Palms and Pelicans Online Interview

Hey guys. Hope your all doing well. Sorry there was no Top 5 songs blog post yesterday. There were 2 reasons for that. 1) was because I didn't have a Top 5 to begin with so I thought I could skip a week and 2) was because I became extremely busy with friends and just uni life in general. I'll try and get one to you next week but for now here's an interview with the lovely Palms and Pelicans. Hope you've had a great week and weekend and I look forward to all the interviews that should be coming up in the next week: 

How did you guys meet one another? 

Jack: I've known Mattea my whole life as our parents were friends before we existed!
Mattea: So we met as dribbling babies haha. Darren was in my year at school and in the same Music class as me.
Daryl: I met everyone through my brother at the pub. Beer bonding.

How was the band name created? 
Jack: We came up with it on rare hot, summery day - it just popped up out of nowhere and it stuck.

How would you describe the music your band creates? 
Daryl: It's Dream-Pop..  and it has elements of all sorts - grunge, shoegaze and pop

What are some of the themes and messages that come across in your songs?
Jack: All sorts - things like insomnia, insecurities, bad dreams, escapism, love, desire.
Mattea: We've discovered it's actually incredibly hard to write a happy subject.. we never normally deliberately set out to write about anything in particular. Sometimes I don't even realise what a song is about until after its written. You kind of spill out emotions into lyrics and hope for the best!

What are your plans for 2016? 
Darren: We're heading up North in March to get our new music down in the studio, going on tour in the summer and we're releasing new music very soon.
Mattea: Our next single, 'Comfortable'  and the music video is out at the end of Feb and we're doing a big headline show in Southampton to follow it up.
Jack: We're excited! 2016 is looking good. Lots in the pipeline.

Where can people find you on social media? 

facebook.com/palmsandpelicans
twitter.com/palmspelicans
instagram/palmsandpelicans
youtube.com/palmsandpelicans

Finally, if there was only one album you could listen to for the rest of your life which one would you choose and why? 

Jack: Nirvana - Nevermind. This was one of the first rock albums in my collection, influenced by my older cousin who seemed to have a good ear for music. Nothing compares to those melodies and crunchy grunge guitars. It's one of those albums that I re-visit often and am still blown away.
Mattea: The Stone Roses (self titled) because it's timeless and is just pure genius. Amazing melodies and perfect production. It honestly gets better with every listen and the songs still give me shivers. 
Daryl: Bon Iver (self titled). Captivating album start to finish. Justin Vernon's songwriting is incredible.
Darren: J Cole - The Sidelines Story. I love every single song on this album and there's some great old school, hip-hop drum beats which I like playing along to. 

Thank you to the band for answering my questions. If any other bands would like to be featured on this blog please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I will send you the questions. Thank you again to Palms and Pelicans for answering the questions - definitely check this band out! 

Hope you enjoyed this blog post, 

Rachel. 

One Man Boycott Online Interview

Hey guys! I hope you've been doing well. Here's another upcoming band One Man Boycott. Learn all about how they formed and what their future plans are for the band in the next year. Read on to find out more: 

How did you guys meet one another? 

There's no big dramas to tell of, or tails of friendship forged in the fires of Mordoor here, although I feel like it'd take a lot more than that to change anything between us. I've been friends (although he's more like a brother to me) with Frank for all of my life that matters, we met in school and have been friends and playing music across the world together ever since, trust me when I say he's one of the best. 

I guess I know Lewis through his sister really (we went to the same primary school) after school I knew him in bands playing around the area then he moved to London to play with (Ex-Band) The Howling. I feel lucky that his time in that band came to an end just as I was recruiting for Boycott, to have snapped him up literally as soon as he left London was a very important step in the formation of OMB. 

As for Tom we really met through mutual friends a fair few years back and he used to play in a killer band called Oh Captive, he still was when I put Boycott together. 

