evarane, not to mention three exciting acoustic acts. That’s at Leo’s Red Lion, Gravesend on 24th March. CONTACT: [email protected] www.soundcloud.com/fsolband www.myspace.com/fsolband

summertime and tour is extensively. We are looking to get as big as possible and help create a new, innovative and creative scene in the Maidstone area. At the moment we are just booking festivals and booking shows to keep ourselves busy. WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT? We are different because we are trying to distance ourselves from our local scene, there isn’t a scene in Maidstone so we’ve tried playing around Kent in different towns and play in London a lot. We’re also different to other bands in Maidstone, there isn’t any of synth/electro bands at

all around here its all shit rock and roll bands.

FUTURE GIGS 14th March @ Bull & Gate – Kentish Town 24th March @ Tunbridge Wells Forum – Tunbridge Wells w/Being There, Hymmel & MAMMOTHS 25th March @ Lock Tavern - Camden 18th April @ Electricity Showrooms – Hoxton 1st June @ Stag Arts Center - Sevenoaks CONTACT [email protected] http://soundcloud.com/trophys http://trophys.bigcartel.com/

WHO ARE YOU? Lawrence: We are Tsars. Corey: A four-piece progressive indie band from South London. Alexi: Corey, Lawrence, Ross and Alexi. Corey: Me, Alexi and Ross met during school, whilst Alexi and Lawrence met whilst studying at Greek school. After messing about with a few bands in this time the four of us decided to start a band together with

Law as our drummer just last year. WHAT ARE YOUR INTENTIONS? Corey: We’re just trying to play around as much as we can really, get as many people listening to us as possible. Alexi: Write, record and perform music really, and to get it out to as many people as possible. Ross: Yeah I think that’s the plan for now, where that leads us is another thing.

WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT? Lawrence: Having fun with music; playing around with sounds and constantly learning new styles from the music we like. Corey: I think we’re quite accessible as a band, whilst a lot of bands playing similar things to us try to make things overly complicated we just play what we enjoy listening to really, without the frills. Lawrence: Taking the future as it comes. At the moment we are having fun making songs and playing them. I don’t think its like we stand out from ‘crappy’ bands, that’s a bit harsh to say crappy as they might be just weird and different, but we really love what we play and love to show that on stage and in our songs. Alexi: We are truly passionate about the songs we play, they all represent and express a great deal for us. Ross: What sets us apart I think is that we are not making music for anyone but

ourselves, and that results in the sincerity of the music that you hear.

UPCOMING DATES March 6th – Beercart, Canterbury March 10th – Ex-Serviceman, Corby March 11th – The Fenton, Leeds March 27th – The Workshop, London April 10th – The Garage, London April 14th – The Peel, Kingston

CONTACT [email protected]

Band camp: www.tsars.bandcamp.com

NAME/AGE/LOCATION Ruby Heels, 30, Manchester

TELL US THREE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF?I have a photographic memory.I collect Joker memorabilia.I wish I could live in the Tar-dis. Think of that space for shoes....

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING? Work in an office. WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? Burlesque performer, costumier, artist, trouble-

maker.

WHAT IS YOUR CUR-RENT FA-

VOURITE BAND/

STYLE OF

RUBY

HEEL

S

MUSIC? Ledfoot - gothic blues all the way.

WHAT WAS THE BEST LIVE SHOW YOU’VE BEEN TO & WHY? Rob Zombie at Manches-ter Academy last year. Gi-ant robots, massive video screens, pyros, flames - just the most incredible spectacle ever!

WE FIND YOU PASSED OUT IN YOUR TOWN CENTRE, DRUNK OUT OF YOUR TROLLEY ON A SATURDAY NIGHT. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN & WHAT HAVE YOUBEEN DRINKING? Out with friends, dancing like a loon and drinking cham-pagne from the bottle.

DO YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL HABITS OR HOBBIES? I love astronomy - my neigh-bours often spot me outside in the middle of the night in my pjs trying see meteor showers.

