When Slam Dunk formed in 2006 it had a bill of 7 bands at a sole location in Leeds with a small capacity of a few thousand, skip to 12 years on and oh my has it grown! Whether you’re reliving your mid-2000’s singing along to the likes of Taking Back Sunday or throwing yourself into the heart of California in the 90’s with the likes of Reel Big Fish, this festival has really developed into a three-location monster of a day out. What better way to start off the day than with getting your rear end torn open by Brutality Will Prevail on the ever hardcore Impericon Stage.Continue reading →
Over three consecutive dates in May the 2018 Slam Dunk Festival will bring the best in punk bands and killer concert experiences to the UK. The festival will bring the same core of bands to three separate locations this spring as bands like Good Charlotte, Jimmy Eat World, State Champs, PVRIS, The Devil Wears Prada, Astroid Boys, Brutality Will Prevail, Loathe, Every Time I Die, Northlane, Comeback Kid, Crown The Empire, Counterparts and many more for the bill. In addition, The Breakout Stage features the best in up and coming talent such as Palaye Royale, Sleep On It, Stand Atlantic, Milestones, Chapel, Dream State, The FAIM, Grayscale and Holding Absence. There is also the Acoustic stage featuring Four Year Strong and The Fireball Stage and more! The 2018 fest takes place across Leeds, Hatfield and Birmingham and tickets are on sale at the links below. Continue reading →
This past year was a huge one for music with so many bands releasing new material it was hard to keep up, even for us here at Ghost Cult. So many legacy bands, modern classic acts, and up and comers dropped new music this year, some may wish they had waited until 2017 to drop it like it’s hot. Without further ado, here are our picks for the new tunes you need in your life in 2017. Continue reading →
Pvris. Photo Credit: Kevin Estrada/KevinEstrada.com
Electro pop punk sensations PVRIS has released a new clip for their single ‘Eyelds’. The track comes off of their album White Noise (Rise) which came out in 2014. You can watch the video at this link or below:
The band is about to embark on an tour opening for Fall Out Boy, and AWOLNATION, as well as headline tours sof the UK and the rest of Europe. The band is expected to begin working on the follow-up to White Noise later this year.
For a brand new band on the music scene like Bad Seed Rising, they are getting a crash course on the music business and how things work. Despite their young ages (14 to 18 years of age), one area they have been building up experience is in the live arena, where they have landed shows and tours along the way.
Frontwoman Francheska Pastor shared her experiences so far:
“I think we’ve done five solid tours now. We went out on a bunch of the Halestorm and Daughtry dates, and then we did a school tour where we went to a bunch of high schools to play there. Most of these are up and down the East Coast. The next one that we did was at this Camplify Tour at this camp. Then we went on tour with Saliva and Pop Evil. Then most recently we were on tour with RED and Adelita’s Way, and we won over the hearts of Adelita’s Way so they brought us on tour with them just a few weeks ago. Adelita’s Way are the greatest dudes ever. They’re awesome to chill with and they’re awesome.”
Pastor talked about how one of their tour runs came from a band discovered them off of their song on the Spy movie. Apparently Bad Seed Rising is drawing attention in multiple ways and the movie has become one of the newest ways they have attracted new fans.
Photo Credit: Caithlyn Willard (via Facebook)
“We have a show with Issues and Pvris. Pvris is like up and coming and they’re crazy good. We got onto that bill. They’re doing a hometown show in Atlanta, GA and we’re excited to play that. Tyler Carter found out about us through the movie called Spy. He saw the end credits of the movie and found out who we were and he added us to all of his social media and was like ‘oh my god…I love you guys!’ “
“He eventually Facetimed me at 4 am in the morning and convinced me to have the band drive to the East Coast Music Conference Awards and he didn’t have to do a lot of convincing. He just had to tell me if it was possible or not to have the band drive to go there. It was also along the way on our tour with Adelita’s Way. It was awesome. All of the people that I listen to and we listen to in one setting and it’s very overwhelming. There’s so many idols in one area.”
