Black Heart Breakers

     For those of you that cherished the glorious racket bands like The Boys made back in the late '70’s or the Exploding Hearts made in the early 2000’s: I ask you to turn your attention to a land that the Romans referred to as Terra Australis Incognita meaning “the mysterious land of the south.” The same land where many years ago mighty beasts like The Saints, Radio Birdman, and The Scientists once roamed. Yes, the island nation known to the world as The Commonwealth of Australia. These lands are fertile with rock n’ roll once again and the primal punk rock sounds of yesteryear are buzzing through the outback once again. Sydney’s Black Heart Breakers took what they learned from power pop, back alley glam rock, late 70’s punk and recorded a debut LP released last year that is sure to go down in Australian punk rock history, if not the world’s! 

Interview by J Castro

First off, who’s all in the band and what instruments do you play? 

Hayden McGoogan – Lead Vocals/Guitar

Ed Barnes – Bass

Sean Anderson – Guitar/Backing Vocals

Steve Woodward - Drums

How did you all meet and decide to play music together?

HAYDEN: Sean and I have known each other since high school, and have been playing together for close to 7 years. We clicked through having similar tastes in music and passion to play it. Woodie was a mate of ours who has played in a bunch of Sydney bands, so when we decided that we wanted to make this band he was the first guy who we hit up. We met Ed through a love of punk rock and beer.  

What’s life like for a punk band in Sydney, Australia these days? Is there a decent scene you guys are part of down there? 

HAYDEN: There’s a bit of scene in Sydney, and in the other major cities, but it’s not really a thing, and in particular the style of Punk/Power Pop that we play. We’re fortunate enough to have some of our best mates play similar enough music to put on a pretty darn good lineup together.

Typically, people don’t associate Australia with punk but there have been so many great bands that have come out of there. Are you guys into bands like X, Radio Birdman, The Saints and stuff like that?  Has early Australian punk rock been a big influence on you guys?

HAYDEN: The Australian punk scene rivals any other punk scene. Of course we love those bands! A huge influence! And you can imagine how fucking amped we were, only 6 months after our album release, to be opening for Radio Birdman on the last leg of their 2014 Australian tour at Manning Bar. Deniz Tek & Anne Laurent actually came to our Album Launch at the Gladstone Hotel previously, which was also a huge blessing. Other influential classic Australian bands include The Angels, AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and Cold Chisel.

You guys released your debut album last year, can you tell me a bit about it: where it was recorded, who produced it etc..?

HAYDEN: After Sean and I put all the songs together, we (Hayden McGoogan, Sean Anderson Steve Woodward, Ronnie Simmons) immediately all jumped in a room and started bashing them out. After less than 5 rehearsals, we went in to record the drums and bass for the album at The Lockup Studios in Sydney with Daniel Antix. (Rhythm section really did their homework!) After that, we took it to my makeshift studio and finished it. We completely self-produced it, no outside influence.

You guys said you recorded your album before playing any live shows first. Looking back, do you wish you would have now?

HAYDEN: Not at all. I really dig the fact that we did it first. It immediately gave us a foundation to build of, and a set of songs that people could feel and connect to from the first performance. After our first gig, you could immediately buy our music. I like as well that no one really does it, “it’s that weird thing that Black Heart Breakers did.” It was fucking hard in a way too, but a lot of fun and love.

Have you ever written any song lyrics you regret for whatever reason and are there any particular subjects you like to stay away from in your lyrics, is so why?

HAYDEN: Me personally, I don’t regret any lyrics. They’re a representation of how you were feeling about something in that specific moment in time, even if that feeling changes over time. I pretty much stay clear of political and/or world events. I more just stick to what’s going in my life or someone else’s. 

What are some of the worst or most distracting things people do at you shows that drive you nuts?

HAYDEN: Not turning up! Jokes aside, there’s nothing really that is that distracting. When people spend your whole set on their phone that can be a bit annoying, but that’s not really that bad. 

It’s time for the “beauty pageant question” part of the interview: Name the single most influential person in your life and how this person made such an impact on you?

HAYDEN: There’s not really a single person, of course there is all of our favorite bands: The Beatles, AC/DC, Ramones, and Beach Boys as well all the bands that we play with. It’s great playing a gig with all of your best mates and they’re watching you and you’re watching them and you’re both really digging what’s going on. Those bands inspire you to play better each time.

In your description about yourselves on your Facebook profile you said you guys are “the newest band to give a damn about rock n’ roll.” Do you feel like there’s a rock n’ roll revival going on? 

HAYDEN: You’ve got rock n’ roll bands from all corners of the globe that really give a fuck and make excellent music. There are the Biters in Atlanta, the Cry from Portland, Black Heart Breakers from Sydney, Kotzreiz from Berlin, Prima Donna from Los Angeles, and countless others. Ronnie and Woodie’s half Sydney/half Berlin project AUTOBAHN OUTLAW just released their debut record RU12 through GoldenCore Records / ZYX in October & it’s incredible! Kick In the Teeth! I think there is a global community that really cares about and loves rock and roll.