He was initially my first choice when I was drafting for guitar and bass (Frank's always been Boycott) but I never thought he'd have the time to start a new project with me then. It was good timing for us when the same week our first bassist decided he was quitting music, Toms former band played their last show. I remember the call to Frank (he was still travelling) telling him Jay had quit the band, the only words that came back to me were "get Hitchins" haha, I was like, "Agreed!". He's the perfect fit, such a nice guy and he's always up for a laugh, he knows all of us as friends too and I love his bass playing, I tell him it's cuz he plays like me haha but truthfully tho, we're incredibly lucky to have each other. 

I believe in every one of them individually and together, when I'm on stage looking at them around me? I wouldn't change a thing.

How was the band name created? 

The name One Man Boycott really has a multitude of origins for me but lets go with this one; The whole idea of a one man boycott was highlighted by something a friend of ours once said to us years ago, about him being sick of losing friends to music and asked if we'd noticed him not turning up to our shows, one person out of hundreds? No we hadn't noticed. On the walk home that night we spoke about the idea of a one man boycott and I guess thats where the seed was planted. Skip forward what must have been like five or seven years later, I'd started my new solo project and was thinking what name to play under, as I always wanted it to grow into a band I didn't want to just go down the 'Joe Brewer' route and One Man Boycott seemed to make sense, it sounded nice, abbreviates well to 'OMB' and it fit nicely with what I was trying to achieve. 

How would you describe the music your band creates? 

You can describe our sound right now by saying we're a tight, punchy rock-cum-pop punk band, with super catchy hooks, set apart by soaring vocals.

I'd say we're probably something like a cross between Fall Out Boy, State Champs and maybe All Time Low.

I think we're more dynamic than your average pop-punk band though. Helped by a varied taste in music, we sway from heartfelt meaningful songs about love and loss through some serious shit like terminal illness to the way more energetic and positive, classic happy kinda songs to jump to, we've even got a swing track on this album.

What are some of the themes and messages that come across in your songs? 

You know, it's not necessarily the most important thing to me when initially writing a song, to have a set-in-stone theme to work on or try to put across. I usually start with a small idea and let it grow without putting too much pressure on myself to deliver the message, then when it is a complete song I take a step back and tweak it all with a mind set of right what am I trying to say? So it (hopefully) becomes more coherent.

On this album there're songs about love, relationships, aspirations and heartache too so it's quite diverse in that sense, but if I had to put a re-occurring theme on the album as a whole, it would probably be a hopeful feeling of self worth, a welcomed confidence boost for the listener. I suppose that slant on it comes from my own insecurities but I think, it's a very positive album our fans old and new will relate to. 

What are your plans for 2016? 

Well simply put, we're planning to have a better year than 2015 haha. Not that it was at all bad last year, it was actually really good for us especially as we effectively lost the first six months to south east Asia with Frank checking out whats in the east of the world. I'm always looking to progress and for us to move forward as a band together. 

We've been working with the label recently to find a booking agent right for us predominantly in the UK, we're already in talks with a couple over in Europe so we'll see how that pans out but we're hoping to be playing a lot more of the 'bigger' stages we had a taste of last year. There's things in the works for at least a couple tours this year to support the album too, the soonest thing that could be a goer is a run of dates around our album launch with our label friends in Who Saves The Hero? (South Wales Pop-Punk). I think really, our focus this year is revolving around playing more shows to more people, now that the album is finally here and ready to go. 

There's the acoustic Sunday Sessions videos we put out regularly on YouTube, we're doing a BBC intro Live Session sometime in the next month I think, we've got Balcony TV coming up too so some fun stuff is starting to take shape.

I'm also knocking a few ideas around with the boys about some special one off releases outside of Counting The Seconds, but then there's at least six tracks we want to push as singles from that... I've also just had an idea for a release towards the end of the year and we kinda inadvertently started Jamming/writing new Boycott material at the studio last night. Christ I've gone on, let me summarise: hopefully, and if the work pays off, a lot. 

Where can people find you on social media? 

We're just on most of the usual ones at the moment, you know Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr etc. except snapchat, don't really get it... maybe I'll check it out, obviously that'd be under 'One Man Boycott' too.

Finally, if there was only one album you could listen to for the rest of your life which one would you choose and why? 