NO. 1 CELEB/BAND CRUSH? Tom Hardy. Oh yes.

WHAT IS YOUR CLAIM TO FAME? I once ended up in a drag bar with Placebo where we spent the

night drinking vodka and eating satsumas.

GIVE US YOUR BEST CHAT UP LINE? How yooou doin’? Hehe!

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FUN-NIEST/MOST EMBARRASSING

SEXUAL/ROMANTIC EXPERI-ENCE? When a mate of mine stopped the music in a bar and serenaded me in front of all of my friends. Nice thought but I just wasn’t into him. Everyone just

stared. Mortifying!

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR-

SELF IN 5 YEARS TIME? Living in Paris, selling pretty things and leaving a cloud of glit-ter in my wake.

ARRIVING AT THE VENUE DURING THE SOUND CHECK, I AM TREATED TO A NICE SIT DOWN AS THE BAND WRAP UP AND MIKE WANDERS OVER TO HAVE A CHAT. LET’S FIND OUT WHAT ONE OF METALS MOST RECOGNISABLE FRONTMEN HAS TO SAY ABOUT HIS BAND, THE UK AND ADAM D (WHO REMAINS THE MAN! – JAKE).

SO HOW ARE YOU FINDING TOURING THE UK?“It’s great, we’ve toured here a number of times before and all the reactions have been really good, so we just needed to follow it up and start doing headline stuff which is what we’re doing now. So far like half the

shows have sold out or something like that, so its been fantastic, it’s coming along well.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE TOURING WITH THE SUPPORT BANDS (BROTHERHOOD OF THE LAKE, LAST WITNESS)“Honestly… We haven’t hung out too much, it’s been tight quarters and bus calls have been a little bit off so its not like we’ve been out drinking a whole lot or anything, so I don’t have much to comment in such regards.”

SO WAS IT A DELIBERATE DECISION TO PLAY LOTS OF SMALLER VENUES ON THIS TOUR, INSTEAD OF A FEW LARGE ONES?“Yeah a little bit, we’ve been over here a few times, always supporting but really we haven’t established ourselves enough to play these bigger rooms… But I guess you don’t wanna play big rooms and not sell a lot of tickets so it is a conscious decision and it makes it fun and I know actually a lot of fans have commented on how much they really enjoy an intimate show.”

YOU PLAYED WARPED TOUR LAST SUMMER, HOW WAS THAT FOR YOU GUYS?“It was our 3rd time, we were on main stage, which is always really good, huge crowds and all, and we definitely feel that we fit in with warped tour as it is now. Yeah its always great, and we get along with the people that run it really well, and Kevin who puts on the tour, it always goes really well, we just make the effort not to become typecast as a ‘Warped Tour’ band as a lot of bands do nowadays.”

WHAT ARE THE BANDS PLANS FOR SUMMER THIS YEAR?“This summer we’re doing Mayhem Fest, which is also put on by Kevin who does Warped Tour, and Mayhem is much more a metal, heavier tour. We’re doing that, the headliners are Slayer and Slipknot, so we’re really excited coz we like both of those bands a lot so it should be a good one.”

AND ANY UK FESTIVALS?

“I don’t know if we’re going to be doing UK festivals this year, we did Download last year and some stuff in Germany, but I think this year we’re taking it off, I’ve not heard too much, it’s kinda on the management end but if we don’t do it this year we’ll definitely be pushing for it in 2013.”

YOUR LATEST ALBUM DEAD THRONE HAS BEEN OUT A WHILE NOW, HOW DO YOU GUYS FEEL ABOUT IT?Mike: I feel really, really good about it, normally every time we put out a record, by the time it finally comes out it’s like I’m just exhausted of it or like, I already wanna move past it. But with Dead Throne, it’s been out since September and here we are in February and I’m still really content with how the record sounds and what we did with it, and what Adam did with us on it, so yeah, I’m still stoked on it, and I’m really satisfied that we were able to put something out that can sit so well with us and really represent us, which is what we were trying to do.”