Why do you think rock n’ roll music that used to be so wildly popular with youth culture has now dwindled down and gone underground and been replaced by hip hop/electronic music? 

HAYDEN: I just think it’s the times and what’s played on radio. The general listener listens to what’s played on the radio or at the nightclubs and at the moment that is electronic music. But with the internet now, everyone go and find there whatever music they want.

What lies ahead in 2015 for The Black Heart Breakers?

HAYDEN: Black Heart Breakers are working with Verboten Music Company and are currently setting up an east coast tour of Australia to take place in June in promotion of the 2014 independent release Black Heart Breakers. New songs have started making their way into the set, such as “I Want You” and “High School Lovers,” and people are digging them, so we’re hoping that an EP will be out by the end of the year.   

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Scraps

     After years of traveling through space and time punk rock has accumulated loads of useless barnacles on its underbelly making it slow, heavy, and nearly unrecognizable from its original form. A myriad of worthless musical offshoots that are parasitically feeding off of the punk movement have left people confused as to what that word even means anymore. In walk London’s Scraps. These three tattered young men have taken on the wearisome task of scraping these worthless elements from their music and are stripping down punk rock back to its fundamentals. By doing so, they have succeeded in resurrecting those exhilarating qualities other British groups like Eater and the Damned possessed back in the late 1970’s. Scraps have taken it back to where it started; making punk rock lean and mean once again.

Interview by J Castro

Let’s start out by telling me what everyone does in the band:

BOBBY: Scraps is Liam Rudy on guitar and lead vocals, Bobby Passion on bass and backing vocals and Kris Hood on drums and backing vocals.

You are all in other bands (Miscalculations, Gaggers) yet you said Scraps formed out of boredom. Is Scraps a side project for you guys?

BOBBY: Scraps is not a side project at all. When I say "out of boredom" I meant bored of everyday life, routines like going to work, etc. but also a bit bored of the music scene. Don't get me wrong!! There's loads of cool bands here in London playing ‘60's garage, power pop, rock & roll and so on but there isn't too many young bands playing straight forward punk while jumping around on stage. We felt there was a gap to fill there.

Is there a growing and supportive scene out there for the type of music you play?

BOBBY: In the band it's actually only Liam that's English. He's brought up in Camden, London while Bobby is from Sweden and Kris from Poland so we just met here and London is great! So much to do and there's always gigs to go to. London is full of opportunities; you just have to make sure you're ready to grab hold of them.......

You list as some of your influences The Clash, The Dead Boys and the New York Dolls. Tell me a bit about the first time (if you can recall) you heard some of these bands and how it affected you.

BOBBY: Personally these are the three bands that got me hooked on punk music. New York Dolls with their style and ground breaking music, Dead Boys with a nutter as a front man, weird lyrics and playing with more power than most bands ever will manage to reach. And the Clash; just perfection! How can you not get hooked? Watching the videos of these guys makes me so sad I will never be able to see that live.

In your band bio you say you guys listen to a lot of different things that influence your songwriting. Name one record that you think some Scraps fans may be a bit surprised you own and enjoy.

BOBBY: We can be influenced by anything around us, rather than just other bands.

The three bands mentioned above are of course pretty obvious and we wouldn't be playing the type of music we are if it wasn't for them. But personally I listen to loads of different things. Django Reinhardt, Gram Parsons, Johnny Horton or the minimal synth band Autumn just to mention a few. I also listen to a lot of obscure, cheesy, melodic 60's teenbeat music. In one way or another I’m sure these bands influence me, I’m just not sure how or in what way.

Also in your bio you say: “as a band you have the power to make so much more than just music.” Can you elaborate on this a bit? 

BOBBY: As a band there is so much you actually can do and sometimes it feels like bands forget that. It could be just going mad on art work, for instance we had Marco from No Front Teeth Records make 150 one of a kind handmade sleeves for our 7" vinyl. I mean, you don't see many album covers like Andy Warhol's banana anymore, do you?  Also, as a band you got the power to say something that can either change a person or make them feel better about something. It doesn't necessary have to be political but if a person can relate to it I think it's great.

Do you ever feel some bands waste their influence they have on kids to make a real difference in their lives or improve society somehow instead of just taking their money and buying mansions and private jets? 

BOBBY: Absolutely! Without a doubt for example One Direction could make this world a better place if they could be bothered to. We write songs about silly things sometimes but this manufactured, commercial stuff is so bland. You have seen bands changing the world before, in many different ways but I wonder if we ever will see that happen again.

You recently did a video for the song “Waste My Time.” Can you tell me a bit about it? Was it hard to pick a song to do a video for?

BOBBY: “Waste my time” is one of our favorite songs to play but also sums us up very well. We're not here to waste our time, we don't have time for bollocks, we're just in for a good time and if you're not... well, see ya later ha ha!

No Front Teeth Records recently released your debut 7”.  Did Marco and NFT have a part of reigniting the punk scene in London a few years ago? It seems that any good band that comes out of there lately is connected to The Gaggers or NFT in some way or another. 

