Interview: Rise To Remain

When you have the son of Iron Maiden front man Bruce Dickenson in your band, you’re bound to draw in the crowds. But metalcore five-piece Rise To Remain have still managed to hold their own.

The band formed in 2008 after two different acts merged. “Pat (Lundy, drums) and I we’re in a band called 12 Ton Method and Will (Homer, rhythm guitar), Austin (Dickinson, lead vocals) and Ben (Tovey, lead guitar) used to play in Halide. They were the two bands that collided and quite a few Halide songs are on the ‘Bridges Will Burn’ EP” said bassist Joe Copcutt.

Pat feels that this has helped to shape Rise To Remain’s sound. “I think everyone in the band came from separate musical backgrounds and had different upbringings as well. We definitely have a mix of everyone’s best bits. There’s always something new and fresh on the table. It does take a bit of consolidation but it’s good for the writing process.”

Rise To Remain’s debut gig was a somewhat daunting set at 2008’s Download Festival.  “I’ve never been so nervous before a show. We were all pooing it” said Joe. It took a whole month of rehearsals to make sure the band were ready for their opening slot on the third stage. “We had about 4 weeks to get tight. I was only 17 at the time so we really had to get our act together and step up a bit” said Pat. “It also taught us a lot because we saw all of our favourite bands that weekend and we were like “shit, so this is how it goes down”. So it made us just knuckle down all through 2009 and 2010 and its made for a pretty good 2011 hopefully, fingers crossed.”

Since their debut gig, the band have supported some pretty big names including Whitechapel, Hatebreed, Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium and, of course, Iron Maiden on the Indonesian leg of their world tour. “It’s funny because loads of the bands that we’ve had the privilege to tour with were our favourite bands when we were growing up. They were all a massive influence and it’s great because we get to learn a lot from touring with them” said Joe. But it was the band’s support slot for Korn on their UK tour last year that really sticks out for Pat. “Korn got us in the biggest rooms that we’ve ever played in the UK so that was a bit of an eye opener”

Rise To Remain have recently finished recording their debut full length album which is due to come out at the end of the summer. “We got to record with Colin Richardson (who has worked with Machine Head, Bullet For My Valentine and Slipknot amongst others) which was a dream come true” said Joe; “We also recorded it in Chesterfield which was really peaceful. We’re all from London and it’s a bit hectic there, so it was nice just to get in the middle of nowhere and zone out for a couple of months. We’re really proud of the outcome and we think it sounds great. We just hope everyone else does, but we’ll find out soon enough.”

Some of the new material has been aired during their stint supporting Funeral For A Friend on their UK tour, with new single ‘The Serpent’ – currently available as a free download – being used to open their set. “It’s been nice to play some of the new stuff and we’re really looking forward to playing a whole set of the new album” said Joe. Pat adds; “It’s nice to change it up a bit. We’ve been touring the EP for a long time so when we do our headline tour, getting to play the majority of the new material is gonna be great for us.”

A busy summer awaits for Rise To Remain as they will be playing various European festivals, including Download and Sonisphere in the UK, where the band are becoming regulars on the line-up. “I love festival season” said Joe; “every time it comes around we always get really excited because the weather is always nice and you get to meet up with loads of mates from different bands and stuff which is always a good laugh”. The boys are now festival experts and have some top tips for the festival going public. “Bring baby wipes, its gets messy” said Joe, while Pat believes the best advice is to pace yourself. “Just stay hydrated. If you’re at a festival and you start to feel a little woozy, it can make for a pretty shit evening. Just take an hour off drinking and have a water. You’ll blow out at about 2:30pm if there’s a heat wave at any English festival. You’ll be stuffed”

Festival season will be followed by the band’s next headline tour for which the dates are yet to be announced. Or course, the lads are pretty used to travelling the world now and list ‘company, music and a positive attitude’ amongst their tour bus essentials. “We just listen to music and Pat chugs barrels of Lucozade” said Joe.

