|| WEAK13 ||
Interview with singer and guitarist Nick J Townsend of British band WEAK13.
1) What made you want to become a musician?
Mainly to have fun being creative; plus, it’s an honour to have the opportunity to tell my story to people with a well-developed faculty for thinking.
2) How would you describe the music that you typically create?
The songs of WEAK13 are often thought provoking, satirical or serve a purpose. Our fans enjoy big riffs, radical ideas and, most of all, a fun attitude to dark subject matter.
3) Did your style evolved since the beginning of your carrer? Or did you always followed that stream?
No, our style never evolved since the beginning of our carrer; however, it has evolved since the beginning of our career. No idea what followed that stream even means.
4) Do you create music for yourself or for fans’ taste? Nowadays it is always hard to satisfy listeners.
Our listeners are satisfied with our music and they expect me to be myself; as demonstrated in this Q&A.
5) Does your outfit have anything to do with the music you listen to or play?
I wear a customised body suit that contains a fully working Blackstar amplifier and guitar. It allows me to walk around town and play any tune I desire. I also wear Mapex drum sandals.
6) What is the biggest problem you have encontoured in the journey of music?
Poor music journalism has been the main problem we’ve encountered. Often a music journalist will send a band generic questions to avoid doing any research.
7) Who’s your ideal artist to collaborate with and why?
We collaborate with artists that we get on well with. For example; we could speculate that, as a writer, you’d enjoy collaborating with a dyslexic throwback.
8) If you were a CD/album, what would you be and why?
If I was a CD/Album I’d be a tortured soul wondering why God was so cruel to bless me with the gift of sentient awareness yet not give me the ability to speak. Why am I shaped like a flat disc? Why God? Why?
9) What artist would you recommend to a person who is undecided about what listening to?
I’d recommend they type WEAK13 on any music streaming platform and then they’ll discover well written lyrics and hopefully learn how to speak correctly. Seeing as I haven’t been asked; please download the latest WEAK13 single titled “I’m More Metal Than You!” which is available from all good music streaming platforms and even on some of the naff ones too. We also have a great music video for the single on YouTube. Please give it a like and share but most of all; thank you for this opportunity. It really is appreciated.
|| HELLAPHANT ||
1) What made you want to become a musician?
Hi, I’m Jay Holmes and I play lead guitar for Hellaphant.
I think at my core, I’m the type of person that wants to try to do everything I see/hear. I remember always imagining actually “playing” music in my head whenever I listened to it when I was a kid. I can’t listen to music without singing along!
2) How would you describe the music that you typically create?
I have a tough time with the creation part to be honest. Every time I pick up my guitar, I get lost in it. I’ll sit down to write/create and 2 hours later, I have no idea what I’ve played, but I had a great time playing. So it’s a good thing Gary (our singer/rhythm guitarist) comes up with the basic song structures. it gives me a direction and keeps me focused.
3) Did your style evolved since the beginning of your career? Or did you always followed that stream?
That’s a good question. You might have to ask friends who have listened to me over the years. I think my playing has evolved a bit over time with various influences at different times, but I’m sure you can still hear the “hair metal” roots in there from when I first learned to play.
4) Do you create music for yourself or for fans’ taste? Nowadays it is always hard to satisfy listeners.
Obviously we love it when fans like the music, but we play and create for ourselves at the core because ultimately it has to be something we enjoy playing.
5) Does your outfit have anything to do with the music you listen to or play?
The guys in the band make fun of me because I care so little about “fashion”. I do like to support other bands whenever I can, so I wear a lot of other bands shirts. But other than that, if I’m wearing anything that fits our music, it’s likely because someone in the band suggested it for me.
6) What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music?
I think it’s the same for all aspiring musicians. Trying to make a living at what you love to do. I had to give it up for a while when my kids were young. It’s very hard to make a living playing music, and there just wasn’t time for a job, a band and being a parent. That said, I would make exactly the same choices if I had to do it all over again.
7) Who’s your ideal artist to collaborate with and why?
I think my ideal artist to collaborate with would be either Frank Turner or Todd Kerns. Frank Turner because his song writing is always full of passion and purpose. Todd Kerns because in my books there’s nobody more “Rock & Roll” than him and you know the song will kick ass!
8) If you were a CD/album, what would you be and why?
Wow… that’s a tough one. Probably Positive Songs For Negative People by Frank Turner. I’m kind of an optimist and always trying to look at the positive side of things. This album is all about that, especially the song Get Better. One of my faves.
9) What artist would you recommend to a person who is undecided about what listening to?
Without a doubt, A Wilhelm Scream! I’m so pissed at myself for not knowing about these guys sooner and wish someone had pointed me in their direction a long time ago. They’ve been around a while but I’ve only known about them for 6 months or so and they’re all I can think about these days. Absolutely incredible band!
|| STANDING CREW ||
1) What made you want to become a musician?
As a kid I lived with my mother in a big house and there were a lot of empty rooms in the third floor as they were not suitable for living anymore, so a friends big brother had a band and I arranged so that they could have a rehearsal room there. I was a preteen at that time and hang around there a lot as they were practicing and got the spark from there. In middle school there were a band practice room where I started playing every time I had the chance and later on we had a lot of bands that usually lasted a few months and did maybe a gig or two. At that time there were gigs couple of times a year at the youth house and when I got on the stage with my first band I was sold.
