Raven Q&A

Your name:

Raven.

                                               

Where are you from?

There’s a myth that, centuries ago, the raven was once white. A fire broke out that threatened all of humanity, and the raven guided us to safety, protecting us from harm and showing us the path to the light. The soot and smoke from the fire left the raven black, however to this day the raven is still humanity's protector and keeper. 

Raven is that warrior inside you who gives you the strength to win your battles. She embodies the struggle of life and helps her followers endure the fight they must win in order to be themselves or to be accepted by others, be it psychological, emotional or spiritual. We are all in this together!

How would you describe your music?

Pop music with a spiritual edge, aka epic tribal victory anthems! I want people to listen to my music and feel strong and capable to tackle life head-on! Going back to musical roots and baring my soul, like people did in ancient times, triggers that in me. I like to incorporate tribal elements in the form of war drums, forgotten instruments, chants, anything that takes the collective memory back to the time of our ancestors when we first crawled out of the mud.

Who are your main influences musically?

Growing up, I surrounded myself with powerful women like Madonna, Annie Lennox (Eurythmics), Cher, ..they inspired me to be strong, sexy, elegant and extravagant!

I've always felt that once you know what you want, you can't stop until you have it, and these women truly embody this. Today I am also inspired by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Beyonce,…

What do you hope to achieve in music?

I want to bring power back to the people! I want them to blast my music in the car or at home, if it helps them find the motivation to get over a breakup, to come out of the closet, to release their stresses so they can find peace within themselves...to face life head on and take no prisoners. I want to help make your life epic so you can truly live it, before it’s too late!

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

The release of my debut single Fire Breathing Dragon. To me, it represents the first phase in the transition into the new age. Out with the old, in with the new. I wrote the song after a break-up that made me realise I had been held back for more than a decade. Something had to snap before I was able to move on and reclaim my dreams and purpose. The song has been featured on the radio in Belgium and Monaco, and the video has been viewed almost 20k times in a few weeks. I am building an army of Warriors, and I've never felt more alive.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

There is nothing I want to forget. Everything in my life has made me who I am today and I am thankful for that. It has made me stronger, wiser, and will continue to do so, whatever I encounter. Take my advice: you can forgive, but never forget. 

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

Currently, my debut single Fire Breathing Dragon has been released and the follow-up "Phoenix" is on the way! A full length EP is to be released next year.

Where can we listen to it? 

www.KingdomOfRaven.com

Where can we find out more about your music?

You can follow me on all socials via the links on my website: www.KingdomOfRaven.com

Join the Warriors and sign up for the newsletter to get exclusive previews and be the first to know about new releases.

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?

The time is now to go after your dreams. The only one standing in the way is you! The moment has come to stand up and face your future.

Juliette and the Licks head to Download

THE finishing touches are being put to the line-up of this summer's Download Festival with another 12 acts added.

The recently reformed Juliette and the Licks will be making a return along with Raging Speedhorn.

The Amorettes, Wearing Scars, The Wild Lies, From Ashes to New, Skinny Lister, Inglorious, RavenEye, In Search of Sun, Puppy and The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing also join the bill.

Rammstein, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden headline the festival that takes place at Donington Park from June 10th to 12th.

Korn, Disturbed, Nightwish, Deftones and All Time Low are among the other big names on the bill.

You can check out the full line-up and get ticketing details at downloadfestival.co.uk

August Wells Q&A

Your name: 

Kenneth Griffin.

Where are you from? 

New York City.

Name of band: 

August Wells.

Who else is in your band?

John Rauchenberger.

How would you describe yourselves and your music?

Well that's for others to decide. It's been described to us as "other worldly chamber music, and a secret marriage between Willie Nelson and Lee Hazelwood, Frank Sinatra singing Lou Reed songs.

Who are your main influences musically?

It's hard to say. I find if you talk about your influences it effects people's ability to hear your music honestly and without prejudice. I love many many artists. I tend to stick around the greats like Nina Simone and Bill Withers, Dylan and Leonard Cohen, no true surprises, maybe my love of Sun Ra and John Coltrane might be less obvious.

What do you hope to achieve in music? 