SO THE FANS ARE LOVING IT THEN?“Yeah, it’s gone over really well which is also very rewarding, you know, when you put out a record there’s always sort of expectations that you’re supposed to meet and all this, and it’s tricky but the reaction to Dead Throne was fantastic, you know I’d say it was even better than what we had for With Roots Above…, our 3rd full length, and the crowds at the shows have been all about the songs and singing along and whatnot, and from a critics perspective reviews have been solid as well.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH ADAM D?“It was awesome, it was our 1st time working with Adam producing and engineering, and he’s a crazy, crazy man. He’s also extremely capable and extremely talented and competent at what he does and it was a pleasure to be able to work with him and I really like what he did with Dead Throne, he’s just this

mastermind of sorts.”

WHAT’S THE BEST THING THE FANS HAVE DONE FOR YOU RECENTLY?“I don’t ask for anything really, I don’t ask the world from fans… Something that Dead Throne is meant to portray and something that is always awesome to receive is just people that came out for the music and people that understand what we’re trying to do. And we’ve already had that every show so far, by the dozen so far as fans who are just into it. We wanna be treated like normal people, and we expect our fans to be normal people that wanna come see some heavy music and as… Minor as that sounds, its always feels really good to us to shake someones hand who says ‘That was a great show’, and nothing like a huge deal meeting us you know? Because we know that nobody’s THAT special, so when we meet those fans it’s always very welcoming and I’m always appreciative of that.”

FINALLY DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOUR UK FANS?“Well, we’ve just been really stoked that so many people have come out to the shows so far, and not to overuse the word, it’s really rewarding to feel that appreciation and for people to be really catching onto Dead Throne over here. We’re excited that everyone has been supporting us so much and we’re definitely gunna make it a priority to come back here more often.

After our chat, it’s time to run for a quick photoshoot round the back of the venue before Mike has to run to his other duties. Speaking of which, the review is over a few pages, get turning!

Tonight’s show is probably the best way to beat those pre-valentines day blues; what better way to have a blast than with one of the USA’s most prolific metal bands and some UK counterparts?

First up are Brotherhood Of The Lake, who are in all honesty, a bit strange. They sound like a fairly regular hardcore/metal crossover act, but their use of consistently eerie samples between tracks and heartfelt lyrics make them stand out more than the average band. They make a fairly slow start, but pick up the pace towards the end of their set, making the last

@ Oxford Academy with Brotherhood

Of The Lake & Last Witness

few tracks perfectly acceptable to nod your noggin’ to. (7/10)

Next on the bill are another hardcore act; this time it’s Last Witness. As someone who isn’t a huge hardcore fan, I’ll stick to the facts for this bit… They’re tight, and despite early technical difficulties maintain their high energy levels throughout the set, with plenty of stomping and jumping and other such moves. Late in the set some more metal influences are brought out (a bit) and for a little while it sounds a bit like The Ghost Inside, which is a good thing. If you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll love them, if not

then you’ll find them to be perfectly serviceable and actually not bad at all. (7/10)

After what seems like a long wait, The Devil

Wears Prada are on stage and launching straight into Dead Throne. The band are incredibly tight, as you’d expect from a group which has been together for this long and has been commended for live

performances. They’re also ridiculously

heavy live, with Mike’s screams

sounding powerful and the bassline and drums thundering

along. The synths are also clear, which isn’t usually the case but makes a very nice change (well done man on the sound desk, you rule!). A well chosen set also helps the crowd to get into the performance with everything from Plagues to Dead Throne chucked in for good measure (tracks from the Zombie EP are some of the best live tracks I’ve ever heard –Jake), and very little time spent talking between songs is a welcome change too. Over all, the band have cemented themselves as one of, if not THE best metalcore band in the world right now, and the crowd loves them for it. Really, really impressive stuff (10/10) - Jake Owens

