Movment is rising back into the scene with their second album Transformation, they have released just a snippet of it with their EP We All Must Go.
Remaining ambiguous the duo has trademarked their white masks, their act revolves around performativity and connecting the consciousness to the lyrics. The ambiguity is felt throughout We All Must Go as it speaks on the journey of life, how we all have the same fate but follow paths of where no one knows the end. The pair are not only creating rock music but regenerating punk, as well as having elements of grunge that create the grit felt in We All Must Go.
“We All Must Go is a song with a simple message – we are all eventually going to leave this life. But it not particularly negative, it is about embracing the light. It’s an inquest into the journey to the big black river that awaits us, where it’s going, nobody knows…”
The band wants to show their perception of the world, but also wants to invite their audience to do the same, to speak up for what they believe in. From the guitar riffs to the electronic synths along with the angered vocals they can be placed into the neo-dirt punk genre, conveying rebellion through their lyrics to question the agendas of the 21st-century.
We All Must Go follows on from the two acclaimed singles Propaganda and Leave Me Alone, both of which have caught international attention from Brazil to South Africa and beyond. Both of the singles have beckoned the arrival of We All Must Go and the album Transformation. Movment is pushing the voice of millennials and anyone who questions 21st-century agendas to the forefront, making them extremely thought-provoking.
You can experience the album on all platforms on 2/12/21.
With a history of globetrotting, a penchant for the visual arts and a pallet of some of prog and classic rock’s finest; Alan Dweck is already a name of intrigue. Combine this with the emergence of a remaster of his hit track ‘Before’, accompanied by an otherworldly visualiser, and what you have is a handful of conversation starters. We got chatting to Alan to see what’s what…
RR: What to you is the best rock album of all time and why?
AD: A hard one. There are so many genres and sub genres that make up Rock music. One album that has always spoken to me is Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon. – You can listen to it repeatedly and discover greater and greater meaning. From the lyrics that ooze with empathy and insight into the human condition to the superlative musicianship and arrangements sympathetically built around deceptively simple songs. It has a consistent feel, sounding smooth whilst at a deeper level an inner anger bubbles and scratches just below the surface.
RR: How did you first discover rock music?
AD: I grew up with music all around me. As a child I found myself searching for a special sound amongst the bubble gum and the glitz that populated the airwaves. As a teenager I discovered Soho and in particular the Marquee club, the rest is history.
RR: How would you describe the current state of rock/alternative music?
AD: Fractured. We’ve lost the commonality of shared experience in a myriad of different colours. Subcultures and genres are now so small that they touch too few to result in a truly shared experience. We once listened to Radios and CD / Record players in a room with our friends. We now hide our music in our ear pods so that no one else shares them. Music has turned from a social experience into a personal one. On the other hand Spotify and other music sharing services put so much in each of our hands that it’s truly amazing. We can easily listen and discover to so many musicians all over the world. Problem is it’s probably too much and hard to know where to start. So we often end up getting fed something that sounds like what we listened to last time – So if we are not careful we can end up just listening to the same things. That’s restrictive not expansive. Meanwhile the musicians are ripped off whilst these services, internet service providers, hardware manufacturers all get rich from the people’s desire to listen to music. We listen to more music nowadays than ever before, yet the musician and creatives get less than ever before.
RR: Who is your current favourite rock/alternative artist and why?
AD: An Australian Guitarist called Geoff Achison because of his jawbreakingly beautiful phrasing and immaculate control over his instrument. And in the end the way he uses this amazing technique to express intense emotion.
RR: Do you see the genre evolving in any particular way at the moment? For good or for bad?
AD: As mentioned above, I see splitting and fracturing everywhere. There’s good and bad in it. On the good side there is lots of choice and many, many musicians out there for listeners to discover all playing in carefully curated styles that can be categorised to help listeners find them, On the other hand it’s too wide and more choice leads to greater confusion and less commonality in what we all listen to, That results in fractured music styles and ironically an ever smaller reach for musicians who quickly feel stuck in their genre.
