Category Interviews

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Festivalphoto asked Serpentine bassist Gareth Vanstone some questions about their latest album, touring plans and the band in general.

Festivalphoto: Your new album ”Living And Dying In High Definition” has just been released, right at the end of August. Can you tell us a bit about the album?

Gareth: “Well, it came together quite quickly. We started writing fairly soon after the debut came out, as we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to make an album that was an improvement on the first; and, you know, I think we did that?”
“There’s definitely a slightly heavier vibe to it and you can see that tracks like ‘Dreamer’, which has some quality, galloping guitar work from Chris, definitely benefit; …. and Roy’s drumming throughout the album is heavier too...

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After their performance supporting Sabaton at Koko in London, I spoke to Hell’s guitarist Andy Sneap in their dressing room. We were then joined by his fellow guitarist, Kev Bower.

Festivalphoto: OK, Hell was around in the early ’80s before splitting. What sparked the decision to reform in 2008 after so long?

Andy: Obviously we never really thought we could do it. I’d always wanted to record Hell’s material because I grew up listening to them and going to see them, and it wasn’t until I bumped into Kev again, it was probably late 2007. We got talking about old times and it made us realise, because he’d seen the studio and he came over to visit me, basically we were just sat in the studio and said it would be great to record some of these songs...

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Det har var en riktigt dåligt väder i Stockholm igår, regnet öste ner och blandades med snö, man blir blöt bara man tittar ut genom fönstret, och kall, ända in i märgen. Men inne på Göta källare, där kokade det.

Fyra band gjorde upp i tävlingen Released Live & Unsigned. Det var Reenact från Göteborg, Sumoned Tide från Umeå/Skellefteå, Massdestraction från Malmö samt Saint Deamon från Göteborg/Stockholm. Det vinnande bandet får bland annat att spela på Sweden Rock Festival och Getaway Rock Festival i sommar. Dessutom får de inspelning av en EP, tryck och distribution av EPn med Sweden Rock Magazine i 18 000 exemplar.

Det var jämnt mellan banden men vann gjorde Reenact från Göteborg! De fick bland annat kommentaren ”Fruktansvärt jävla bra” av juryn.

Fes...

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Festivalphoto journalist Ant May spoke to Dragonland and Amaranthe guitarist, Olof Morck at the Borderline in London shortly before Amaranthe played their first UK headline show on December 12th. The date was extra special for Olof as it was his birthday.

Festivalphoto: The new Dragonland album, ”Under the grey banner” has just been released, can you tell us a bit about the album?

Olof: Its the first Dragonland album in five years and it’s the result of a very ambitious project that we started seriously back in late 2008, but we were playing around with some concepts before that, and it basically looks back to the first two albums we made which were more in the fantasy vein...

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Festivalphoto: You last played the UK in 2004 – why the long seven year wait for you to come back?

The Quill: (laughing) that’s a good question, we dont know. We did some shows in Sweden, Holland and Germany then the record company – we broke up with them, then we broke up with the previous manager, then after that the singer left and nothing much happened, it was a downward spiral for a year or two, so we haven’t had the opportunity to do it, and the band didnt really exist for one and a half or two years actually. So that’s the reason. We’ve got a new manager with good connections here in the UK so this is the kick off for us now. We’re playing one show tonight then we’re planning to come back here in March hopefully or January if something works the way we want it...

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Festivalphoto spoke to Michael Monroe and Dregen before their performance at Hard Rock Hell 2011.

Festivalphoto: You’re famous for your energetic live shows which are great fun to watch as you climb onto speakers (or anything else convenient) or throw yourself into the crowd. Do you ever get injured doing this?

Michael: Oh yeah, a lot. I broke two ribs twice last year, I’ve broken my ankle twice, yeah I do get injuries but I try to be careful.

Festivalphoto: With your habit of swinging your microphone and its stand around on stage do you ever injure your band mates?

Michael: No – only myself.

Festivalphoto: In Birmingham I seem to remember Steve Conte bleeding after taking a Saxophone to the face.

Michael: He walked into the Sax, it wasn’t me (laughing)

Festivalphoto: Good answer

Fes...

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Upon receiving a recommendation from a friend, I visited Syne’s official website at http://www.syne.it/ and listened to the songs featured in the media section. Being pleasantly surprised by what I heard, I had a chat with the band’s mastermind, Fabio “FaZ” Marchisio, to find out more about this fresh Italian band with a lot of potential, and below you can read the result. And once you’re done reading, you should pay a visit to their website and listen for yourself.

Can I get a little history of the band. How did it start, how did you meet all the members? What does the name mean?
This projects started at very beginning of 2010. I had a bunch of songs and lyrics and I was trying to contact potential musicians on the scene to join the band and to learn the songs I had...

Posted in Interviews

Ant May from Festivalphoto spoke with Olli Herman and Hessu Maxx from Reckless love shortly before their show at Islington Academy in London on 26th November 2011

Festivalphoto: First of all, welcome to London – first night of your UK tour.

Olli: Thank you. Second time we’re here, or doing a full tour here, and it was more than a year ago that we last played on British soil so it’s a bit exciting to tell the truth, a bit nerve-wracking as well – do they still remember us.

Festivalphoto: Well the queue outside the venue started around 2 hours before the doors open so I think they do remember you.

Olli: Really, thanks for sharing this information, a load just came off my heart.

Festivalphoto: Your UK tour ends at the Hard Rock Hell festival. Have you heard anything about the festival?

Ol...

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Festivalphoto recently asked The Undertones bassist Michael Bradley a few questions before the bands forthcoming tour.

Festivalphoto: Your last album (excluding compilations) was released in 2007. Are there any plans for a new album?

Michael: We have some new songs, and we hope to record them sometime next year. We havent practised them much , so we wont be playing them live this time round.

Festivalphoto: Your current tour is the 35th anniversary tour where you’ll be playing your first album in its entirety. What else can fans expect you to play on the tour?

Michael: As the first LP is only thirty two minutes long, we will include as singles as we can...

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Anthony May from Festivalphoto spoke by phone with Richard Drummie from Go West to talk about their forthcoming UK tour and the band in general.

Festivalphoto: You’re about to start your 3D live UK tour. What can fans expect from the shows – a greatest hits setlist or something different?

Richard: Well I wish we had so many hits that we couldn’t squeeze them all into a show without making it the same as usual, but we will be doing all our hits, we always do really. Sometimes there’s one or two that aren’t right for the venue because they’re too quiet or whatever, but no, all the hits will be there but we always on every tour try to play new things...