Interview with Zebrahead

Shit-rock is what they call it. I prefer to say that it’s a combination of energetic punk-rock with a twist of rap and hip hop. These guys from the Orange county produce just the right formula to get the audience to go wild. After being launched over the stage quite a few times it occurred to me that I found myself on a serious rock-gig. Including serious stage diving, serious moshing and not so serious rock-stars. During the interview it became obvious that Matty isn’t supposed to be taken too seriously. Don't expect to get informed about their fantastic music and interesting influences. Prepare yourself for ultimate funny answers and unbearable nasty fantasies…

Interview with Matty (guitar & vocals)
Interviewed by Pearl
Photo by kentaro kambe

Are you excited to play here tonight?

I am , absolutely!

You’ve been to Holland quite a few times right?

Yes, I can’ t tell you how many, but many.
How has 2010 been for you so far?

What month is it today? April?
It has been very good. We’ve started this tour on March 16th and it has been fantastic. We’ve started a bit of writing for the new record and other than that it has been fantastic.

How was the Punkspring festival?

It was rad. It was great, except I had to go to the doctors. I was ill, I had to get medicine and I got infusion. It was the first time I had to get infusion. But I feel a lot better now.

What do you think of the Dutch audience?

I think that they’re superior dressers and they are wild and crazy and very open to good music, they don’t throw things and they don’t spit. It’s good.

What is the difference between the Dutch audience and the American?

They throw things and they spit. It all depends, you may get one or two jerks that spit outside and I don’t like spitting. Why don’t they just swallow their own spit?

What was the first thing you did when you where in Holland?

Yesterday we flew in and the first thing I did was go to the bathroom and threw up. Other than that I’ve had some of these stroopwafels (Dutch waffles).

You didn’t go to the coffeeshop or the red light district?

No no...

What kind of rockband are you?!

I went to bed, I got the flu!

That’s too bad.

I know, but we got in really really super late and we parked right here at the venue so we didn’t have a chance. Although I think tomorrow is the only day off we have I think so then we might go down town.

What are you looking forward to the most on this tour?

I am looking forward to stroopwafels here, coffeeshops here and red light girls here.
I’m looking forward to the hotdogs and beer in Germany and then I’m looking forward to the mountains in Austria.
The ladies in Spain, I guess there would be a lady in Spain. I haven’t found her yet, but I guess there will be one. Don’t tell my wife!
In Paris I’m looking forward to the Eifel tower.
In Belgium I’m looking forward to the real waffles, these are mini waffles.
But these are way better, they are nothing compared to your stroopwafels!

What do you think of Attack! Attack!?

Cool, Attack! Attack! They’re a fantastic band, great fellas. The only problem is, they’re Welsh and I can’t understand some of them! It’s almost like the Scottish guys, but with a twist. But they’re a great band and it’s great that they’re on tour with us.

How would you describe your sound to people that don’t know you?

I would say, it is shitrock. Sure why not? Lets see, Zebrahead and shitrock go hand in hand. Absolutely. Or a cross between Jezus and Fergie singing. You know, a little bit of heaven and a little bit of hell maybe.

You’ve been in this band for quite a while, what has changed during these years?

I like to say I haven’t really changed that much. I buy a lot more videogames, I love videogames. We got customsguitars build for us by this Japanees guitar company and you will see them tonight. Plus I am able now to get a haircut every couple of months.

Last year you’ve released an album, what made you decide to do an album with covers only?

Those are all of the girls that have restraint orders against me. I have a thing for Amy Winehouse I shouldn’t have and it got out of control. She now has a restraining order. Same thing with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera. and Gwen Gwen has two ironicly enough, that why she is on there twice. Sounds like a good answer, sure it’s a great answer!

What song on that record reflects your personality the most?

I would say the Christmas song. I am jolly and holly and I’m a big fat guy.

The album is called panty raid, what is your favourite kind of panty?

Besides none, I would say a g-string.

Have you ever worn it yourself?

No

Would you ever do that?