RR: How did the ‘Before’ video visualiser come about? Any particular inspirations at all?
AD: I dislike videos of people doing things to music. I also dislike what I call the Celebrity mug shot kind of video: Lots of shots of the artists in different places, singing and generally trying to look cool. It all serves a cult of celebrity rather than a song or a genuine artistic expression. Whilst I do love much film music the normal subtext is that the Visuals are primary and tell the story whilst the music tells the viewer how to feel. I want to turn that on its head. I want the music to be primary – ie The music tells the story whilst the visuals should support it and enhance how the listener feels. The visual should support multiple viewing in the way that the music supports multiple listening. That is why all the images in “Before” are abstract, they are also all extracted from a single visual “the hand” which we see in full right at the end.
I guess I am trying to capture the magic we used to experience when holding a great album cover whilst listening to the music. The music came first and the cover second but the cover and artwork also became part of the experience of the album’s music. If you look carefully at the “Before” video you should find that in an abstract way it represents the message and story behind the song. I wanted something that the viewer could look at many times and still get something out of it. I also wanted the Hand visual to be the takeaway – the video to be an extension of the picture. But I guess it’s really in the hand of the audience and I just hope they like the experience. I am doing some more videos in a similar line. For some other songs and I also intend to use these videos in different ways for my live gigs. … Watch this space.
RR: How important is the visual aspect to your work to you?
AD: Music and Visuals go together like fish and water. I’ve always worked with artists and used visuals to inspire my playing and writing. In my old band we used to have an Artist painting a huge canvass whilst we played. When a strong piece of music meets a strong visual, the combines statement is so much more powerful and moving than with either music or visual can achieve on their own.
RR: What musical inspirations have you picked up whilst travelling?
AD: In many ways I’ve come to see similarities in different music styles and traditions that transcend their diverse roots. As a result I’ve grown an appreciation of what I suppose we would call world music. Drones and complex rhythms scales and microtones are all present in different forms across cultures. In many ways labels, even large labels like “Rock”, “Blues”, “Country”, “Pop” actually restrict us from opening our ears, by shutting us away from different scales and different uses of rhythm. I have grown an appreciation of so many different music types, from Arabic through Indian, Chinese and Aboriginal. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Rock and Blues music, it’s in my very core, but I also think that other cultures produce music that is equally valid and expresses powerful feeling. In the end it’s all music and for me “Good” music is music that touches an emotional core and moves me. That can come from anywhere in the world and just requires a musician to express it.
With the resurgence in popularity of physical media, you’d think more companies would be offering storage solutions for records, tapes and CDs. Sure, you can pop down to IKEA and get yourself a generic shelving unit, and these are fine, but what if you’re looking for something a bit more special? That’s where UK-based company Tunetables comes in. Their idea, quite simply, is genius. What they’ve done is taken the design of musical-instrument flight-cases (you know the sort – you’ve seen them on countless record covers and in countless photo-shoots) and build these into bespoke storage/tables for your precious music collection.
There’s a good story behind this. Rob Chappelhow, the man behind the company, is clearly a music-fan himself. He got the idea for Tunetables after visiting the Joe Strummer exhibition in Covent Garden. In Rob’s words: “Set out under an acrylic plinth was Strummer’s personal tape cassette collection…his musical heritage and inspiration perfectly showcased. It was totally spellbinding. I soon started to conceptualise how I could create my own version of this…a personal time capsule of life-affirming music. I wanted something that could be inherently useful, something that I would see and use every day, and that would be a talking point for like-minded music enthusiasts.”
Philosopher, university professor, novelist and rock star Grave Jones is by and large one of the most interesting names currently rising in the music sector. Having composed material for new album ‘Heartrage Hotel’ in Lebanon amidst one of the greatest financial crises’ the world has ever seen, we got chatting to this most extraordinary of musicians…
RR: What to you is the best rock album of all time and why?