Photo Credit: Caitlin Willard (via Facebook)
One event Pastor and her band have set their eyes on is the annual Vans Warped Tour, which is an event many touring artists have received their starts over the years. Despite some of the negative press indirectly received over the past year, she was hoping Bad Seed Rising could take part in 2016.
“Oh definitely. It’s been a dream of ours to play Warped Tour. We’re terrified because Kevin Lyman…we saw the statement how he wants to an age limit on the people who are playing on the tour. I don’t think it’s going to happen but I just pray to god it’s not going to.”
She had also shared her thoughts on the briefly debated (but since squashed) issue about an age limit on the participants on the Warped Tour. Being the members being under 21, she shared her thoughts on the matter.
“I think if he were to do that, he’s eliminating the wrong people. Honestly they’re so innocent. We wouldn’t cause trouble like all of these older bands have caused in the past. Warped Tour (2015) was just a complete drama fest and it’s funny because it’s not even the younger people that are initiating these problems.”
Within the lineup of each year’s Vans Warped Tour, there is often a hidden gem amongst the crowd of names who perform amongst their multiple stages. On the Full Sail University Acoustic Basement tent each day, Canadian artist Braden Barrie’s one man act SayWeCanFly is getting heard each day in front of curious fans. He is enjoying his time playing for new fans and has had this moment as a goal of his since his teenage years.
“Literally Warped Tour’s been my dream for a long time. Since I’ve been doing this more and more, I try to think past that and set higher goals, but it’s cool that I’m finally meeting a goal I’ve had forever. I’m so excited just to be there and be in that world,” he says, thinking about the opportunity on the tour.
Much of this year has been a growing process for Barrie, as he spent time touring with Metro Station across North America, promoting his album Between The Roses, as well as reaching fans on his various social media pages through a variety of YouTube videos and fans discovering his recordings on Bandcamp. This was all done by himself and without the assistance of a record label or distribution companies.
He talked about some of his favorite artists who helped shape his sound. “My first album I ever bought was by Relient K, which is kind of a Christian band. I grew up listening to a lot of Christian music, kind of like rock stuff. I think the first album that caused me to start writing was Awake by Second Hand Serenade, which was the first acoustic artist I got into.”
“After I found him I started listening to a lot of indie acoustic artists that literally play with their acoustic and sing. So that was just seeing that other people had done it and was possible to have a good song with just your voice and a guitar.”
“For some reason acoustic guitar has been my favorite sound. I feel so free when I play it. Just seeing other people do it inspired me to start writing it and realized it was possible.”
Actually this is his second time on the Warped Tour, following his brief stint appearing on one date in Toronto, ON on a prior year. “I’ve had a small, small taste. The first year I did the Acoustic Basement Tent and the second year I did the Ernie Ball Stage, which was a little bigger. It will be cool doing the tent the whole entire summer.”
So what was it that attracted him towards doing the Warped Tour? ”It was amazing because a lot of my fans end up going. A lot of times they can’t go to my shows on school nights but I know they always go to Warped Tour. I get to meet most of them.”
“I got to see most of the excitement. When the doors open, it’s a stampede of kids. It’s crazy how much passion is in the air. It’s really, really cool.”
Unlike many of his fellow tour mates, Barrie originates from a small town in the Ontario province in Canada. He talked about where he is from and how that affected his work ethics towards getting his music heard.
“I grew up in a place called Lindsay, Ontario. I didn’t realize how out in the middle of nowhere it was until I drove there from Pennsylvania. It was a 13 hour car drive and seeing how much distance it actually takes to get there. I think there’s like 25,000 people there. It’s actually really a nice little town. They have everything that you need. It always looks really nice. At first it was really hard to think past it and realize there’s more to the world. That was what drove me. I just wanted to get out of here. Everyone around me has this small town mindset and they’re going to stay there their whole lives. That didn’t feel ok to me.”
“I’m thankful to have grown up in such a small place. Everything I’ve experienced outside of that is amazing.”
Unlike many acoustic acts that perform on the live circuit, Barrie has mostly performed solo and without a backing band. He has devised a strategy on how to craft his music without the assistance of a backing band and has won over fans on each stop of a tour.