It depends if there was three or five hot girls wearing them and they had milk and put it all over me. Not in my mouth though, cause I have a lactose intolerance. I don’t want any of that in my mouth. Then they had butterscotch and they put butterscotch on me. Then I would wear a g-string.

Besides letting hot girls sprinkle you with milk, do you have any guilty pleasures?

I love videogames, porn, more videogames and Britney Spears. I have a thing for the shaved head Britney Spears. Who doesn’t? Come on, you haven’t thought of Britney Spears with her head shaved before! Not even with that red suit she wore in Toxic?

Not really.

You seem really connected with your fans and you also answer fan-questions on your website. What is the weirdest question you’ve ever had to answer?

There is always a repeating question. There is this guy that keeps asking if I can sign his balls.

Would you?

No I won’t! My pen only touches girl private parts.

Did it ever?

Many times! So therefore if someone wants anything of their girl parts signed I would definitely do that! Tonight!

Do you have anything to say to the fans that are waiting outside?

Wait a little longer and you’ll get inside. It’s a nice day; so enjoy the day while you’re outside. We’ll see you inside and thank you very much for coming. We do appreciate every single fan in Holland. You guys have been fantastic since day one.

The Cubical in Utrecht

After being disoriented in the rain for a while, I arrived at this tiny hippy café called ACU. Anti-racism writings on the wall made me wonder where I had ended up this time. I guess it was time to board the good ship of Cubical. The Cubical was ready to welcome all of their fans in the country of tulips and weed. In Utrecht the Cubical offered them a pleasant surprise by throwing an amazing gig. Someone must have given the time machine a turn because for a second it felt like we got back in he 60s. This band, which is certainly influenced by Creedence Clearwater Revival, would have been a great addition to the Woodstock line-up. They’ve got stuck in the 60s and that shows off in their psychedelic sound, their recognizable dance moves and authentic appearances.
Psychedelic blues might not be a popular music scene in The Netherlands right now, but that is about to change with the exceptional raw voice of Dan and the bursting energy of this band. Songs like “Like me I’m a peacock” and “Edward the Confesser” bring out the best in Dan’s voice. His raw voice sounds even more amazing live than on the album and it made me realise that I haven’t heard something with such an edge since Kurt Cobain. Alex who plays the guitar got really absorbed in the music, which resulted in an ultimate intense experience of their gig. It was just too bad that there were so few people to enjoy this amazing concert. Although it might have felt like a semi private gig for me, it probably felt like a bummer for this band. Despite of that, they did finish their set and performed like if they were in a sold out stadium. Nothing will stop these guys from playing their crippled tunes for the people that really care about them. Nothing will stop you from being swept off your feet by the sheer power of this steaming band once they get in overdrive. Are you ready to board the good ship of Cubical? Don’t forget to bring your dancing shoes and be prepared to scream your heart out!

The Cubical

It's time for a revolution... It's time for the Cubical. This band from Liverpool is ready to blow your mind with their refreshing garage, psychedelic bluesy sound. They've already got a cultish following in bizarre pockets of the UK. It seems like the UK is getting too small for this great band though. At this point they're preparing themselves for a European tour! They will be fulfilling one of their unfulfilled dreams, which is touring in Holland...
So come and sing these crippled tunes with the Cubical!


31.mrt.2010 20:00
ACU (With DEAD MOUSE WALKING) Utrecht, Netherlands

01.apr.2010 20:00
Cafe XL Wageningen, Netherlands

02.apr.2010 20:00
NDRGRND (With My Boot Heels) Nijmegen, Netherlands

03.apr.2010 20:00
Muziekcafe Helmond (With Automatic Sam) Helmond

04.apr.2010 20:00
Paaspop Festival Zieuwent, Netherlands

Interview with Twin Atlantic

Twin Atlantic is the new sensation of Scotland. A mental crowd in Amsterdam welcomed them with open arms, cause this is a band that you simply can't ignore. Interviewing these guys has been an pleasure and not only because I've got the honour to give them their first Dutch interview, but because I've never heard anyone talk that passionate about their music as Graig (drummer) did. Twin Atlantic is one the fastest upcoming bands of 2010 and certainly one you should keep an eye on!