GJ: Guns N’ Roses’ “Appetite for Destruction,” because it’s a perfect fusion of everything I love about rock n’ roll. The record feels like the natural extension of some of my favourite artists that came before: the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Aerosmith – but bigger, better, and meaner. It has that unmatched ‘fuck you’ attitude coupled with a lot of emotional and vulnerable moments. It has Axl’s unique, immediately recognizable scream that is a pure reflection of his pain and anger, and you have the genius combination of Slash and Izzy Stradlin on guitars: they’re individually such tasteful players, of course, but more importantly, I honestly can’t think of two other players with the same chemistry and who compliment each other as well. The rhythm section is just the cherry on top in that original Guns N’ Roses lineup. No wonder it’s a record that changed rock history forever.
RR: How did you first discover rock music?
GJ: I was 8 years old, hanging out in my older cousin’s bedroom while he was studying for his final exams. I heard something on the stereo and something in me just couldn’t resist the pull. I was too young to know the difference between a bass guitar, a lead guitar, or a rhythm guitar, I had no idea what “rock” and “distortion” was, but something in that sound resonated with me on a deep, visceral level. I immediately went to him and asked him what it was, and he took a piece of paper and wrote down: “Guns N Roses – Use Your Illusion.” I went to the nearest record store and bought the tapes. That was the moment I sold my soul.
RR: How would you describe the current state of rock/alternative music?
GJ: I think it’s very much alive, in spite of what people think. It’s just not mainstream anymore. But it’s always been an up and down thing, I guess. People have been saying “rock is dead” since the 70s when disco got big, but if anything it got even bigger later. However, I’m not sure to what extent the genre can keep growing, reinventing itself, and fusing with other genres, but above all I see rock music as an attitude and a sound that is relatable on a very specific, visceral level. So as long as you have angry, confused teenagers who are trying to find their place in the world, I don’t think rock is going anywhere.
RR: Who is your current favourite rock/alternative artist and why?
GJ:At the moment I’m listening a lot to Greta Van Fleet’s latest record “The Battle at Garden’s Gate.” They used to be very criticized for basically sounding like Led Zeppelin copycats, which is true, but then again these guys were like 19 or 20 years old when they put out their first couple records: how could you expect them to reinvent the genre at such a young age? But now they’re a tad older the difference is obvious. It sounds to me that underneath all those early influences they eventually found themselves, their own identity, and you can really hear in their fantastic last record. My favourite things about them are the arrangements and Josh’s impressive, almost effortless vocal abilities.
RR: Do you see the genre evolving in any particular way at the moment? For good or for bad?
GJ:I’m not sure I can see in one what way it’s going to evolve, but every few years you get a little rock revival with a little twist on the genre. I wasn’t a fan of the nu-metal trend in the late 2000s, but I loved the garage/disco rock revival in the mid 2000s lead by bands like the Strokes, then the whole electronic rock thing of the early 2010s. I’m not a big fan of the current rappers who are dabbling in the genre – like Post Malone or Machine Gun Kelly. On the other hand, the whole Hip Hop and RnB sound has been dominating the charts for over ten years now, and it’s starting to exhaust itself. Every genre that becomes mainstream eventually gets there, all the artists start sounding and looking pretty much the same, until something else comes on. I’m very curious to see what that is.
RR: How did the ‘Heaven Only Knows’ artwork come about? Any particular inspirations at all?
GJ:The cross in the artwork is a picture of a Mexican cross that was in an apartment in Paris around the time I happened to write the song. I recently noticed that I often intuitively find myself drawn to religious imagery, and this one felt appropriate for a title like ‘Heaven Only Knows.’ The artwork was made by artist Tulip Hazbar. She is the one who had done the artwork for ‘Smitheens,’ writing over a picture taken by photographer Walid Nehme and I wanted her to handwriting again on the cross of ‘Heaven Only Knows.’