Joe: Love Part II - Angels & Airwaves. I had trouble picking one but I remember getting this album sitting in the dark listening in headphones from start to finish and just being blown away with the concept and sheer production on the thing. Massive drums, brilliant composition, big guitars with synth lines... I was obsessed with this for longer than i'd care to admit.

Lewis: Grand Unification - Fightstar. "It brings back great memories for me and also has a bit of everything. Melody, metal, acoustic, great drumming. Yeah!" 

Frank: Battle Studies - John Mayer. "Amazing musicianship, well produced, simple but amazing songwriting. It reminds me of Great times."

Tom: First Temple - Closure In Moscow. "Such a crazy album! Mental guitar work, interesting timings and wicked vocals. It was the first album that really made me think about how an album is recorded and produced."

Thank you to Lauren from Inception Press and the boys from One Man Boycott for answering these questions. If any other bands would like to be featured on this blog please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I will send you the questions. Thanks to Lauren and the band again. 

Hope you enjoyed the blog post, 

Rachel. 

The Golden Strands Online Interview

Hey guys. Been a bit quite on this front. Sorry about that. University has officially started so I've been pretty busy. Anyways, enough with this rambling and onto the interview. Today you get to learn all about the band The Golden Strands and how they started so read on to find out more about them: 

How did you guys meet one another? 

I (Rosie) met Shaun at school, (we are now actually married ) and then after a while Shaun started working with Donald, who became our guitarist, we started to have a weekly "Jamm" session in Shaun's bedroom and we became "the golden strands" from there, we started to Gig and enter competitions and gradually became much more noticed on the Isle of Wight. 

How was the band name created? 

The band name was created by sticking names we liked into a hat and pulling them out, it was probably because I (Rosie) have golden blonde hair. 

How would you describe the music your band creates? 

This is a hard one, we get asked this a lot and it's always a different answer. 

We don't actually categorise our sound because we are all influenced by life, and different music genres, so if I write a song it might be influenced by the type of weather we have or what mood I am in, if Donald writes a song it could be completely different to that, so although it's mostly  "rock/pop" I wouldn't be able to put a proper title to it.

What are some of the themes and messages that come across in your songs? 
Love is a big one, because everyone in the world is effected by love in some way, so therefore I find that they can relate to the lyrics easily. 

Running away to the city / Friendships or enemies, or being hurt by someone you love, are other themes we have used in our songs. 

What are your plans for 2016? 

We are currently recording some new tracks, which is really exciting and hopefully we will be playing at the Isle of Wight festival, this will be our 3rd year playing there and we love doing it as the atmosphere is fantastic. 

Where can people find you on social media? 

We have a Facebook page, also sound cloud, Twitter  - the usual ones  just google us "The golden strands" 

Finally, if there was only one album you could listen to for the rest of your life which one would you choose and why? 

Rosie - Stevie Wonder - That man is a musical God 

Shaun - Steely Dan - it was the first album that popped into his head! 

Donald - Nick Cave  

Check the band out on their bandpage: https://www.facebook.com/THEGOLDENSTRANDS/app/2405167945/

Thanks to Rosie and the band for answering the questions. If any other bands are interested in being featured of this blog please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I will email you the questions. 

Facebook: Music-Onslaught 

Twitter: @MusicOnslaught 

Hope you enjoyed this blog post, 

Rachel. 

Sexy Pretty Things Online Interview

Hey everyone! I know it's been a bit quite on this front but I have been busy on other things. Don't worry though; I haven't forgotten this blog. To show that I haven't I got to interview the boys of Sexy Pretty Things. Here what they had to say about the formation of the band, their plans for the next year and what would be their favourite album: 

How did you guys meet one another? 

I wish I could say that we all met at a crazy party, or a strip club; but the truth is that we all met studying music at uni.

How was the band name created? 

I thought that much was obvious?! We just looked at ourselves.

How would you describe the music your band creates? 

Our music holds close resemblance to the current American Indie Rock scene, taking inspiration from bands such as The Front Bottoms, Modern Baseball, Fidlar etc...