Sam McTrusty vocals and guitar
Barry McKenna guitar
Ross McNae bass
Craig Kneale drums

How are you?

Sam: Hungry, but apart from that we’re good. Barry and Ross are extremely happy because thery’re eating caramel waffels.

Barry: Not nessesarily because we’re eating waffels, it’s because we’re eating food.

Did you have a nice time in Amsterdam today?

Sam: Well...We had a day off yesterday, so we spent a day in Amsterdam. Some of us overrelaxed more than others. And because we’re from the UK you don’t get the same liberal attitude about woman in windows and drugs, so some of us went to those different places. I have to say that it was kind of intimidating.

Have you seen the Billy Talent show yesterday?

Sam: Yeah, we went to see that. We we standing at the back just beside the sounddesk.

Did you like the show?

Sam: i thought it was too quiet.
Ross: I think that the volume at a rockshow should be really loud.

Are you excited to play here tonight?

Sam: Yeah, it’s our first time in Holland so I can say that it’s cool to play our first ever show for so many people. If bands come here for the first time they usually play small shows, but we get to play in front of 1500 people, so we’re very lucky!

What do you expect from the Dutch audience?

Sam: I’m not sure...
Ross: The Billy Talent show last night gave us a good indication of the crowd. When the support band was playing, the crowd was really attentive, which was nice because in a lot of places you play people don’t care about support bands. They go to watch the main bands and when the support is on people are doing other things. Yesterday though, people were really watching the band.
Sam: So hopefully it will be the same today!

I’ve read that you think that you belong to the top 5 loudest bands ever...

Sam: Haha that sounds like something I would probably say..
Graig: Did you honestly say that?
Sam: I think I did...That is probably not true to be honest.

What would make you one of the loudest bands ever?

Sam: Probably Graig, he is one of the hardest drummers I’ve ever seen and because of that we then have to turn up our amps to match him. I mean he’s already loud by himself, but we put loads more on top and I’ve got a really loud voice for a rockband. So all those things together and the fact that we love distortion makes us loud. I’ve got five amps, Barry has got five and even Ross has got three. For a bassplayer!! You see what I mean? That enables us to go from really really quiet to really loud! And if we go quiet it makes the loud part sound even louder. Maybe for all those reasons I thought that we belong to the top 5, but we probably don’t.
Barry: My Blood Valentine is really loud. If they play they have to get earplugs for everyone!
Sam: Dinosaur Jr. is also really loud.
Barry: And Slipknot..
Sam: See, we’re not in the top 5. There are too many loud bands!
Graig: You lied. Well, you should stop making bullock statements like that if you can’t back it up!
Sam: I’m an attention seeker, that’s my problem...

You’re Nirvana fans as well, in what ways does Nirvana influence your music?

Sam: I really admire Kurt Cobain’s ability to match the mood in his lyrics with really noisy and horrible guitar. He can change from that to really melodic parts and I admire the way he can mash it all together. He might have been one of the first people to do that, I respect him for that.
Graig: For me it’s the first true rockband and the’ve always been one of my biggest influences. Dave Grohl is my favourite drummer and he is sort of the reason I started playing. He is my main drummer influence.

What things inspire you lyrically?

Sam: It changes a lot. We tend to write our music before the lyrics. I usually think of a story to go along with it, sometimes it can even be based on a joke that one of the guys said and that stucked to my head. I tend to mash it all in the song. When we first started I used to be overly personal about family life and that sort of things. The more shows we played, the more I started to feel a little bit uncomfortable having to talk about my personal life. I started to realize that it was stupid and that we didn’t have to be overly personal. So I started to think about things that everyone could relate to, so that we don’t have any boundries in our music. Everyone can interpretate the lyrics in their own way, it’s a little ambiguous and mysterious.

I really love the song “Lightspeed”, what’s the message in that song?

Sam: As all the songs it’s kind of based on unity and I quess excepting that you need other people to achieve things, like your friends and family. It’s a bit of that, but also a bit of pushed together nonsense.

Did you need a lot of people to come as far as you are now, or did you achieve it all by yourselves?

