Death or Salvation: A Year In The Life Of Tim Loud

Antifolk singer-songwriter, Tim Loud, gives us a track-by-track insight into his latest album, ‘Salvation’.

Folk-punk antihero, Tim Loud, is due to release his third studio album Salvation via TNS Records on 28th September 2018. Salvation follows new musical and lyrical themes; a musical chronical of Tim’s personal quest for redemption. Shout Louder asked Tim to give us the background.

I was due to start pre-production on Salvation in December of last year, after a pretty shitty few months. Three years of heavy touring and trying to cram in some semblance of a personal life in the 5-10 day stints when I was back ‘home’ had taken its toll. I tried to go sans abode, thinking that if that financial pressure was gone then it might be better… but the uncertainty that added only made things worse.

My head popped at the end of a tour in August last year. I had to work out a more healthy way to carry on making music, if it was even worth me carrying it on at all?

I’d been drinking a lot over the years and had grown accustomed to taking a good ol’ cocktail of drugs to balance me out on the daily, so I decided to knock those things on the head. I still had a sparsely populated tour for September and October to complete, so I decided I would make those my last dates before taking a break. I wouldn’t stress too much about filling the last dates and maybe even take some days off to camp out in the Western European woodlands. I was doing this tour on my own; I often travel with another performer but due to my state, I knew I had to go this part alone.

Tim Loud Salvation Album Cover.jpg

I managed to stay off of everything for one month and then gradually began falling back into old habits, although with less gusto this time. I felt the time to clear my head had been useful. One of the last dates I played was at the ADM festival in Amsterdam; I have played there maybe a dozen times over the past 4/5 years and I have a lot of good friends there. They were all busy running the festival and tour fatigue had put pay to what remaining social skills I had left after the head-popping incident. I spent most of the festival wandering round on my own. It was nice, but it’s a strange experience when everyone else is so involved with each other and you’re just an individual.

So anyway, I wound up taking some acid and in the dawn-light in the back of my van. As electricity danced through every structure and a thin layer of ice shimmered atop everything in my line of vision, I had an epiphany of sorts. Two phrases kept repeating themselves in my head, “Find a home,” and, “I am me, and that’s OK,” for about 6 hours.

I put that together with everything else I’d been thinking for the previous years. It was time to take a break from touring. Continue reading “Death or Salvation: A Year In The Life Of Tim Loud”

Band Spotlight: Wild Tales [Interview]

Guildford’s Wild Tales are a poppy, twiddly dose of positivity, FFO: Marmozets, Tiny Moving Parts, Biffy Clyro, Thrice.

Interview by Sarah Williams.

Wild Tales are an exciting new indie-punk four-piece from the lush green hills of Surrey. They are the latest addition to the Lockjaw Records roster, fusing math-rock and indie influences with pop sensibilities and big choruses. They released their first single Hourglass on September 14th – it’s refreshingly accessible pop with a healthy dose of twiddly guitar work.

To find out more, we spoke to vocalist/guitarist Adam Rains about their future plans.

Hey! We’ve been enjoying your new single Hourglass, but it only scratches the surface of what you guys have to offer. How would you sum up Wild Tales for someone who’s just discovering you?

Why thank you. For those that haven’t heard us, Wild Tales are a mashup of technical tappy tip toeing with a solid foundation of pop sensibilities and catchy hooks that will make your grandmother simultaneously weep and hoot in joyous fashion.

You guys are brand new as a band, but you’re not brand new to the scene. Can you tell us a little bit about your previous musical projects?

All four of us have played in various bands over the past two decades but most recently, and most notably, in a couple of bands called Trails and Atiptoe. The common denominator, bassist James, joined Trails in 2010 whilst playing bass for Atiptoe and our friendship grew from there, with guitarist Iain eventually making a guest appearance on guitar for Trails at their final show back in 2015. It’s all a bit incestual and dutty if you ask me.

How do Wild Tales differ from Trails musically?