RR: What would you describe the current political situation in Lebanon?
GJ: It’s not good at all. The country’s been pushed back 30 years in less than a year, almost overnight, and the freefall isn’t over yet. It’s a shame because only two years ago it was one of the coolest places in the world, every single person I know who’d ever visited had immediately fallen in love with the place and ended up either coming back regularly or moving there. 400,000 people have now left the country in the past year, it’s the biggest wave of migration since the start of the civil war in the mid 1970s. Politically, it’s a gridlock caused by a combination of an armed militia, foreign interference, greed, incompetence, and failed system that needs radical change. The situation is sad and infuriating. It’s no coincidence my upcoming record is called ‘Heartrage Hotel.’
RR: How difficult is it to make music in a financial crisis?
GJ:It can be extremely challenging, yes, because the financial crisis isn’t only affecting the purchasing power of individuals, it’s also affecting the country’s most basic infrastructure. With the incessant power cuts, the shortage of car fuel, and terrible internet, how can anyone expect to have the headspace to create anything, let alone to logistically make anything happen. Simple tasks like recording or meeting the band to rehearse become a challenge. I have friends in who work in a production who went to Turkey for a week end only to be able to have decent internet to be able to download and upload large files and be able to work. How ridiculous and sad is this?
RR: How would you predict the current situation in Lebanon will evolve over the next few years?
GJ: This is actually the most frustrating part about this whole situation: I don’t know. No one knows. And anyone who claims to know is either lying or delusional. There are so many elements at play, so many possible moves from proxy powers, upcoming elections, threats of violence… Really, anything is possible. But I have a hard time seeing how anything is going to get any better in the near future.
Grave’s latest single Heaven Only Knows is out now and available everywhere!
Sometimes simplicity must be granted precedent over innovation. For modern prog-rock pioneers City Weezle, who have spent the best part of their career crafting some of this century’s most outrageously outlandish music, taking a break to craft some straightforward rock is nothing but justified. The newest teaser for brand new LP, ‘No.2’, titled ‘She’s A Stomper’ packs in the band’s undeniable energy but concentrates it solely on giving heads a good rattling.
So with a history of thriving in the realm of complexity and otherworldly-ness, how does the multinational ensemble of prog demons fare without their fancy tricks? In short, incredibly well. ‘She’s a Stomper’ effectively shows the band as jacks of all trades and masters of all, the well-trodden blueprint of a hard rock track collides with Weezle’s trademark off-kilter vocal melodies and intriguing samples for a package that is replete with character.
Simon Fluery’s vocals are, as ever, animalistic as he attacks each verse and hook thrown his way, the rompin’ stompin’ melody of the song’s chorus, in particular, is a brutal affair with Fleury providing a tirade that is jarring and catchy in a way City Weezle could only achieve.
The track follows the warm embrace by fans of the forthcoming LP’s other two teasers, ‘Captain Introspective’ and ‘Underground In Europe’, for a satisfying hat trick of hype-builders. As mentioned it’s not the most complex of the City Weezle tracks but packs enough bells and whistles to maintain the band’s core sound whilst giving the overall album a bit more diversity.
There are few things in life that are ‘certain’. Death, taxes and City Weezle releasing great music – ‘She’s A Stomper’ is yet more proof.
She’s A Stomper is set to be unleashed on the 3rd of December 2021!
Supreme Unbeing is a progressive rock and power metal band from Sweden, they emit mystery and ambiguity, led by vocalist Zac Red, along with his fellow band members D. Vine (Lead Guitar), D.Sciple (Rhythm Guitar), Unknown (Bass), and Al Mytee (Drums).
Taking an MF DOOM / Gorillaz-esque approach by using animated characters to enforce their already mysterious appearance, the band has recently transformed this into flesh and blood identities. Their debut album Enter Reality impacted the music industry in October 2020 which gained 3rd place in “Album of the Year” according to the readers of Swedish Rock Magazine. Since then, their debut quickly made astounding accomplishments such as entering Spotify Playlists, placing themselves on New Metal Track’s and Thrasher’s, as well as gaining an astonishing +5.5 million video and digital streams in less than 12 months since the LP’s release.