“I’ve jammed with my friends for fun, but Saywecanfly has always been me. When I record albums, I’ll have people come in and play. I had a guy come in and play cello and electric guitars. The live shows have always been me.”
The idea of a backing band has crossed his mind at times, as this scenario has been presented before. But he has reiterated that it may be a possibility at a later time, once he feels ready to do so.
“I’ve thought about the whole band thing but I want to get as good as I can on my own before I do that and before I take that step. I have a long way to go with that still. I feel like I want to get as amazing at playing solo so I feel super comfortable. It’s a process. I used to be super shy. I had a hard time playing for ten people. Every show I learn to be a little more comfortable, so I want to get way better at that.”
While his sound leans upon the singer-songwriter side, being around the Warped Tour has attracted him to some heavier sounds as well. But finding him in the mosh pit may not happen right away. “I love hardcore music. Underoath is my favorite band. No I wasn’t scared of mosh pits. I tried it once and got injured so bad. So I always stuck to the acoustic side. “
“When I started playing guitar, I started on electric guitar and I learned a lot of blues. I was listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn, BB King and stuff like that. So that was before I started singing. So I had those roots too.”
Lastly, he shared some of the artists on the Warped Tour he is excited to see while on the tour. “Definitely Pierce The Veil. I love Pierce The Veil. I love them because they incorporate so many different instruments in their songs. Their songs are so complex. This band called This Wild Life – these two dudes who play acoustic music. I’ve been listening to them a lot lately. A band called Pvris. They just put out an album. They’re kind of like Paramore and Lights. The girl who sings for them is super talented. Never Shout Never is one of my influences way back in the day. It will be cool to hang with him too. I’m excited to hang with everyone. I don’t listen to a whole lot of music, which is weird, so I don’t know a whole lot of the bands playing. But it will be cool to discover a lot of the bands playing and make friends.”
2015 has been a relatively productive year for UK alternative rockers Mallory Knox, after spending the first half of the year venturing into new territories after making noise within their home country since their inception in 2009.
At the time of this interview, the band just completed the first date of the Vans Warped Tour across North America, and over a 55 day span, they will be on one of the longest treks under a variety of climates across the country.
Frontman Mikey Chapman shared his thoughts on touring across the United States.“It’s interesting because obviously America is the most looked upon country in the world. You get your own ideas about what America will be like and predispositions about how things are here. The most exciting thing for me is destroying those ideas. I thoroughly love the people of America. They’re some of the sweetest, most inquisitive lovely people we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. It’s fantastic. We love it here.”
They also just released their latest album Asymmetry, their second album over and first for the North American audience.
“We actually dropped it a few days ago,” explains Chapman. “We released it in the UK a little while ago. We’re really excited to get out over here. There’s some great fans already in the US and we want to expand on that. It’s something we can keep working on and eventually come over and do our own headline tour. It’s a fantastic opportunity to get music out here. I think the American people will like it. I really do. It’s just getting them to hear it. That’s the trick.”
Prior to this run, they kept busy with touring across the pond, as well as making their debut on US soil.“Before South By Southwest, we did the world tour with Pierce the Veil and Sleeping With Sirens. Then we came back for a few days for South By Southwest. That was our last time over year so it’s nice to be back,” he explained.“We went home for a little while. It got to the point where I went a bit stir crazy at home because we did so much at the start of the year and kind of getting back to normality in our quiet little village in the middle of nowhere. It was a bit of culture shock.”
Much like many bands on their maiden Warped Tour voyage, word has spread about the experiences being tough, especially due to long travel days and working under extreme heat on many of the tour’s stops. Plus being from the UK, they learned quickly how to adapt and were up for the challenges.
Bassist Sam Douglas had a quite interesting perspective, especially being this was the first date of the Vans Warped Tour.“It’s been stressful for us so far. We can talk about the heat and us being pale British men. It’s going to be a shock and very warm. We’ve had a few things happen with our merchandise and first day problems, but I’m sure we’ll get to the swing of things pretty soon. It’s unique and it’s something I’ve always wanted to…even when I was 15 the dream was always Warped. To be here, it’s a weird thing. You wake up and you don’t know what time you’re going to play. So that’s a completely unique experience. It keeps you on your feet and makes you not want to drink so much at night. You never know what time you’re going to play.”