So with a high-powered set of brutal metalcore anthems – and the DNA of a metal legend – Rise To Remain are sure to continue to climb the festival bills in 2012.  

Live Review: Download Festival 2010

An army of rock fans of all ages descended on Donington Park on the 11^th – 13^th June, here are some of the highlights of a truly incredible line-up…

Friday

Them Crooked Vultures

As AC/DC had bought their own stage to Donington, the official main stage headline slot is left to Them Crooked Vultures. A supergroup consisting of Nirvana and Foo Fighters legend Dave Grohl, Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age and John Paul Jones of the mighty Led Zeppelin is highly unlikely to be anything but … erm … well super really, and these gods of rock certainly don’t disappoint. It feels like a privilege to watch all three of these men play on stage together with a set that builds and builds to an incredible climax. The tracks taken from the band’s debut self-titled album are instant classics that manage to incorporate the magic from all of the member’s main projects. Alain Johannes has the daunting task of being the band’s guitarist for live shows but with an impressive CV that includes working with Queens Of The Stone Age, Chris Cornell and Spinerette, he has no problem entertaining the masses with an incredible guitar solo whilst the other three take a break. Despite being four years over the free bus pass age, John Paul Jones proves that he can still rock the keyboard as well as the bass, and unsurprisingly seems right at home playing to a huge crowd that spans generations.

AC/DC

For their fourth performance at Donington, it’s clear to see why Aussie rockers AC/DC brought their own stage. With their very own steam train and a huge walk way the band are ready to finish up the Friday of Download in style. After a short video of a speeding train (and lots of girls) the band launch straight into ‘Runaway Train’ and then the massive ‘Back In Black’. The band fire out all of the fan favourites to a crowd of varying ages – and breast sizes as made clear on the big screen during ‘The Jack’. As the show continues it becomes all about Angus as the band’s co-founder struts up and down the walkway and launches into a strip tease, removing his trademark school uniform to reveal some AC/DC boxers. Although it feels so very, very wrong watching a 55 year old strip, it’s hard to look away, even if it does almost kick-start the gag reflex. But it’s clear that the crowd love him as his guitar solo is cheered on for a slightly overdone 20 minutes during which he emerges from the crowd on a raised platform and is showered in confetti. After more hits including ‘Thunderstruck’ and ‘T.N.T’ plus another video of tanks, boats, planes and, yep you’ve guessed it, girls, the band welcome Rosie - a giant inflatable woman with breasts big enough to make Katie Price jealous – on stage for ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’. An incredible encore of ‘Highway To Hell’ and ‘Let There Be Rock’ that continues to get every single member of the crowd clapping and singing is rounded off with cannons and fireworks proving just why AC/DC are one the biggest selling bands in the world.

Saturday

Cancer Bats

Canadian metalcore band Cancer Bats bring energy by the bucket load to the second stage on Saturday afternoon. Their raw power pleases the crowd but it’s clear that many of them are only there to hear their fierce cover of Beastie Boys hit ‘Sabotage’. Let’s hope this doesn’t become their downfall.

The Blackout

The six lads from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales have become seven for their return to Download this year. Joined by Phillip Jenkins from fellow Welsh band Kids In Glass Houses, the band now has two drummers as well as two lead singers, and this only serves to make them stronger than ever. Tracks from their latest album Best In Town are definite crowd pleasers, with mass sing-a-longs to ‘The Consequence’, but it’s the material from debut release We Are The Dynamite that really bring their set to life. Experts at entertaining a crowd, Sean Smith and Gavin Butler provide plenty of banter and bounce around the stage performing provocative acts with microphones. With giant inflatable hands with middle finger raised on stage, mass swearing from the crowd and a snippet of ‘Killing In The Name’, The Blackout serve as the perfect warm up to tonight’s headliners Rage Against The Machine.