We like to think of it as melodic punk. We're all about live performance.

What are some of the themes and messages that come across in your songs? 

It's hard to say really as each song leeches inspiration from wherever my mind is at the time. They can be about people I know and memories I don't want to forget, or they can be about lust and drugs; but it's mostly just me ranting about stuff with the occasional self-pitying lyric.

What are your plans for 2016? 

We are releasing our first EP 'Moose Knuckle' digitally on February 1st. Physical copies will be available at all our upcoming shows and will soon be made available for local and international shipping too.

We're still in the midst of filming a music video for each track of the EP.

EP aside, we're going to focus on songwriting, gigging (with Holland and Sweden being on the radar), and recording a few more songs before the summer.

Where can people find you on social media? 

We're on most of the usual places.

If you're on Twitter or Instagram, find us @officialSPT

For Facebook fanatics we're at www.facebook.com/officialspt 

All our music videos, diaries and shows are available at www.sexyprettythings.com

Finally, if there was only one album you could listen to for the rest of your life which one would you choose and why? 

Jack: I would have to go with When Your Heart Stops Beating by +44. It blends subtle electronic elements into rock music whilst maintaining a raw edge. The hooks are disgustingly catchy, and the lyrics manage to be poetic without sounding cheesy. They still entice me after all these years.

Carl (lead guitar): I'm going to have to say Grace around the world, a live album by Jeff Buckley or Too by Fidlar. Jeff Buckley has always spoken to me with the pure amount of emotion that he expressed with his voice but Fidlar's Too because of the caliber of the songs and pure energy they portray. It's a hard question but Buckley man, it's got to be. 

Jacob (bass): Probably 'ill manors' by plan b, because the album has really strong lyrics and tells a good story.

Phil (drums): Songs About Jane by Maroon 5 is one of my favourite albums ever. The whole album just has the right blend of everything from rock to funk to just standard pop.. I don't know thats a tough one. Either that or Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against The Machine, because it was my favourite album when i made the decision to study music.

Two very different albums i know.

Thanks to the boys of Sexy Pretty Things for answering the questions. If any other bands are interested in being featured on this blog please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I will send you the questions. 

Hope you enjoyed this blog post, 

Rachel. 

Steve and the Sea Online Interview

Hey guys! Hope you all had a good weekend! I'm back this week with a new online interview. This time from a solo artist Steve and the Sea. Once you've read what he has to say about himself as a musician go and check out his new EP over on his bandcamp page which will be linked down below. For now though, on with the questions: 

When did you start recording as an artist? 

I guess technically I first recorded an EP when I was 17, but the less said about that the better! I was very naive about the whole writing and recording process. The result was a mess but a learning curve nonetheless. In the 10 years since then I've recorded in various other bands, playing guitar in a post-metal band, drums in an indie-pop band, and now on my own as Steve and the Sea.

How was the name created? 

I guess I just didn't feel like my own full name was quite catchy enough, and in a search for ideas I realised there were a lot of nautical metaphors in my music so it just seemed to fit. I've always wanted to live by the sea, hopefully I will one day...

How would you describe the music you create? 

I hate to sound like another pretentious, unaware musician but I always struggle with this. I started writing solo stuff coming from a background in much heavier music - picked up my acoustic because it seemed appropriate but I wouldn't say I'm influenced by folk or many other singer/songwriters. I guess the closest matches would be Jeff Buckley, Ben Howard, Lucy Rose... Just not quite as good! People usually tell me I sound like different artists, usually people I haven't actually heard of so I think that's a good sign.

It's a sort of melancholy, atmospheric sound that builds and layers itself up. I use a looper pedal in my live set and that has had a huge impact on how I write.

What are some of the themes and messages that come across in your songs?

Shamefully, a lot of my songs are about relationships and love (or a lack there of), which is really not something I'm proud of. It seems so obvious and self indulgent, and it's very overdone. I use songwriting to reflect, writing songs like letters that I never got to send but I try to look at the bigger picture too. That said, some of my songs play on the idea of growth, the journey of life and finding direction - something that seems to have come to a critical point in my twenties. tripwire for example is primarily about being too nervous to talk to someone, but also the idea of missed opportunities, and how reacting differently in a single second can have a massive impact on the rest of your life. I'm fascinated by chaos theory and determinism.