To be as good an artist as I possibly can be, and to find my true voice, which sometimes seems like an endless search.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

Touring now, because the songs seem to be really coming alive for audiences, and the responses are intense. Playing Beacon theatre in New York last year was lovely. The protagonist in a hard boil mystery novel "Slaughters Hound" quotes my lyrics, and listens to my songs,seeing your name written in a novel is quite strange and fun.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

Oh it all informs you of something, I have probably forgotten.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

I suppose "Here in the Wild"  encompasses a lot of what we do, but you don't want one song to sum you up. Some are grand dramatic romantic gestures, others are much more intimate and lyrical.

Where can we listen to it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAo0ZJyxojg

Where can we find out more about your music?

Twitter: @AugustWellsBand

Instagram: @AugustWellsBand

http://www.augustwells.com/

https://www.facebook.com/augustwellsband/

https://itunes.apple.com/ie/artist/august-wells/id835924667

https://soundcloud.com/augustwells

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?

 'Here In the Wild' is released in the UK on the 22nd of April. Visit the website for more.

PreCog Q&A

Your name: 

Jason Thomas.

Where are you from? 

I am from Louisville, KY. Gerald Josef is from Nashville, TN.

Name of band: 

PreCog.

Who else is in your band? 

Just Gerald and I, although we are looking to do some collaborations later this year though! 

How would you describe yourselves? 

We are a synthpop/darkwave duo with a moody orchestral edge. We have been described many times as a modern Depeche Mode, which is probably the best compliment I have ever received while alive on Earth.

Who are your main influences musically? 

That is a tough question, our music tastes and influences have a really broad spectrum.  However if I had to single it down to just a few key bands it would be bands like Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, OMD, Dan Black, Active Child, & Tori Amos.

What do you hope to achieve in music? 

Honestly just to make music that people enjoy, and be able to connect with others because of it. Hearing someone say they love your music or that it has moved them in some way is a huge thing.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? 

We are a really new project (only three months old) so nothing huge has happened for us yet. As far as the coolest thing so far i would say all the lovely feedback from our fans. It really encourages us to keep on moving forward. 

And what’s the moment you want to forget? 

Nothing as of yet, but why would you want to forget anything. You wouldn't be able to grow as a band or a person in that matter if you just forgot the bad things in life/career.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why? 

I would say Feast because it was the first song Gerald and I did for this project. It really captures all the feelings/vibes we wanted for PreCog. 

Where can we listen to it? 

https://soundcloud.com/precog_official_band/feast

Where can we find out more about your music?

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PreC0g/

SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/precog_official_band

Twitter - https://twitter.com/_PreCog_

Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask?

Just to give us a listen! We are starting live shows this year and plan to keep all our fans involved with all we do! Like currently we are working with our fans to make a music video starring our fans! So make sure to connect with us via Facebook or Twitter! 

Mothlight Q&A

Your name:

Matt. I do guitar and vocals.

Where are you from?

Los Angeles.

Name of band:

Mothlight.

Who else is in your band? 

Grant sings and plays keyboard and Andrew plays drums and other percussion.

How would you describe yourselves and your music?

I'd describe our music as a mix of indie rock and a 70s psychedelic film soundtrack. We try to make songs that are catchy and cinematic, so we use a lot of sounds that are warm and enveloping.

Who are your main influences musically?

I listen to a lot of both contemporary and old music. I'm constantly listening to a lot of older krautrock like Neu! and Can. For more modern stuff I dig Animal Collective, Broadcast, and Stereolab. I'm also super inspired by John Carpenter and David Lynch films. Basically anything that makes me feel like I'm in another world I can get super behind.

What do you hope to achieve in music?

It would be sweet to just make art and be able to get by. Mothlight is my passion and always will be regardless of my employment status, but if I could focus entirely on making songs and really making any kind of art without having to worry about holding a 9 to 5 job, that would be the dream. I guess that's every musician's dream. I'm also really interested in sound design and I studied film so I would love to work on some experimental film soundscapes some day.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

Releasing our first full length Calico is my favorite moment. We worked really hard for a long time on it and are super proud of it. We also learned what works in Mothlight and what doesn't work, especially in the recording process. It's allowed us to be better at writing together creating a more collaborative and thus stronger band dynamic. Everything really exciting is yet to come though.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

I have played shows with a few too many chemical influences in my system, but I've found those instances to just be lessons in what my body and mind are capable (and more importantly not capable) of.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

My favorite song that Mothlight has released thus far is Swim from Calico, but I'm far more excited for the new songs we are currently working on.