Sam: We’ve had lots of help.
Graig: I quess that at the start we’ve had a lot of help with getting support and booking shows.
Sam: We do have to do a lot of stuff on our own. Ross has done all the artwork and stuff. So we like to be quit heads on, but there are things that you can do and things that you can’t.
Graig: There is a point that you can get to on your own, but from there you need people to step on. When we first started, we had to save our own money to be able to record an ep.
Sam: Stole..
Graig: We practised during the day and we all worked at night and saved up all our money. We started recording and then people started to enable us to get to a certain point where labels were interested to get on board.

Is it hard to get recognition as a Scottish band?

Sam: i think it’s hard for every band, but being Scottish makes it even harder. It’s because geographically the music industry is based in London. Glasgow is so far north that we didn’t really play that much shows in London when we started off with the band. In London we play for like a 300 people, which is kind of a mismatch with the amount of people we play for in Scotland. In our hometown we play for over a 1000 people, but hopefully it will slowly come and meet in the middle. Ross, the wise man, always says that it helped us to actually become the band that we are. We didn’t have the influence from the English record industry for the first couple of years we were in the band.They try to manipulate you and make you in what would be easy for them to make money with. We were able to be who we would like to be.

Last year you’ve released the album “Vivarium”, how would you describe your sound on that album?

Sam: That’s a good question..
Barry: Eclectic.
Sam: Yes, definately!
It’s rock music, it can be really heavy and technical and it can be really heavy and straight forward.. Others say that they hear pretty little guitar parts and melodic vocals, so it’s pretty divers. I think that’s because we’re still learning about writing songs and how we should play music together. It’s a really natural sound on a first record. We’re pretty proud on it, because we got to record it all together at once. Usually when you record it’s with headphones on and you record it track by track, but we got to do it in an old fashioned way.

That must have been one of the highlights of 2009, what have been the other highlights?

Barry: In the summer we’ve played the T in the Park festival. It was the first time we’ve played a proper stage there and it was the biggest stage we’ve ever played in terms of size. The people that we hoped that would come, were all there. There were like 3000 mental drunk people, so that was definitely amazing.

I’ve heard that you’ve toured with the Young Guns last year as well…

Sam: Young Guns, yeah!
Graig: We did a tour with Taking Back Sunday and they were the first band on. They’re really nice guys! They’re going up right now, they’re everywhere.

You will be touring until the end of April, which should be really hard…

Graig: Yeah, we really knocked it out to the extend. Otherwise we wouldn’t know what to do. Touring is important and we love touring and playing in front of people. And we love to go to all this places we never thought we could go.
Sam: It’s really cool, if you look at our myspace, you have to scroll down to see all the gigs we’ll be playing.

How do you manage to survive such a massive tour?

Ross: We haven’t done it before, so we probably wouldn’t.
Sam: We’re all kind of respectful towards each other and we give each other space. It’s never hard to tour as long as you give each other a little bit space. And I always carry multivitamins with me!

So you never really have fights within the band?

Sam: Only about music really.

What is the best way to relax on tour?

Sam: The time when we actually play is the time that we actually release frustration. If you travel you wait all day and that can be really frustrating. You travel miles and miles and you spent a lot of money to get there. So when we actually play the show and it goes well it is like a silent relieve.
Graig: If you play a good show it can make you so happy!
Sam: We like to watch DVDs on our laptops, but because you do it everyday it starts to become really boring.
Graig: Sometimes we have to drive for 10 hours or more and in America that will be even worse.

You will be touring in America, that should be really exciting…

Sam: Yeah, there are not many people our age that can say that they’ve travelled all over Europe and all over the US. We’re just 22 and 24 and someone else pays for it! Well kind of, it’s like a roundabout.

When the tour is over, what will you be doing next?

Graig: More touring…
Sam: We’re actually a non stop rollercoaster! Touring that much is kind of proving to ourselves and to people that have already heard of our band that we’re a serious band.

I hope that you will be back in Holland soon!

Graig: We hope so too!
Sam: We really want to play Pinkpop! We’ll have a big show tonight and after that we’ll get to come back to Amsterdam to play with another band or maybe play a small show on our own. We’ll definitely come back!