My future releases will no doubt move away from this though. I have a plan to write an album about strangers, playing with the idea of story-telling, and I have a lot of strong political views that I'd like to discuss too; protest music certainly has a bit of a shadow cast over it these days.

What are your plans for 2016? 

Well that's all hanging in the balance at the moment. Hopefully more gigs across the country, maybe another release if I can find some time. There are a few non-music related plans that I can't discuss right now, but they could have a massive impact on where the music goes. Sadly music can't be a full time thing. At least not yet....

Where can people find you on social media? 

I'm on Facebook (fb.com/steveandthesea) Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat (@steveandthesea), SoundCloud (soundcloud.com/steveandthesea), bandcamp (steveandthesea.bandcamp.com) or on my website which is also a Tumblr page (steveandthesea.com).

Finally, if there was only one album you could listen to for the rest of your life which one would you choose and why? 

Tough one but I think I'd go with Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow. Guy Garvey's lyrics give me shivers, and I love putting it on and singing along at the top of my voice! The whole sound of that album is perfectly orchestrated and it's a huge inspiration.

BandCamp link to Steve's new EP 'Stay Dry, Stay Warm' here: http://steveandthesea.bandcamp.com/album/stay-dry-stay-warm

Thanks to Steve for answering these questions! If any other artists or bands want to be featured on this blog please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I will send you the questions. Thanks again to Steve for this. 

Hope you enjoyed this blog post, 

Rachel. 

Create To Inspire Online Interview

Hey guys. Me here again with the last interview of the week. I promise I have more interviews planned for next week - the work never stops! Anyway, today I'm introducing you to the band Create to Inspire. Learn a bit about these boys and then go and check their music out down below. Enjoy: 

How did you guys meet one another? 

Dan & Sean were in a band called Sleepless and Luke, Jack & Connor were in a band called Flowers For Her Grave, both local bands playing the circuit around Essex & London. Both bands happened to play their last shows on the same night, Luke & Connor caught wind of Sleepless' departure and invited Sean to their studio for a jam, we drafted Dan in a couple of months after we released our first single and the rest is history.

How was the band name created? 

We wanted a name that would fit the purpose of the band and the message we wanted to put across as an outfit. Sean came up with the name, it took a couple of us to warm to the idea of it but eventually it stuck. It's a love/hate name, but most seem to appreciate and understand it so I guess we're winning with it.

How would you describe the music your band creates? 

We don't really want to put any genre labels on what we create, as cliché as that sounds. Our influences and our sound as a band is forever changing and growing. Most people seem to fit us under the melodic hardcore genre, so to simplify i guess we'll just go with that so we don't across as too pretentious! 

What are some of the themes and messages that come across in your songs? 

We tend to tackle the everyday issues people struggle with, like us and yourself. There are a lot of bands that have a political air about their lyrics and the feel to their music, but we wanted to stay away from that as cool as it is to see people speaking out against the powers that be. We reference anything from bullying, to struggling with your day job, to mental health, to mourning the loss of a loved one and beyond. We want people to be reminded of one simple thing when they listen to our music, 'not everything sucks and i'm going to be okay'. 

What are your plans for 2016? 

Where do we start? Touring. Everywhere & anywhere that will book us. Finally releasing our follow up E.P 'Home Is Where My Heart Dies' and recording our debut album... We've been grafting since the late months of 2015 to assure that this year is going to be huge for us, and with the things we have set in stone and being weaved already, we have no doubts regarding our ability to make 2016 a success story for us and our team.


Where can people find you on social media?

All of your usual places!

Facebook.com/createtoinspireuk
Twitter.com - @CTIUKofficial
Instagram - @createtoinspireofficial

And search us on YouTube for some music!

Finally, if there was only one album you could listen to for the rest of your life which one would you choose and why? 