They explain the differences between tackling the challenges of performing on UK fests such as Download Festival or Reading and Leeds, versus the Vans Warped Tour. Not that either is an easy task but each one comes with its own set that is approached a bit differently.
“I think the fact that it’s a touring festival is something we don’t have. We don’t have a big enough country to do something like that on that scale. The fact that there’s 800 people on this tour and that itself is an insane amount of people to be traveling across the country together,” said Douglas.
“The fact that there’s so many stages and…70 bands is it? It’s crazy! To tour something like that for 50 days is…it’s an iconic festival. In the UK, I don’t think we could do it because there’s not enough places to go. That’s probably the difference.”
Chapman added, “The crowds are bigger. They are back home too. You’re looking at 16,000 people here, as back home you’re looking at 100,000 people at Reading and Leeds or at Download. In terms of scale, it’s slated but the ethos still rings true. It’s about having a good time.”
While being on this tour, the two of them have their lists of bands they would love to catch. Each one had their respective wish lists of who they will be seeing and spending their time bonding with.“I’ve been a huge fan of Transit for a few years. I’ve never been able to see them live,” said Douglas. “At some point I’d like to go check them out. I’d like to check out our friends in Moose Blood, who we took out in the UK a few months back. It was their first time ever out there and their record’s done pretty well.”
“Pvris obviously and Pierce the Veil – two bands we’ve toured with recently. We’re really close with those guys. It will be nice to spend a whole lot more time with them and see how much they’ve come along the past few months. It’s such a great opportunity to hang out with so many bands. We’re looking forward to just as much making new friends as seeing old ones,” added Chapman.
Chapman shared his secrets on being British and enjoying the sun. “The vast majority of British people have resigned to not getting tans. We appreciate it. It’s great for other people but maybe not so much for us. I think us particularly we’re not ones for tanning. I don’t know…I might go a little bit for darker…”“I’m definitely not geared up [for it]. I’m one shade away from see through.”
Another year has arrived for the Vans Warped Tour full of anticipation and excitement to hit the summertime across North America. This year’s edition maintains their tradition of youth oriented angst filled music (or whatever the kids call it these days) and carving a path for the next batch of rising stars on the scene. Thanks to photographer Kevin Estrada for shooting these two dates of Warped tour for Ghost Cult!
The main stages (Shark and Unicorn) showcased the main attractions on the tour, ranging from the pop punk acts (The Wonder Years) to the screamo/emo (Pierce The Veil, Blessthefall) to the crossover half melodic and half aggro (We Came As Romans) to the harder sounding (August Burns Red) managed to keep the kids bouncing around in the crowd and rarely laying low.
Tour veterans Motion City Soundtrack made their brief California run appearance, showing the crowd how things are done on this tour. Metro Station (featuring Trace Cyrus, son of country performer Billy Ray Cyrus), melodic punk act Man Overboard, and hardcore outfit Fit For A King all set the pace for the day with their respective sounds while keeping the crowd engaged.
The main acts on these stages won over the crowd throughout the day. Memphis May Fire got the crowd into a high with their half heavy yet melodic styling that struck a nerve with them; Attila, led by their enigmatic frontman Chris “Fronz” Fronzak and his guitar crunching yet Eninem-esque “meth” suit bouncing along with the crowd; Black Veil Brides and their legions of die hard fan base singing along to every word; and Miss May I and their modern metallic sound that got the crowd worked up later on in the day.