The Betrayed by Lostprophets

FINALLY! It's done, released and worth all the waiting... The Lostprophets are back, darker, greater and more honest than ever. In the last couple of years frontman Ian promised his fans a darker album, an album that would really represent their personality's. If this is who they really are, it's for sure that they have some heavy burdens on their hearts.

It all starts with a a bombastic and overwhelming "If it wasn't for hate we'd be dead by now". The song tells us that it's serious this time! No more meaningless popsongs, these guys have a mission, a message they're dying to tell us. They are fed up with something although I can't really figure out what.

The second song you're probably already familiar with; "It's not the end of the world", sounds more like one of the popsongs on "A liberation transmisson". But the song has got body, it's not an empty popsong, but again one with a meaning.

After that you're about to hear something that you haven't heard from the Lostprophets in a long while... Dstryr and Dstryr might be the darkest song you've ever heard of this band. It's a heavy song about destroying religion. This song screams HATE HATE HATE! Again, I'm not sure what is bothering this guys so much. Everybody can see that these aren't the goody-goody guys, but I didn't expect this. Even as a huge fan I think this verse is way to shocking: " Destroyer, Destroyer, Religion needs a new employer, I've got the rope to hang your Jesus even higher". Ian Watkins opened up his heart, but I'm not sure if I like what's coming out. Although I like the melody and the overwhelming amount of energy in the song, I think that Ian has crossed the line this time... They have bottled up their hate for too long, the volcano is erupting! Will this make the fans escape LP town? Of course I don't mean to limit dear sir Ian Watkins in his freedom, but I do think that as a singer of a huge band you have some responsibility. Ian is a model for millions of teenagers and it's just wrong to inoculated them with this amount of HATE! Nevertheless, it's an awesome song, the most honest Lostprophets you've ever heard and that benefits the music in a very strong way.

Even so, I'm not completely unfortunate to hear a sweeter song on the next track. "Where we belong" is a driving and catchy popsong. I like to think of it as a cooling down after Dstryr and Dstryr.

Get in the car get in the car you keep on running you won't get far, next stop Atrocity...It won't surprise you that this is again a heavy song. This might be one of the strongest songs I've ever heard of them. This violent song is a combination of bursting energy and lovely catchy choruses.

For he's a jolly good felon proofs that they haven't become too serious. It has a good party vibe and that is a good aternation for the first couple of songs.

The next songs are more serious again. They seem to refer to Ian's insecurities in love. Sunshine is a nice song, it's sensitive and sweet. That's one way to make a lovesong, but "Dirty little heart" is another story. It might be part of my jealousy, but I can't like that song! It's a whining song and it makes Ian sound vulnerable.

Even though Ian pretends to be very honest on this album, I have the hardest time to understand who he really is. Is he vulnerable? is he a hate carrying anti-Christ? Is this the real Lostprophets? Is this the Lostprophets that we want them to be? Even though they've tried to make everything clear, they are more of a question mark than they've ever been before. But one thing is for sure: This mysterious band is back, heavier and darker then ever before!

They are THE BETRAYED...

Eurosonic 2010

You've probably never ever heard of this small festival in Groningen, the Netherlands. It seems like it's some secret meeting for rapidly upcoming bands and curious journalists. All the bands of tomorrow were on the line-up, bands like Young Guns, We were Promised Jetpacks, The Megaphonic Thrift, Goldhawk, Audrey Horne, Glamour of the Kill and approximately 244 others. Yes, so many bands to see in just two days! I've have seen the best of the best and the worst of the worst. Worst comes first.

Wasting my time on the festival is not really the best thing you can do. Feel free to make your "own" music, just don't make me feel guilty to leave! I've seen this band from Finland, they're called VUK. No, it doesn't refer to f*ck. It's the most goody-goody band I've ever seen or heard. Lets just say that there were seats in the venue and I had to turn my phone off. Do you get the picture? I was forced to sit down and listen to some vocalist that was pretending to be some kind of whinnying horse I guess. When I finally got the courage I escaped, quietly...