Collectively our musical interests differ. But if we put ourselves in a situation where our CD player was broke in the van and we had to listen to one thing on repeat, it'd probably be The Blackest Beautiful by Letlive. Incredible band, incredible album!

Thank you to the band Create to Inspire for answering these questions. If there are any other bands that would like to be featured on this blog please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I'll send you the questions. Thanks again to the band for making this possible. 

Hope you enjoyed this blog post, 
Rachel. 

TOP 5 SONGS OF THIS WEEK 16/1/2016

Hey guys. Hope you're all having a good weekend. Today I'll be posting up my top 5 favourite songs of this week. Like last time I'll try and make sure to link videos down below too. Anyway, let's get on with the list:

5) True True - Dorey the Wise

A band that I found by accident but it was a very pleasant accident. If you want something that has catchy indie sounds along with some folk influence, or that is what I believe it has in the song, then definitely check this gem out:

4) Rio - Lisbon 

This song will definitely get you dancing. With such catchy lyrics and guitar riffs it'll be stuck in your head for days. Have a listen here: 

3) Give 'Em Hell - The Amorettes 

If you want an all girl rock band that have 'in your face' lyrics and a heavy sound then you've definitely found them. These girls will be able to make you shout their lyrics around the house in no time: 

2) Remonstrate - Church & Ivory 

Want something a bit slower but still has an important message and catchy lyrics? Then this is for you  : 

Check out their song here on their band camp from their EP 'Where Thou Art, That is Home': https://churchandivory.bandcamp.com/releases

1) First Light - Day Old Hate 

The new song by these boys is filled with the most catchiest guitar riffs you'll probably hear in a while. If you want to watch their new video then just have a watch down below: 

Hope you have a gander with these bands and find something you like. If any other bands want to be featured on this blog then please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I'll send you some questions for an online interview. 

Hope you enjoyed this blog post, 

Rachel. 

Exit, Pursued Online Interview

Hey guys. Hope you're all doing well. Today you are going to get to learn about the band Exit, Pursued who are a new and upcoming band. When you've finished learning about them definitely check out 'Three Years' that will be down below: 

How was the band name created?

I was drinking beer with my friend Brody in an old pub in St Andrews, where I went to university. At this point we'd stopped being just a recording project and started being a real band so I figured we needed a good name. Brody was studying Shakespeare, so I figured she'd be a great source of clever sounding lines to base our band name off. In return for a promise that she'd be put first in the "Thanks" section of our debut album (still working on that part), she offered a stage direction from Shakespeare's Winter's Tale: "Exit, pursued by a bear". I loved it, but it was too long, so we went with Exit Pursued.

How would you describe the music your band creates?

That's a very difficult question for us, because we don't find it easy to fit ourselves into one genre in particular. We see ourselves as a rock band at heart, but a lot of people would say that we play progressive metal. The music itself ultimately boils down a combination of melody, technicality, and energy. The focus is always on the songs, crafting the kind of songs that are interesting and complex but still good to sing along to. We always want our music to be fun, but we also throw in as much musicianship as we're capable of, for the listeners that are more interested in the music theory side of things. Whilst we don't want us being massive music nerds to put anyone off, we also don't want anyone to ever get bored.

What are some of the themes and messages that come across in your songs?

Every song is pretty unique when it comes to the lyrics for our songs, but there is definitely a theme that's popped up across the ones we've written so far. In the future we plan to write songs that deal with more off-the-wall topics, but these first ones were ultimately about people, and the relationships we have with the people in our lives. Infinity is about friends, Three Years is about enemies, and Drown is about how difficult it can be to tell the difference. In fact, in a lot of ways Drown was about trying to work out if you are your own worst enemy. Even when we use crazy imagery of stuff like running through fields surrounded by gods, it's about experiences shared with people, experiences that were intense and mind-blowing, and felt just as ridiculous as the metaphors used in the songs. So I guess you could say that the main theme so far is how fascinating people and your relationships with them can be, and how they make life interesting. This, in turn, would make the big message of our songs that you have to think about the people in your life, think about yourself, and try to realize just how valuable some of those people are - and which people your life could maybe do without.