Rage Against The Machine

The sheer popularity of Rage Against The Machine is proved when only minutes into their set they are forced to stop be security due to crushing at the barrier. But once lead man Zack De La Rocha has made sure everyone is safe, the band continue with a truly incredible show. Not many bands perform shows at which the crowd sing along to the instrumental intros of their songs but tonight’s massive crowd do just that when Rage launch into ‘Bombtrack’ and ‘Bulls On Parade’. Guitar magician Tom Morello’s performance is as mind blowing as ever and Zack is also on form with his usual political speeches and a big thank you for their Christmas number one success. The set feels a little disjointed at times but it all ties together with the mighty ‘Sleep Now In The Fire’, and an encore of the classic ‘Killing In The Name’ brings the evening to an explosive end.

Sunday

Switchfoot

It’s rare to hear of an American band trying to make it in the UK, but Switchfoot are trying to do just that. The rockers have been around since 1996 but only achieved success in their home country after appearing on the soundtrack of cheesy tear jerker A Walk To Remember. Signature track ‘Dare You To Move’ sparks mass swaying, but it’s not just the power ballads that these guys do well. Although the cover of Sabotage is not a patch on the Cancer Bats version, their anthemic rock is impressive and front man Jon Foreman certainly doesn’t lack charisma, choosing to spend most of the set in the crowd. There could be big things to come for these guys.

Napalm Death

A slightly odd choice to follow Switchfoot, grindcore gods Napalm Death crank things up with a furious whirlwind of guitars and death growls. After 30 years in the business, these Brummies, who hold the Guinness World Record for the shortest song, are showing no sign of slowing down.

The Damned Things

Mix a tablespoon of Fall Out Boy, a dash of Anthrax and a sprinkling of Every Time I Die and simmer for a few months. What do you get? Why, the latest super group to emerge from the US, The Damned Things of course! These guys manage to combine elements of all three of their original bands to create some classic heavy rock. If their Download performance is anything to go by, their debut album set to be released later this year has the potential to be huge.

The Dillinger Escape Plan

Mathcore legends The Dillinger Escape Plan bring the rain and the madness to Donington. Their brutal precision playing kicks starts an epic mosh pit and the guys from New Jersey treat the stage like one big climbing frame. A truly ferocious live performance.

Freshers Fest

“You’re gonna have so much fun!”, “It will be the best years of your life!” These are just some of the things people told me before I came to university. Along with “Freshers Week is the best!” and “I wish I could have Freshers Week again!” All things I pretty much knew already. What they didn’t tell me is just how much Freshers Week is like a really long music festival.

Obviously the copious amounts of alcohol, poor diet, loud music and lack of sleep and hygiene were no surprise but there were some other unexpected similarities which no one had mentioned.

Just after my parents said their tearful goodbyes and left me in my uni room, there was a knock on the flat door. Two other Freshers from across the hall stood there, smiling with vodka and cookies in hand, inviting me to their flat for ‘drinks and games’. Déjà vu suddenly hit me. This is exactly what happened on my first night at Download Festival just a few months before! The guys from the tent pitched right next to mine, invited me and my mates over for coffee and a dip in their paddling pool. See the similarity?

If you have ever been to a music festival you will know exactly what I mean when I say “BUTTSCRATCHER!!!” Originally a joke from an episode of Family Guy, it has turned into a much loved catchphrase and you cannot go anywhere on a festival campsite without hearing it, and its variations, e.g. “Margaret Thatcher!”, being bellowed from nearby campfires. Well during Freshers Week when I was venturing out of halls to go and get some supplies from Asda (vodka and frozen pizzas) a group of guys burst through the doors and screamed “BUTTSCRATCHER” in my face. I couldn’t help but smile and scream it right back, much to their delight.

During Freshers Week, I would awake at 2pm almost every day with only a hazy memory of the previous night and my arms, legs, back and cleavage covered in swear words and alarmingly detailed drawings of male genitalia. This is exactly the state I would find myself in every ‘morning after the night before’ at all of the festivals I attended this summer.

A form of the infamous campsite rivalry was also evident with the Student Union club hosting an event called Hall Wars, in which the different Halls of Residence wore different coloured t-shirts and competed in various games to be crowned champion. Just a more organised version of the entire parades of people chanting ‘Green Army’ through rival campsites.