Despite the small crowd gathered at the Electric Ballroom in Camden the atmosphere is still buzzing with a lulled excitement. Early doors meant openers Glamour of the Kill only played to a scattering of people, but their energetic sound and infectious bass lines still got the crowd moving and hyped for the remaining bands. As the only UK band on the bill, they make it clear to me that the British music scene is moving in the right direction; they would not feel out of place playing big stages all over the world. (7/10)

After a well structured and generic set from the York glam metallers, iwrestledabearonce took to the stage and changed everyone’s perception of what music should sound like. Their hyperactive riffs, childhood inspired samples and playful crowd interaction really set this band apart. Claiming the ‘floor is made of lava’ sends the crowd into a frenzy as wild as the music itself. Iwrestledabearonce are truly the band of the night. Regardless of your thoughts on their records, live, they struggle to be beaten. (9/10)

As a contrast to the wild, technical set of IWABO; We Came as Roman’s charming post-hardcore keeps the crowd in high spirits. Their powerful sound, synchronised stage moves and uplifting lyrics sung with duel vocals could come across as boring and overworked but WCAR deliver their music with a certain appeal and should be considered as high-flyers in their genre. The crowd are clearly impressed with how tight the band have become since their last visit here and the reception is fantastic. WCAR are a live band that makes you feel excited to be there as well as feeling like part of something special. (8/10)

Unfortunately, the headliners Alesana appeared to b e out of their depth and nervous about following such solid bands. Their strange stage antics and minimal crowd interaction meant that for those experiencing Alesana for the first time felt excluded from the show and less important. Although they were a tight band variation in their song seemed to be lacking. The hardcore Alesana fans were the band’s saving grace, pumping the room full of gang vocals and bringing more energy to the rest of the crowd than the band had managed in their entire set. A disappointing effort from a childhood favourite. (6.5/10)

Overall the show was enjoyable due to the diversity of the line up. The crowd tonight has been the most inactive I have seen at the Electric Ballroom, but regardless of this, each band has made a solid effort to gain new fans and keep their old ones happy.

Review by Hannah Oakford

What with being one of the internets favourite bands, it would be easy to imagine that it had all gone to the heads of the guys from WCAR, but that is simply not the case. Dave was kind enough to invite us into the bands space on the tour bus to talk touring, recording and derp faces. Naturally.

SO HOW DO YOU FEEL THE FANS HAVE RECEIVED YOUR LATEST ALBUM? ”Uh, it’s been selling really well, so I hope… well? Haha. The crowds seem to love it though, which is cool.”

HOW ARE YOU FINDING TOURING THE UK AT THE MOMENT, WHAT WITH ALL OUR SNOW? “Well we just came from Scandinavia so this is pretty tropical haha!”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU GUYS THEN? NEW ALBUMS? TOURS? ”Yeah um, we’re doing a big American headliner right after this… Oh actually right after this we’re going to Japan, which is gunna be awesome, it’s the 1st time we’ve ever gone there, but everyone says its awesome. And THEN we do our big American headliner… we’re bringing out Emmure, The Colour Morale, Blessthefall, Woe, Is me, it’s gunna be really awesome! And then we go to the Philippines and then in May to South America for the 1st time, so we’re getting to see quite a bit of the world, it’s a pretty big year for us.”

WHERE IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO PLAY IN THE UK AND WHY?

“I like London, we’ve always done well here. And it’s a big city, there’s a lot of things to do like…although I only got like 2 hours today to go explore, so I was kinda running, but it seems like you could spend

a week in one spot here.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SONG TO PLAY LIVE? “I really like playing Misunderstanding, it’s probably our heaviest song and it gets the crowd going… It’s fun.”