Good news was that the next one could only be better and indeed it was! The Goldhawks look like British Next Top Britpop band, great musicians, good looks and a nice style, what more do you need?

I needed something a little bit heavier. Something like Glamour of the Kill. They sound just as bad-ass as their name. Heavily tattooed tough guys. That was exactly what I needed after one day of only soft Britpoppies and female horses. It might be the next trendy myspace band, but what's wrong with that? They really reminded me of Escape the Fate and since I've missed out on them last month, this had been a good alternative. Glamour of the Kill is just a lot of testosterone, tattoos, emo and great music.

Another great band that night was Audrey Horne. A heavy Norwegian band, with the same name as my dear mother. Long haired mysterious Norwegians with a sound and an attitude that resembled Velvet Revolver. I'm not sure if they will ever be huge in the Netherlands, cause they're too heavy for the teenager rock-chicks and too soft for the Scandinavian metal heads. But we'll see, cause they're awesome musicians and they seem to be serious stage animals.

All great bands, but we've saved the best for last. You can't image how much I love this band called Young Guns. It had been the third time that I've seen them, but it was honestly the best gig I've ever been to. They are going to be huge, and that's actually a sad thing to know. They once told me that they would like to be legendary for playing small venues with amazing gigs. I just hope that they would never be legendary for playing HUGE venues with amazing gigs. These guys are just so amazing that I wouldn't want to change them for anything in this world. It's a common phenomenon that bands change when they get bigger. I just wish please please be for always the same, cause you're just perfect the way you are. Their music makes me smile, his smile make me laugh and they just make me happy.

The best and worst of 2009

Snowflakes are falling down Christmas bells are ringing…
It makes me realize that this year has to be almost over. 2009 has been a year full of amazing new rock bands, powerful albums, surprising videos, amazing gigs and revealing interviews. Though, we have to be honest and as a good critic I can’t just look at the bright sides of this year. There have been a few disappointments, a few horrible bands, some awful song releases and some embarrassing comebacks in 2009. Lets find out about the winners and terrible losers for what has been an amazing year so far!

THE MOST ROCKING ALBUMS…

1. Deep Insight, Sucker For Love
2. The Blackout, The Best in Town
3. Taking Back Sunday, New Again
4. 30 Seconds To Mars, This is War
5. The All American Rejects, When the World comes down

AWESOME SONGS…

1. Young Guns, Winter Kiss
2. Lostprophets, Where we Belong
3. The Blackout, Save Our Saves
4. Placebo, For What It’s Worth
5. 30 Seconds To Mars, Kings and Queens

CRUEL SONGS…

1. Lady Gaga, Paparazzi
2. Metro Station, Kelsey
3. Lamb of God, Set to Fail
4. Zebrahead, Girlfriend
5. The Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of Understatement

BEST NEW BANDS…

1. Young Guns
2. Attack! Attack! (UK)
3. Dinosaur Pile-up
4. The Blackout
5. The Cubical

CALL THAT A COMEBACK…

1. The Rasmus
2. Taking Back Sunday
3. Green day
4. Placebo
5. Michael Jackson

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO…

1. Guns ‘n Roses (comeback)
2. Panic at the Disco
3. Bring me the Horizon
4. Slipknot
5. Lady Gaga

BREATH TAKING PERFORMERS…

1. Ian Watkins, Lostprophets
2. Gustav Wood, Young Guns
3. Jimmy Urine, Mindless Self Indulgence
4. Tyson Ritter, All American Rejects
5. Sean Smith, the Blackout

REVEALING INTERVIEWS…

1. Little Man Tate
2. Young Guns
3. Attack! Attack!
4. Dinosaur Pile-Up
5. The Blackout

BEST VIDEO…

1. Lostprophets, Where we belong
2. Greenday, 21 guns
3. Young Guns, Winter Kiss
4. All Time Low, Weightless
5. Kings of Leon, Sex on Fire

Of course this is nothing more than my opnion and I can hardly imagine that you might have different thoughts about the best and worst of 2009. Though if the strangest thing occurs that we have a disagreement about something, you do have the permission to comment me about that...You can make a difference! Can we? Yes we can...