By the end of the week, everyone in my halls was popping in and out of each other’s flats and many evenings I would emerge from my room only to discover another random stranger standing in my kitchen/living room. Memories of all the randomers who would stumble into my camp at festivals came flooding back.

And it wasn’t just the first weeks of uni that these similarities cropped up. Just the other day the guys in my flat began constructing an impressive tower of beer cans in our kitchen, much like the one my neighbours at Bloodstock festival built using a tent pole they supposedly had no need for.

So if I could give any advice to anyone who is planning to start university next year and wants to know what to expect it would be to go to a music festival. It is pretty much the same as Freshers Week except with worse toilets. We even have Freshers wristbands for God’s sake!

Timeline: AC/DC - Back In Black?

Legendary Australian rock band AC/DC have had an eventful career, with several line-up changes and a period of 'commercial decline' in the 80's. So how did they became one of the world's most influential rock and roll bands and bag a headline slot for this year's Kerrang! sponsored Download Festival at Donington Park?

1963: Malcolm and Angus Young, two brothers born in Glasgow, Scotland moved to Sydney, Australia with their family.

1973: The brothers, aged 18 and 20, formed AC/DC. The name is thought to be the brainchild of their older sister, Margaret, who saw the abbreviation for 'alternating current/direct current' on the side of a sewing machine. They recruited bassist Larry Van Kriedt, vocalist Dave Evans and drummer Colin Burgess to complete the line-up.

1973: The band played their first gig at a club named Chequers in Sydney and were later signed to the EMI distributed Albert Productions label. They moved to Melbourne and Angus Young settled on his signature schoolboy look after trying Spiderman, Zorro and gorilla costumes.

1974: Scottish born Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott replaced Dave Evans as vocalist after having worked as their roadie and driver back in Sydney.

1975: Debut album 'High Voltage' was released in Australia and the band had another line-up change with bassist Mark Evans and drummer Phil Rudd replacing Van Kriedt and Burgess.

1976: The band signed a deal with Atlantic Records and 'High Voltage' was released internationally. The band began to tour Europe, supporting the likes of Black Sabbath and Aerosmith and released 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' later that year.

1977: Following the recording of 'Let There Be Rock', bassist Mark Evans was sacked due to 'personal differences' with Angus Young. He was replaced by Cliff Williams and the band began to tour America.

1978: 'Powerage' was released

1979: Sixth album 'Highway To Hell', produced by 'Mutt' Lange, was released and became the first of the band's albums to break the US top 100.

1980: On 19th February, Bon Scott died aged 33 from 'acute alcohol poisoning' after a night out in London. He was replaced by English-born Brian Johnson and the band released 'Back In Black' in August. The album reached Number 1 in the UK and Number 4 in the US.

1981: 'For Those About To Rock' was released and became the band's first album to reach Number 1 in the US.

1983: The band fired Paul Rudd after he fell out with Malcolm Young and was replaced by Simon Wright. Their next release 'Flick Of The Switch' was less successful than previous albums and was voted the eighth-biggest disappointment of the year in the 1984 Kerrang! readers' poll.

1986: The band returned to the charts with 'Who Made Who', the closest the band has come to releasing a "greatest hits" collection.

1988: 'Blow Up Your Video' was a commercial success and sold more copies than the previous two studio releases combined. The band were inducted into the Australian Recording Industries Association's Hall Of Fame.

1989: Chris Slade replaced Simon Write

1991: The band headlined Monsters Of Rock Festival at Donington.

1994: Paul Rudd rejoined the band replacing Simon Write

2000: AC/DC were inducted into the Hollywood Walk Of Fame

2003: The band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

2004: 'Corporation Lane' in Melbourne, Australia was renamed 'ACDC Lane' in the band's honour.

2008: 'Black Ice', the band's first studio release in eight years, was released. It made history by reaching Number 1 in 29 countries

25th January 2010: AC/DC were confirmed as a headline act for 2010's Download Festival to be held at Donington Park in June.