This month, October 22, 2021, release the first prophetic and ominous-sounding single Face of Evil, from their upcoming second album Enduring Physicality, which is to be released on 22 February 2022. Lead vocalist Zac Red acts as a “physical form of our consciousness”, according to the band, what is to be expected is an album that emits a message that is close to our own personal thoughts, something everyone can connect with.
Zac Red states about the new E.P: “This song is about self-proclaimed kings, tyrants, societal leaders… and your friends. Whether you have your own life agenda or not, they’ll manipulate and rob you of your free will to get what they want with their – as the song goes – ever-changing ‘Face Of Evil’. Humans are dual in nature, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, we all have a good side and an evil side, which side, and face, you decide to show at any given moment is yours to balance carefully on this grand stage. How do you want to be remembered?”
Due to the band’s ambiguity, not much is known about them, but their animated videos Animals and You’ll Never Make It, both of which premiered in REVOLVER Magazine, areclassed as a great success by their many fans. The new music video for Face of Evil stars Swedish actor Dragomir Mrsic, who is known for acting in “Snabba Cash” and “Edge of Tomorrow” where he co-stars along with Tom Cruise.
The band members jointly agree that they are “On a quest to enlighten the people of the Earth through heavy riffs, astounding solos, and intriguing lyrics” which is something they continue to do through Face of Evil.
The track is mixed and mastered by Sebastian “Seeb” Levermann, vocalist/guitarist of German founded metal band Orden Ogan, the track is available now for streaming and download on all major music platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer.
With a new record approaching close over the horizon, and numerous hungry fans to feed, we sat down with City Weezle frontman and founder, Simon Fleury; chatting everything from cabin fever to Japanese pentatonic scales!
AM: What would you say are the key differences between your debut record and the upcoming No.2?
SF: This album certainly has less Primus and Mr.Bungle influence. Even though we can still hear some Patton/Primus/Bungle colours in there.There are certainly more keyboard and piano sounds on this one thanks to the wizardry ofAxel Steinbiss and CSL Parker; two excellent players/composers.CSL really encouraged me to get back on the City Weezle stuff and taught me free formimprovisation which is super fun and it had been a long time since I’d done a lot of improv.For those things I’m very grateful and, of course, for his parts on the album..
It was so much fun working with Axel, he’s super zoned in and could just do anything.He composed some really cool key lines for the album and pulled really amazing takes out of the bag; all in his stride, He’s also one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met, Germans not being funny is a post-war myth.We’ve just had a Hitler joke we put in our press kit published in a review ofGerman Punk Magazine so I think the proof is in the pudding there ;).
This one was recorded in many different places over a much longer period of time whereas«Taboo» was recorded all in the same place in the space of about a year. I think this one is definitely less chaotic, intentionally so, ‘Cluedo’ is the final track on this album and it fulfils the roleof the track that brings the crazy. Of course, there’s a bit of craziness in all our stuff in different ways.
‘She’s a Stomper’ is our most straightforward rock song and I really dig it. It’s got a veryMelvinsy feel. We haven’t really released a straight hard-hitting rock song before and thisis certainly a new feel to our catalogue.In any case these are eight new diverse tracks we’re 100% happy with and can get behindand I can’t wait to perform them live.
AM: What do you think you learnt as a musician from writing No.2?
SF: From an educational perspective, I learned to write string quartet lines and it’s given me a better vision of how to approach orchestration for other instruments in the future I’ll definitely be delving into that a bit more on certain tracks.
It’s also given me a second round of collaborating with guest musicians which was also really cool and I’m really grateful to everyone who put a little piece of their magic onto this album.
AM: Did you encounter any challenges while writing/recording No.2? How did you overcome them?