What are your plans for 2016?

Our biggest priority right now is gigging! We are trying to book gigs whenever and wherever we can, and get this music that we've spent an awfully long time working on out there and into people's ears. The next record we're going to release is likely going to be a single; we've got a couple of songs floating about that we'd like to lay down and we'd like to do that before the summer rolls around. By the end of the year, we want to be at least working on EP number two, ideally we'd be getting it out before the end of 2016 or maybe early 2017. We've moved really slowly so far in this band, so 2016 has to be the year that we accelerate things!

Where can people find you on social media?

facebook.com/exitpursued 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YSDObpQockv_aZT0PQcBw 

 

Twitter : @EXitPursuedUK 

Sound Cloud - https://soundcloud.com/exit-pursued-652602143 

And everything is absolutely free, so go steal it, fill your earholes and hopefully see you at a gig soon! 

Finally, if there was only one album you could listen to for the rest of your life which one would you choose and why?

Mastodon - Crack the Skye. This album was huge for every member of this band, and has been constantly played throughout the band's history so far. It's a unique gem, unlike any other album, with so many different aspects to it that you could listen to it countless times and always find something new. The lyrics are both far-out, dealing with psychic space travel and visions of the long-dead Rasputin, and so real that it's heartbreaking, in dealing with a family tragedy that the drummer, who wrote the lyrics, had to face. The music leaps from country to sludge metal to prog rock to psychedelic noise within the confines of each song. The production is rough around the edges, but this only makes it all the more perfect. Just writing this makes me want to listen to Crack the Skye right now. It's a timeless classic that could never get overplayed.

Thank you to the boys Exit, Pursued for answering these questions. If any other bands want to be featured on the blog please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I'll send you the questions. 

Hope you enjoyed this blog post, 

Rachel. 

Model Aeroplanes Online Interview

Hey guys! I took a rest from this blog but now I am back and with the boys from Model Aeroplane. Check out the bands history and check out the video down below if you are interested in listening to their sound. Anyway, on with the interview: 

How did you guys meet one another? 

We all met in school when we were around 13 or 14. We had a very sports orientated year at our school and we were the social reject creative kids in skinny jeans! We all became friends by chance really and then realised we could all half play instruments so thought it'd be a great idea to start a band. I believe the first three songs we played at a gig were: Killing In The Name Of by rage Against the Machine, Everlong by Foo Fighters and Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet... Not the most conventional set! We all just understood each other from a very young age and realised how much we all loved music so acted on it.  

How was the band name created? 

Well, that's a story we'll let you in on when you're all a bit older and wiser. All you need to know for now is it includes Harrison Ford, a Mars Bar and a particular nosey camel. It was a mad day. 

How would you describe the music your band creates? 

An amalgamation of pop, psych rock and disco. So, we're not particularly sure... we've grown up a lot as people and as musicians over the last few years so we really feel we've developed with what we're bringing out next. We're excited for everyone to hear.

What are some of the themes and messages that come across in your songs? 

Like I said before, we've really grown up recently. A lot of our old songs were about typical teenage stuff - girls, getting drunk and doing silly things but the newer tunes have a lot more mature themes in the lyrics and musicality. Of course, you all have to interpret them all in your own way!

What are your plans for 2016? 

We have a UK tour in March we're really looking forward to. We get to visit some of our favourite cities and it'll be fun to be on the road again. Before that, we're out in Sweden for the first time! We'll be in the UK a bit but we're also out in Norway and Canada just now, so we're all pretty excited to play in some cities we've never visited before!

Where can people find you on social media? 
Everywhere! We generally just use it to slag each other off. Links are at the bottom there!

Finally, if there was only one album you could listen to for the rest of your life which one would you choose and why?

That's a big question... We feel we have about a week of 'Currents' left in us before we over do it. Something legendary like Led Zeppelin 3. Explanation not required! 

Thanks to Ben from Model Aeroplanes for answering the questions (and for all the technical problems we had to sort out!). If any other bands are interested in being featured on this blog please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I'll send you the questions. 