Similarities can definitely be drawn between the two but, generally speaking, Trails wrote heavier more punky tracks, whilst Wild Tales are more pop based in both melody and song structure. The ethos of being open to writing whatever feels right and having no limits on the direction or sound of a track is something that I feel both bands have embraced and is something that helped and helps both bands avoid becoming too generic or boring. Continue reading “Band Spotlight: Wild Tales [Interview]”

Podcast: Nuno & Trevor from A Wilhelm Scream

Listen to our hilarious chat with New Bedford’s melodic hardcore legends, recorded at KNRD Fest 2018.

The latest Shout Louder podcast features none other than Nuno Pereira and Trevor Reilly from melodic hardcore legends A Wilhelm Scream!

Sarah caught up with the vocalist and guitarist at KNRD Fest, in the beautiful Bavarian woods. We shared a drink and talked a bit about the magic of the music festival, the charm of sweaty club shows and some of the staggering things that have happened to the band on tour over the years.

Hailing from New Bedford, Massechusets, A Wilhelm Scream are one of the most influential bands in modern melodic hardcore punk. Since 1999 they’ve been turning out high-octane, aggressive punk anthems, releasing some of the best albums of the last 20 years, proppelled by unrivalled live shows. We’re glad we were able to catch them and we hope you enjoy listening to the episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Apologies in advance for the phone noise in the second segment – if it’s really bugging you then skip on past it to part three.

If you’re interested in reading more, start with Sarah’s personal account of following AWS’ UK tour with Darko, then Sarah’s 13 Best Memories From KNRD Fest. We also interviewed AWS drummer Nick Angelini back in May.

We also play a sterling selection of fast-punk tunes:

Cover shot by Cold Front Photography. Check out Josh’s full KNRD Fest gallery here.

 

 

 

Exclusive: Captain Trips Premiere Video for ‘Chances’

South Coast skatepunks Captain Trips unevil their new single from their upcoming Stand By EP.

Portsmouth skate-punks Captain Trips are primed to release a brand new Ep Stand By on October 5th, via the lovely chaps at Umlaut Records (you can pre-order now). The video was shot at their practice rooms at Quay West Studios in Gosport, using a grand budget of £0.

“This tune is lyrically based on the irony of having all the knowledge of the world in your pocket, at your fingertips, and how sometimes that has caused some of the biggest divisions in society,” said vocalist/guitarist Rich Mayor.

“This is the first nod to the created echo-chamber theme that runs through other parts of the EP, and an acknowledgement that we do at least a bit of ‘opinion-cleansing’, primarily to make room for more videos of animals doing cool sh*t, but also because we get tired. Tired of checking out what seem like suspect facts, tired of the anger and hate in the comments sections, but also realising (perhaps in a defeatist way) that far less is checked and it’s sort of out of control. Shame that. ”

Pre-order Stand By now direct from Umlaut Records.

Captain Trips are hosting an EP launch show in Portsmouth on October 6th with Layman’s Terms and Laughing In The Face Of, plus a gig in Ashford with The Human Project, Spoilers and Eat Defeat on 15th November. They’ve got some cool plans for future, so make sure you follow them on Facebook.

EP Review: The Run Up – Good Friends, Bad Luck

The Run Up’s latest EP is earnest, sincere melodic punk from a band who’ve found their sound. FFO: The Gaslight Anthem, Off With Their Heads, Iron Chic, The Menzingers

Review by Alan Corcoran.

On first listen the new EP Good Friends, Bad Luck washes over you like a sea of whiskey and ginger ale. It is sharp and sweet, it has a kick to it and you have to say it makes you feel good. Sure, you can sense underlying problems lurking and there may be emotional hell to pay later, but for now you’re feeling feelings, and most of them are pretty damn good.

The band are tight. Riffs and drum fills flow out of your speakers with such a natural cohesion that it feels like The Run Up are a five piece hive mind. They seem to anticipate each other’s musical quirks and if you told me these songs were the work of one obsessive genius and not five dudes from Bristol I’d believe you.