2) How would you describe the music that you typically create?
It´s mainly three chords rock or punk but whit some arrangements it usually turns to more of a hard rock song. We like guitar driven rock and that´s what we aim for too, nice cool riff´s, grooving bass lines and hard beating drums whit shameless rock style vocals.
3) Did your style evolved since the beginning of your carrer? Or did you always followed that stream?
In the beginning it was some kind of easy rock songs as the main purpose was always to get on stage, but later when our skills evolved, we started playing faster and harder, all the way to 80´s hardcore punk. Then we slowed down a bit just to play punk rock, but the hardcore twist was always there. Then when Standing Crew started, we decided to go for hard rock as our musical taste had gone that way. At the moment we are very happy with our sound.
4) Do you create music for yourself or for fans’ taste? Nowadays it is always hard to satisfy listeners.
The music usually just comes when playing guitar and a lot of it is just a riff or some chords that sounds good to me and no, we do the songs to our self, hoping someone else like it too. Happily there have been people liking what we do and coming to our shows.
5) Does your outfit have anything to do with the music you listen to or play?
Yes of course! When listening to hard rock and other music a like, you kind of adapt the look of the bands and rock`n`roll lifestyle. Or at least that is what we have done, and we know there is a lot of people doing the same, bands and fans. I personally think it is awesome!
6) What is the biggest problem you have encontoured in the journey of music?
It is getting exposure to our music, it always has been hard to get your music out there and reach your possible audience and fans. Nowadays because the internet it has become a bit easier but as the music is flooding from everywhere it kind of creates new kind of problem for bands to be found, happily you can use some streaming platforms also for free nowadays.
7) Who’s your ideal artist to collaborate with and why?
Well as the road to here has been long and winding it is hard to name just one. A lot of our idols have died all ready and the rest have probably some kind of faults or at least so I have read or seen in documentaries etc. Maybe someone like Jon Bon Jovi could be a reasonable guy to do song with or go on a world tour. Well, you never know about what kind of a person someone is unless you have been collaborating with him or her.
8) If you were a CD/album, what would you be and why?
Rancid – … and outcome the wolves. It is a great album and has a lot of good songsi I like. We did play as covers about 3 songs from that album. When it was released, it was a fresh breeze in the music at that time. I still listen to it because it brings back a lot of good memories and fun times we had. Almost all the lyrics on the album are easy for me to relate.
9) What artist would you recommend to a person who is undecided about what listening to?
Well Standing Crew of course! There is a lot of good bands and artists out there, my personal favorites are The Clash, it hit me hard when I was a teenager, The Offspring is also a favorite of mine. When I was in my twenties, I decided to listen to anything I like If it sounds good then I will listen to it disregarding of what other people think or say. Music is such a personal thing that nobody should tell you what you should be listening to. Don´t follow others, make up your own mind in what kind music and bands/artists you like!
These answers were given by Michael Monteao from Standing Crew.
|| AUSTIN MULKA ||
1) What made you want to become a musician?
The inspiration to become a musician came from the incredible support of my family and fans. Over my musical journey, I’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback which has fueled my drive to create. There was only one time where a listener gave me a negative comment, but the ratio of praise to critique has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s this positivity that encourages me to continue, even if part of me sometimes wishes my music stirred up a bit more controversy to provoke conversation.
2) How would you describe the music that you typically create?
The music I’m currently working on, particularly my album “Reveries and Requiem,” could be described as psychological grunge. It delves deep into the human psyche, exploring emotional landscapes against a backdrop of grunge rock.
3) Did your style evolve since the beginning of your career? Or did you always follow that stream?
As a musician, I’ve definitely evolved, exploring different styles and maturing in my understanding of music. But the music I’m recording now is music I wrote years ago, so it’s difficult to say the music itself has evolved. It’s more accurate to say it’s a snapshot of where I was as an artist when the songs were written.
4) Do you create music for yourself or for fans’ taste? Nowadays it is always hard to satisfy listeners.
The goal in my music creation is threefold: to educate, entertain, and inspire. Historically, writing and art have been a vehicle for enlightenment, a means of conveying important messages and emotions. I want my music to continue that tradition, resonating with listeners on a profound level.
5) Does your outfit have anything to do with the music you listen to or play?
No, it doesn’t. At least not on a conscious level. My style is a reflection of me as a person rather than a representation of the music I create or listen to.
6) What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music?
One of the biggest challenges has been juggling a full-time job while trying to create music. It’s a demanding balance, requiring discipline, time management, and a relentless drive to keep moving forward in my musical journey.
7) Who’s your ideal artist to collaborate with and why?
One artist I’d love to collaborate with is Barns Courtney. He’s an English singer, songwriter, and musician with a grungy, rock-driven sound. His music is making waves in the industry without being overly mainstream. Collaborating with Barns would be realistic and mutually beneficial as it could introduce us both to different segments of the rock/grunge audience.
8) If you were a CD/album, what would you be and why?
If I were an album, I’d be Nirvana’s “Nevermind.” It represents a seismic shift in the music industry, embodying raw emotion and depth, similar to the qualities I strive to encapsulate in my own music.
9) What artist would you recommend to a person who is undecided about what listening to?
I would recommend The Portingales. Very underrated indie rock band with a unique sound. Check him out.
[In collaboration with ROGUE PR]
ROKKERSPRESS 