BOBBY: I don't have words for how thankful we are to Marco and NFT!! They just released our debut EP and as I mentioned before Marco did these amazing handmade sleeves for us. He's been helping us out in every possible way, when it comes to filming, recording, everything! And the amount of cool stuff they put out on NFT is unreal! We are lucky to have this label in London. They put out anything cool really, so sometimes they put out bands you’d never heard of and the next day they put out the Stitches.

Where are some places people can go or log on to and get their grubby paws on your music?

BOBBY: Best place to buy our EP is obviously at one of our shows! But if you can't make it, you can first listen to it at our bandcamp: https://scrapslondon.bandcamp.com/

and then order it online from No Front Teeth: http://www.nofrontteeth.co.uk/

What’s in the future for Scraps; touring, more recordings?

BOBBY: We got a few London shows booked, one supporting the Vibrators. We’ve got enough material to record a full length, which we will start soon. Touring, well, that's what we love doing! So at the moment we're looking into a couple of mini tours around Europe and for next year if everything works out, USA west coast!

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/scrapslondon

Bandcamp - https://scrapslondon.bandcamp.com/

Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/scraps-london-punk

Scraps - "Waste my time" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTnvl5wz4nY

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Richmond Sluts

     San Francisco’s Richmond Sluts play a blend of New York Dolls style glam, Question Mark and The Mysterians garage with a cut of mid ‘70’s Jagger/Richards strut stirred up and served flawlessly on a shiny silver platter by someone wearing a feather boa. What I like most about this band is they can crank out some wildly catchy party anthems as well as songs that delve deep into the darkness of human emotion. I’m glad some bands realize the importance of not only having great music for when the party’s in high gear but for the mornings after as well.         

Interview by Jay Castro

Please introduce yourselves and how you contribute to the Richmond Sluts.

SHEA ROBERTS - vocal / guitar

CHRIS BELTRAN - bass

JUSTIN LYNN - organ / vocal

KC KOZAK- skins

JESSE NICHOLS - guitar

Where are you all from originally and how did you all meet and decide to play music together?

SR: I’m from SF and Chris was from southern California, but going to school in SF when we met. We never really decided to play, I didn’t even play guitar at the time. We met at a party and things just kinda went from there.

CB: Shea wanted to sing, but I made him play guitar at the time.

So you guys released a few records in the late ‘90’s and early 2000’s including a full length on Disaster, then you guys took a break for a long time and did other projects like Big Midnight. What led to the decision to regroup The Sluts?

SR: It had been talked about over the years but I guess the cosmos just finally lined up or something.

CB: Shea and I had talked about it over the years, but it never really felt right, but something just clicked over the last year and once Justin signed on and we got in a room together it was magic.

Many moons ago, you played Tempe, Arizona in a tiny venue to about  (me and the other guy that does Audio Ammunition were two of them). Despite the lack of venue size and attendance, you guys tore the roof off that joint!  I was really impressed! Most bands would have given a half ass performance. Do you make it a point to put on the great show despite conditions like that?

SR: We do our best to get things going, but no you probably just caught us on a good night, ha-ha.

JN: When you’re seeing triple, the room is packed.

CB: Most shows I see triple so whether it was packed or not we thought it was! That show was off the map though, I think that was with the Daggers, I drank piss that night.

As a kid, what band or musician made you want to pick up an instrument and play music?

SR: No one in particular; it was more of a driving force. What are you supposed to do if you’re not playing music and fucking around with your friends?

 

I was reading this interview with Keith Richards and he said that anyone that buys digital music is getting short changed.  Do you agree with that?

JN: Generally speaking “yes”, mp3s sound worse than CD’s, which sound like shit compared to vinyl. Buy vinyl or hi-res digital (if possible). Oh yeah, and pay for it, records are expensive to make.

SR: Agreed

CB: Do yourself a favor, buy it on vinyl!!!!

What is your favorite record to listen to from start to finish?

JN: Right at this moment we’re jammin’ some ‘70’s Turkish Muff Gods called Erkin Koray.

SR: Dude from Q65 his solo record, Rainman

CB: Sesame Street’s, “Rub a dub dub.”

Other than music, what kinds of things do you guys like doing: hobbies, Civil War reenactments, etc?

SR/JN: Choppers, guns, cool cars, awesome girls, kilos, and full time jobs.

CB: Drunken record shopping after Sunday brunch, walking the dogs, and sword fighting.

Where are the best places for people to hear or buy your music?

ALL: At the merch table or steal it online.

https://www.reverbnation.com/therichmondsluts

What does the band have in store for us in the near or not so near future?

SR: We are in Los Angeles playing shows as we type this, recording at some point, breakup again.

CB: All things in moderation, is not really our motto so who knows what will happen.  But I would like to see this band plowing through and being a cult-y band forever in the same vain as the Flamin’ Groovies. Thanks for listening and see you at the pub! 

https://www.reverbnation.com/therichmondsluts

https://www.facebook.com/richmondsluts

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