While the main stage had their moments going on, there were a number of side stage acts making noise of their own. The Monster Stage housed their own brand of chaos throughout the day, as Senses Fail, Being As An Ocean, Beartooth, Mallory Knox and The Amity Affliction all got the pit crew throwing down alongside each band and rarely letting down. The harder driving acts such as hardcore outfit Hundredth had the pit kids going in effect, while veteran Canadian post hardcore act Silverstein had their mix of longtime fans as well as newbies who both showed their appreciation for the band. Australian metallic hardcore outfit I Killed The Prom Queen appeared to be bass player less, but that didn’t stop them from bringing out their At The Gates meets hardcore stomp to these fans. British metalcore act While She Sleeps briefly were down a singer (ie visa problems kept frontman Lawrence Taylor making a late start on the tour) but friends pitched in to lend a helping hand and fans didn’t even notice. Plus Escape The Fate closed out the evening with their eclectic brand of punk meets screamo meets modern metal that got the late comers their last bit of a sweat.
On the other stages, indie hip hop acts MC Lars gave a lesson in nerdcore with rhymes about video games and Game of Thrones (ie his latest single “Dragon Blood), while Kosha Dillz brought out his East Coast blend of Spanish, English and Hebrew rhymes; and electro-DJ-performance duo mystery men Drama Club put on an interesting performance that combined part Blue Man Group-esque percussive moments with part electronica meets EDM moments and spontaneous bursts of energy that kept the interested crowd on its feet.
The Journeys Stages found Juliette Sims and Night Riots wowing the crowd with their high energy sets, while hotly tipped electro pop outfit PVRIS became one of the much talked about acts on the tour and their set did not disappoint. Hip hop act Riff Raff put on quite the entertaining show on this stage, with his colorful summertime dress and animated raps to get the crowd bouncing along.
New York alternative rockers The Karma Killers stood out amongst the vast number of acts performing on the Ernie Ball Stage, with their fresh take on classic pop-punk, rock, and alternative rock with an energetic stage show. While they are newly signed to Island/Def Jam and new to the scene, they showed that they could one day end up on one of the larger stages in the new future.
The Acoustic Basement easily became an area largely for shade against the sun, but while most of the acts attracted stragglers throughout the day, Canadian singer-songwriter Saywecanfly and Brian Marquis were two of the acts who attracted a decent sized crowd throughout the day. Saywecanfly attracted a packed tent and entertained the audience with his emotion filled lyrics that got his largely female audience awaiting with anticipation.
Overall, this year’s edition featured a good mix of repeat acts moving up to larger stages, as well as a number of fresh faces to the scene. It is a positive sign to see new acts on the rise at a time when the music industry is struggling to attract new acts to the public. Hopefully someone is paying attention to this tour to see that there is a new generation of artists on the rise.
Bands all across the metal and rock spectrum seem to be releasing a lot acoustic EPs recently, with bands such as Issues, Hands Like Houses and PVRIS trying to gain more fans by releasing stripped-back versions of their songs. California-based quartet Secrets are the latest post-hardcore band to try this tactic, but it is safe to say that they have made it work well. The acoustic and relaxed attitude of Renditions (Velocity/Rise) is the perfect summer playlist and works well for when you are not in the mood to hear screaming vocals, but still love alternative music.
Opening track ‘Forever and Never’ instantly sets the tone for the EP; slow-paced riffs and melodic vocals. Aaron Melzer and Richard Rogers are definitely using Renditions to their full advantage, demonstrating their unique vocal ranges and beautiful harmonies.
‘Dance of the Dead’ is full of well-written vocals and melodic harmonies. Although acoustic songs often sound simple, it is easy to hear exactly how much work has gone into this EP. The chorus is extremely catchy and it is definitely a stand-out song.
Third track ‘Fragile Figures’ proves that acoustic songs do not have to be boring; every song on this EP has its own unique style and sound completely different to the originals. It’s unusual to hear this song without its infamous harsh vocals and breakdowns; however, it proves that Secrets are multi-talented and able to appeal to a wide variety of music fans.
Final song ‘What’s Left of Us’ is one of the slowest songs on the EP, but it provides a fitting end to a beautiful record. The vocals are powerful and soulful, allowing you to completely absorb the lyrics and theme of the song. The almost orchestral sound is impressive and proves that Secrets are not just a one-trick pony; their music is universal and they are talented musicians.