SO THIS ‘DERP FACE’ THING THAT’S GOING ROUND ONLINE… WHAT’S THAT ABOUT? “Andy, the whacko! Haha! Andy showed us a photo of his dad, I dunno, they were on a family trip or something, and his dad was doing this face and we just thought it was so funny. So yeah, we started doing it, then this character developed from it, then like a youtube channel and we made a t-shirt out of it… It’s a bit odd haha!”

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR DREAM LINE UP TO PLAY OR GO SEE? “To play… umm… Parkway drive again, it’s like something realistic I guess haha. You want me to dream, I’d like to tour with the Beatles haha! Realistically it’d be awesome to tour with Parkway again, coz they just kill it and it’d be nice to play to those huge crowds! I’d like to go watch… err… Underoath, Brand New, Story of the Year… urrr… Thrice? The Bled aaannnd… The Ghost Inside!”

SO WHAT IS THE NEXT THING YOU GUYS WANT TO ACHIEVE?

“Umm… We’re just gunna keep touring and we’re all very hard workers, and hard work is what got us where we are now so we’re just gunna keep doing that. We don’t really take breaks… I think the longest one I’ve had recently was 3 weeks right before this haha! But we’re always

doing something; Writing, recording, on tour or whatever, so we stay busy.”

WE HAVE SOME QUICK QUESTIONS, YOU JUST HAVE TO FILL IN THE BLANKS:

IF I WASN’T A MUSICIAN I WOULD BE… “A chef”

THE BEST THING ABOUT THE UK IS… Fish and chips! There’s a lot of history too!.” THE ALBUM I CURRENTLY HAVE ON REPEAT IS… “The Notwist - The Devil is You and Me, it’s pretty relaxing.”

MY GUILTY PLEASURE IS… “Regina Spektor, she’s a very girly pianist haha!”

THE BAND MEMBER WHO GETS TEASED THE MOST IT… “Probably Kyle.”

I WOULD LIKE AN ENDORSEMENT FROM… “Levis? Or… CHEVY! FREE CARS! Haha!”

SOMETHING FANS MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ME IS… “When I started the band I played guitar in it for a long time, then I sang and played keys and then when Kyle joined I actually started to scream.”

MY HERO IS… “Cliché as it sounds, my Dad!”

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME, DAVE. “No worries!”

@ IVY BAR WITH LOSTALONETo say it was a mission finding the venue would be a slight bit of an understatement. It’s a shame to say that by the time we actually made it to the show we only got to catch LostAlone & InMe, but we’ll let you know what we thought of them any-way.

Lost Alone - When Lost Alone first took to the stage the first thing that come to mind was that if Noel Fielding and the Horrors eloped, their spouse had just entered the room. Aside from that they had a very White Stripe kind of vibe to me, not entirely sure if that was just due to the Jake White style hair cut fashioned surprisingly well by the front-man. Getting back on topic, these boys really put their all

into this performance, deliver-ing barber shop-like vocals sung with impressive harmony to each other, together with lively, steady and catchy beats and an overall positive vibe. Definitely give these guys a listen if you’re mind is open to a wider variety of sound. (6.5/10)

InMe - They opened with ‘The Pride’ opener, ‘Reverie Shores’ which after only two days release, al-ready has dedicated fans shout-ing back the lyrics. They went serging through their set list with a lively stage presense, met by a wall of death for the obvi-ously more recognisable ‘Faster The Chase’. Personally noticing the lack of atmosphere from the crowd, the guys of InMe seemed to surpass this and go on with a heartfelt and heavy set. Working their way through technical difficulties, the vocal range recieved from Dave never ceases to amaze me. The crowd become more involved with more familiar tracks such as 7 weeks and we’re graced with another wall of death oppertu-nity during Ferocity In Desire. Overall a very lively and enjoy-able set but would have per-haps been more enjoyable at a bigger/more well known venue. (8/10)

We then stuck around to take some snaps of the guys for the interview that shall be featured in the next issue of WASTED!

wasted! magazine issue 15

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