SF: Yes there were many barriers to making this album not least the distance between all the personnel. It’s certainly one of the reasons why it took so long.Mixing this album at distance with Gautier Serre (Igorrr) was a lot of bouncing mixes back and forth and that was definitely the hardest part from my perspective.
But I really want to thank Gautier and think it was worth it as he did a great job, he’s responsible for the album having a great quality of sound.There were obstacles and a lot of flights booked to record this one but as with anything worthwhile it took motivation and perseverance to overcome those obstacles and finally get to the result we wanted.
AM: How would you describe the most dominant emotions coming from No.2?
SF: I’d say like most of our music it has a theatrical energy and there are moments of mystery and emotion.The most personal and emotional song for me is “Even Weezles get the Blues”. It was a very alcohol-fueled part of my life where I’d just split with my GF when I wrote that trackand was feeling the solitude of those emotions. So while it seems like a funny upbeat track it actually has a very deep meaning for me.
In a fun way, I guess it’s me singing about my problems back then, therefore the song title makes perfect sense.
AM: Do you have a general songwriting method that you stick to or does it come from within the moment?
SF: Well I have different methods of composing and I don’t like to stick to just one. Sometimes I’ll write mostly the music first and then only have one or two vocal hooks along the way while imagining what the vocals will sound like.Sometimes more recently I’ve been finding vocal ideas first and then just finding the music to suit the vocals and I think it works really well. Like ‘She’s a stomper’ was mainly written like that.
Igorrr has done some composition sections within our tracks on “Taboo”. Sometimes we’ll create things as a band in a rehearsal room and take each other’s ideas and develop them or alter them.
I have a method of composing I’m sure other bands like “The Ruins” use too maybe?It’s to record an improvisation and have the other instruments learn it and record over it.
I call it “Comprovising”! So you record an improv and the other instruments record over it in a structured manner. So it sounds tight enough to be written but comes from a completely spontaneous performance. We’ll certainly be fitting it in on future tracks.
AM: Do you have any interesting or funny stories from the recording process?
SF: We tracked the drums and guitars out in this lovely little cottage in a very remote area in the Nyre Valley in Co.Waterford, nearly Bally Macarby.
Many thanks to The Fabie Family and Henstep McGrath of “Crow Black Chicken” for letting us use the place for recording, it was a really nice little drum room in the upstairs of the little cottage called “Gypsies Cottage” – out there you get a real old Ireland feel, it’s kinda like going back 50 years in time.
A pub with a shop attached to it and the people to match, it was really cool.So we were very isolated out there, no phone signal, no internet just the basic equipment I had and the tunes to be recorded.We recorded the drums in the space of two days out there with “Ai Uchida”, all credit to him he’s a great guy and an amazing drummer!
I went out there to track the guitars for “She’s a stomper” by myself and it was a completely different ball game. I started getting cabin fever as they call it. It was like the Shining except I didn’t even have my wife or kid! With no internet and no telephone connection, it felt really really weird. I stayed at it for about two days and then got super depressed, scrapped everything and came back to civilisation
But it was very fun tracking out there with the lads other than that whacky experience!
AM: Can you tell us what it was like to work with Gautier Serre a.k.a Igorrr on this project?
SF: When I decided to get making this album I hit him up straight away with the question, ‘Would you be game for mixing and mastering it?’ Cause he’d done our 1st LP “Taboo” and I think he did a great job.
Plus I trust his ear. He’s a guy who’s been making top quality albums since I met him so I trust him on that front. He knows how to balance things well and get really great sounds. So I was delighted when he agreed to do it.Even though we did all of this at distance bouncing things back and forth and I haven’t seen him in ages I’d still consider him a friend. He was always super supportive of us and even jumped in a van to drive us around Europe for the Taboo tour.
He threw in a few little sprinkles of sound on No.2 where he saw fit and I think it worked out really well that way.
AM: How was City Weezle originally formed?