Hope you enjoyed the blog post, 

Rachel. 

Careless Sons Online Interview

Hey guys. This is the third and last interview for the day. Hope you've enjoyed reading them. Anyway, now read about the boys from Careless Sons and find out how they came about: 

How did you guys meet one another? 

We are all from Cambridge originally. Ben and Rob met at school. Ben blew on a conch that sounded the tune of Love Me Do and Rob rode into his arms on a Vespa he wasn't legally allowed to drive at that age. Let alone in a school building. I met Rob at university and we bonded over our mutual friendship with my girlfriend at the time, who it later transpired Rob had seduced on the bonnet of a car some years earlier. I hated the Beatles, he loved them. Match made in heaven. 

How was the band name created? 

Indie focus group 

How would you describe the music your band creates? 

Born out of compulsion and an unwavering refusal to accept defeat. We don't know anything else. If we weren't in a band we'd be writing disparagingly about those that were, convinced we could do better. We live for each and every spare second we can dissolve into the arms of Springsteen, Queen, Longpigs, Arctic Monkeys, and The Clash to name but a few. 

What are some of the themes and messages that come across in your songs? 

We'd love to write protest songs that changed the world, God knows someone needs to, but we can't see past ourselves. We write about heartbreak, regret, endeavour and redemption, in the full knowledge that true happiness is always one corner away. 

What are your plans for 2016? 

We'll be releasing an EP on R*E*P*E*A*T Records in May. We'll play a few gigs to support this. Currently, we have Brighton and London booked in on the 8th and 23rd April respectively. You can get tickets and advance order the EP on 7" vinyl from http://bit.ly/CarelessTickets

Where can people find you on social media? 

Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Instagram, YouTube. You name it, we're abusing it. Just pop "Careless Sons" into that search bar...

Finally, if there was only one album you could listen to for the rest of your life which one would you choose and why? 

Bridge over Troubled Water, for Keep the Customer Satisfied if nothing else.

Thank you to the boys of Careless Sons for the interview. If any other bands would like to be featured on this blog for an online interview then please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I'll send you the questions. 

Hope you enjoyed this blog post, 

Rachel. 

Lisbon Online Interview

Hey guys! Here's your second interview for today. I do have another one to go up but I'm going to leave that till tomorrow. So sorry you have to wait! Anyways, on with this interview: 

How did you guys meet one another? 

We all met in school, me and Gaz have known each other since we were 3. We all became mates in middle school before joining forces at the end of sixth form. 

How was the band name created? 

It means life is good, Life IS BON, which was the name of our first EP. It pretty much sums up our sound as well - we like to think it all ties together nicely.

How would you describe the music your band creates? 

It's energetic and catchy and uplifting and dancey all at the same time. I think it reflects the enthusiasm we feel when we write and play our music, which is a good thing, I hope.

What are some of the themes and messages that come across in your songs? 

There's a huge variation of themes within our music. There's songs about love, songs about heartbreak - there's Game Of Thrones and insecurity, and then there's a song using only ocean metaphors for romance. I think at the end of it all our music is about overcoming problems and having fun when doing so - apart from Khaleesi, that one's a little out there.

What are your plans for 2016? 

We're kicking it off with a 22 date headline tour which will take us to the end of Feb. We'll be releasing singles throughout the year, hoping to jump on a few support tours either side of a vibrant festival season. 

Where can people find you on social media? 

Our Facebook is www.facebook.com/lisbonmusic.

You can find us everywhere else @wearelisbon.

Finally, if there was only one album you could listen to for the rest of your life which one would you choose and why? 

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago. It's one of those albums you can always come back to if you're ever feeling particularly down, or if you're feeling on top of the world. It's one of the first albums I really got into when I first started to love music, and I played it on repeat when I began writing my own music.

Thank you to Matthew and the band for the online interview. If any other bands are interested in being featured on this blog with an online interview please email me at rachelcolley@msn.com and I'll send you the questions. Thanks to the band again. 

Hope you enjoyed this blog post, 

Rachel.