There’s a certain confidence in yourself and your bandmates that gets expressed when you have an opening instrumental song on a release. These type of songs come about when a band has found its groove. They have found their sound, they trust each other and they believe in the release enough to present it as a complete piece of art. It’s a subtle but stubborn ‘fuck you’ to the casual, impatient listener and a stimulating appetiser to those who are ready to experience all five courses. Continue reading “EP Review: The Run Up – Good Friends, Bad Luck”

Gig Review: Don Blake & Uniforms @ Old Town House [02/09/2018]

We had a pop-punk Saturday with Don Blake, Uniforms, Skiv, Crocodile God and Bogans at Warrington’s top venue.

Review by Sarah Williams. Photos by Cold Front Photography.

It’s always a pleasure to spend a Saturday night in one of my favourite venues: Warrington’s Old Town House. Tonight’s pop-punk show, curated by Some Kind of Events, features a lively line-up of Don Blake, Uniforms, Skiv, Crocodile God and Bogans, however we rock up early to enjoy the atmosphere. Plus, you know, a raft of vegan pizza, nachos, fries, onion rings and mid-afternoon lager. This is what weekends are here for.

Bogans Live Old Town House cred Josh Sumner (2).jpg

Bogans, from the wilds of North Wales, open the show with some rowdy, riffy hardcore. It’s just the pep talk we needed to get started on the booze and there’s already quite a few familiar faces assembled in the pub.

Adam’s evidently been working on his growly rock vocals; getting some more live shows under their belts has brought the a step ahead in the few months since I last caught Bogans. He’s still got a mad look in his eye as he roams the area in front of the stage, weighing up the crowd, making some somewhat unnecessary hand signals to illustrate ‘jacking and jilling’ lyrics. He spends most of the set complaining about being hungover, which fits in well with a song about ‘intentionally censoring your own memories so you can’t regret the things you’ve done’.

Bogans Live Old Town House cred Josh Sumner (10).jpg

Despite the hangover, there’s still great energy and camaraderie from the group. They play straight-up punk rock, but with some poppier guitar lines slotted in, well suited to tonight’s lineup.

Typically bands use covers is to include some recognisable material in their set, to get the audience going, but Bogans break the mould by including their own version of a song by an unfortunately-named Finnish band called Anal Thunder. I’d love to know the motivation behind that obscure choice, however it turns out to be one of the best songs in their set. Continue reading “Gig Review: Don Blake & Uniforms @ Old Town House [02/09/2018]”

Band Spotlight: Dog Hand String Band [Interview]

Interview: Leeds’ Dog Hand Srting Band combine dark country with DIY punk, featuring members of Jake and The Jellyfish, Bootscraper, China Shop Bull and more.

Leeds’ Dog Hand String Band are a dark and curious folk-punk collaboration from members of Jake & The Jellyfish, Bootscraper, China Shop Bull, Bad Knaves and, er, a hip hop DJ. In January 2018 they brough Tooth and Nail – a six-track EP recorded as  live session, that succeeds in being as moody and mysterious as it is lively.

We spoke to shouty man and banjo twanger Cassius Langhorne to learn more about this DIY supergroup.

Hey! Dog Hand String Band is a relatively new collaboration. How would you sum up the band for someone who’s just discovering you?

That’s a hard one to be honest! We’re basically a rowdy punk folk band with a load of distorted guitars and big man choir backing vocals over the top. We do drinking songs and just about anything else that can be done with a banjo and shouting.

Tell me a bit about how Dog Hand String Band  came to be – how did you meet?

Me and Jake used to work on the bar together and admired each other longingly for years before making it official and being in a band together. Electric Sam and I were in a stoner rock band that I had to leave because of my crumbling liver. They’re now called Bad Knaves though and they’re ace.

I was jamming out some stuff with the bassist Pete, Acoustic and Electric Sam for a bit and we decided we needed loads more instruments, to make it really impractical and impossible to organise.

I got our drummer Billy from when we were both working on stage, rigging for an epic Aled Jones performance and he was all like, “Yeah, I’ll drum for you man.” Then he did drum for us, which it turned out was amazing. Oh, and Derek is just in every band now, so he kinda just turned up one day and we didn’t have the heart to call the police. Continue reading “Band Spotlight: Dog Hand String Band [Interview]”