SF: Initially, I met a really wicked prog guitarist, Sylvain Ducloux, AKA ”Cloux” in ATLA music school in Paris where I was taking courses and he made this really insane prog guitar album called “Full Fool” and he invited me to do some vocals on a few tracks.
That was my first time participating on a professional quality recording – up until then I’d just done my own demos on my 8 track where I’d play all the instruments for the most part. From those demos, I had a bunch of tracks that I wanted to make a fusion band with and I selected those tracks to make the 1st demo of CW with “Cloux” on guitar, Eric Carrere on drums and Maxime Gilbon on Bass.
Eric Was playing with Cloux at the time and he’d done drums on my Demos too.Max and I used to mess around playing covers of queens of the stone ageand Primus with this other summer.I feel lucky that I’m still very close friends with those guys to this day.They’re great people and great musicians.
AM: How did music first enter your life? Do you have any standout memories?
SF: The first song I remember hearing as a kid is that “Dire Straits” track“Walk of life”; I must have been about four, it was on the radio and my mother was cutting celery. Every time I heard that song after that I would get the smell of celery and, vice versa, every time I’d get the smell of celery it’d bring that famous keyboard line of that song into my head. I only really started getting into music around age nine or 10 when I got into Nirvana.
Before then I’d had a few of those Now compilations.Discovering Nirvana was obviously a life-changing moment as it was for us all.Shorty after I got into Metallica and Alice in Chains, another pivotal moment was discovering Mr. Bungle Age 16; I’d discovered Zappa shorty before then.
There was also a legendary singer song writer named “Warwick Embury”. He wasn’t famous but he really should’ve been.. He was good friends with Donovan and had come from the really thriving music scene in the UK to live in Tipperary, Ireland.
I imagine he wanted to get away from the hustle-bustle of London and found solace in Tipp.English guy, real deal rock and roll legend who used to come round to our house and sing tunes and improvise lyrics and he was super fun and entertaining.He was a very fun, very cool guy, real heart and soul of the party.He wrote great songs and he was a massive influence on me too.Unfortunately he’s passed away now but he left a lot of great happy memories.His music lives on. I’d advise anyone to go and check out his stuff. Really great songs.
AM: I’ve seen that you’re a Francophile and also becoming fascinated by Japanese culture! Is this something that you think has ever leaked into your music or could do so in the future?
SF: Yes that’s 100% accurate I’ve always been into the french language and now I’m a fluent french speaker. I learned it from having lived over there for years. That’s where City Weezle was initially founded and I still have great friends over there.
Yes it’s worked its way into our music a bit. On our latest album No.2 on the 3rd track Maestro Mafioso, at the intro of the song I have some lyrics in french and I sing them withPedral and Mina of “Vladimir Bozar ‘n’ ze Sheraf Orkestar” one of my favourite bands!
We also do a rock cover of a french pop song “l’amour a la plage” there’s a version of it on the “Lysergik tea party” EP; there’ll definitely be some more french stuff in future!
Yes, it’s only now I’m starting to learn some Japanese and am very fascinated by Japanese Culture. I feel very lucky to have two great Japanese members in the band and really looking forward to gigging over there with the lads and learning more about the culture.Musically I’ve only learned the Japanese minor pentatonic scale and I wrote a really cool sounding intro with it once – we might break that out of the bag and make it something hopefully. Look forward to learning and hearing more.
AM: How do you believe that City Weezle fits into the prog scene?
SF: We initially come from the underground scene in France where Igorrr, Pryapism Vladimir Bozar and all these bands were kind of our contemporary’s. I think our music is quite diverse and will remain so we can be appreciated by the open-minded members of many different types of audiences.
I could see us opening up for any band we’d cite as an influence and fitting the bill very well,I think we fit in many places; we’re a fun band and we put on a fun show! It should fit right in everywhere. (Probably not in all-metal show line up but we’ve done it before and didn’t get murdered by an axe-wielding maniac, but who knows? Maybe next time it’ll happen 😉
AM: What is the main mission statement of City Weezle?
SF: Our mission is to keeppeople entertained as fuck and bring this super fun music to as large an audience as possible in this lifetime all while sharing the love of the music we love and the influences we channel through our music.
I believe it was Frank Zappa who said “Music is the Best”.
Ok! Fine! I’ll Step into the Light! der Mist have convinced me. As long as the Light has lots of der Mist songs being played on a constant loop, then I’ll step in if I must.
It’s a nice feeling to feel welcome in a song. It isn’t der Mist’s aim to alienate, but rather to welcome you in with a pat on the shoulder and a tin to crack open. The Glaswegians, who remind one of both LCD Soundsystem and Franz Ferdinand, seem keenly attuned to what makes a good tune. I doubt they could write out the exact formula, but you get the sense that they know what they’re doing.
That’s a great thing, by the way. Indeed, it’s a hard balancing act to sound at once in control, yet also nowhere near intimidation. You wouldn’t put on ‘It’s Alright’, a track also from their new ‘Step into the Light’ album, to show off your super in-depth musical knowledge. You’d whack it on at a gathering, where the mood needs to stay friendly and fun. If someone touches to aux when I’m trying to Step into the Light, I’ll scream bloody murder.
You wouldn’t be foolish to think that der Mist have a bright future ahead of them. A pathway lit by catchy melodies, embracing chord progressions and some incredibly mixed drums. Maybe their future is bright due to their own Light? But if it’s the same light I’m stepping in to? I’m not happy about that, I want all The Light to myself. Let me step in!
If I wasn’t aware that Wavewulf was from New Jersey, I would’ve assumed somewhere different. Somewhere frustratingly non-specific and vague, like saying you’re ‘from London’ to someone who is also from London – that’s just not enough detail. Wavewulf is from Space, and no amount of conflicting information can convince me otherwise. He says he’s American, but would an alien reveal themselves to the public? No.
‘Space Art and Angels’, the latest release from the synth wizard, feels like it might be the soundtrack for a 90’s sci-fi novel. Ebbing and flowing and pulsing and jittering, a story is told. There is romance, as is heard through the aptly named My One True Love, alongside terror in Venus’s Winter Light III. Warring motifs like these make for a narrative journey, rather than a cobbled-together collection of works.
The use of real, analogue synths elicits a reaction that I imagine Wavewulf would be pleased with – they’re completely noticeable. Often instruments can get lost in a swamp of over-indulgent song writing, but not here. The synths are allowed to breathe and, in doing so, reveal a deft arranging touch. It can be all too easy to fall in to the trap of adding layer after layer after layer (especially in electronica), but Wavewulf has shown that restraint is a vital part of sculpting a believable fantasy.
Wendy Carlos and Kraftwerk fans rejoice, this is something to bathe in. The textures sound considered and deliberate. Despite its off-world theme, the comfort provided by this album is real and oddly familiar. It’s like decades of sci-fi in film and on TV have given us the context we need to understand the otherworldly Wavewulf. If pop-culture weren’t filled with spaceships and time warps, nebulas and supernovas, maybe Wavewulf would be too confusing. But no, I understand it and I’m glad that I do. Feel free to reveal your true origins, Wavewulf, I know you aren’t from round here (and by ‘here’ I mean Earth).
Formed on the 1st of November 2014, In Signs are a 3 pieced rock band who are based in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Their favourite genres are grunge and alt-rock and their music is readily available on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube and all other major streaming platforms.
The band have kicked off 2021 with a bang with their new song ”Knock Knock” which is accompanied by a lyric video.
“It’s so important to be true with people who listen to your music and this is our main goal. There are a lot of artists nowadays but not all of them are doing art. We want to prove that music is not about money, it’s about the passion of your life. I’m a closed person and making music and writing lyrics is a perfect way for me to communicate with people.”
Arsen, frontman of In Signs
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