Where can we listen to it? 

Swim is available to stream on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/mothlight/swim

Where can we find out more about your music? 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/mothlightband

Twitter: http://twitter.com/mothlightband

Instagram: http://instagram.com/mothlightband

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/calico/id956182742

Band Site: http://mothlightband.com

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?

We're currently recording and should have a lot of new material for the universe's ear drums this summer!! 

Down In One Q&A

Your name: 

Gon, I'm the vocalist.

Where are you from? 

Nottingham, UK.

Name of band:

Down In One.

Who else is in your band?

There's Jonny on guitars, Rich on bass and Jimmy on the drums.

How would you describe yourselves?

We're whisky-fuelled, heavy-goddamned-metal baby!

Who are your main influences musically?

Our main influences are bands like Pantera, Mötley Crüe, Black Label Society, Metallica, Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath and Mastodon. Old school riffage with modern brutality!

What do you hope to achieve in music?

World domination baby! But more seriously, we just want to make a career out of this. We've all got a massive passion for music and we just want to spread what we're all about anywhere we can.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

There's two highlights. The first would be the first time we played London. So we'd only been going for a few months and Jonny's mate Mags of Cairo Son invited us to come down and support them at the Big Red (which is a fantastic venue!). Man it was such a good day out! It was sunny and Rich's uncle, Big, kindly agreed to take us down in his badass Chevy V8 van. As soon as we hit London we made a beeline for the first rock bar we could find, then we pissed about in Camden getting steadily more drunk through the day and played the show in the evening. The crowd was huge and loving it!

The second highlight would have to be our first festival gig last summer. We were invited to play Rock and Bike Fest and boy were we excited! I can't even begin to tell you how much I was shitting myself before we went on. But I was fine as soon as I was on stage and we played a belting gig, again to a crowd who loved it! It was a weekend of booze, loud bikes and louder heavy metal, what more could we ask for? And it was amazing playing a huge festival stage, something we hope to do again this year!

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

I'd like to forget how monumentally hungover I was the day after our show at Rock and Bike Fest. Dear Christ was I hanging! There's been no major regrets so far though!

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

Hmm...now there's a hard choice. I'd have to go with Mad Gun, it's groovy, heavy and a song about drinking. Sums us up quite nicely!

Where can we listen to it?

We released the video on the 19th March! Check out our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/downinoneband

Where can we find out more about your music?

You can find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/downinoneband

Instagram for photographic japery at www.instagram.com/downinoneband

And you can stream and buy our music at www.downinoneband.com

Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask?

Don't think I have anything else to say about us, but in general: drink booze liberally, fuck authority, listen to loud music and support your local scene!

The Roaring Trowmen Q&A

Your name:

Dave Partington.

Where are you from?

Born in Liverpool, but Bristol is my adopted home.

Name of band:

The Roaring Trowmen.

Who else is in your band?

Bryn Stephens, Chris Jarvis and Gwyn Wilkinson.

How would you describe yourselves and your music?

We are four hearty men who sing sea shanties and songs of the salty deep, with passion, energy, glorious harmonies and humour. 

Who are your main influences musically?

Stan Rogers, Fay Heald, The Young ‘Uns, The Wilson Family, Rolf Harris, and SO much more! 

What do you hope to achieve in music?

To just slightly re-define what people expect from a sea shanty group, to make it fun, irreverent, but bring in melting harmonies and define our own unique versions of traditional songs.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

Running a workshop at a men’s singing festival, teaching 50+ men to sing a sea shanty that I’ve only ever heard previously sung by four voices, then conducting them and hearing it sung back to me by 50 powerful pairs of lungs! Awesome.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

The petty arguments due to division of admin work for the band. 

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

Our version of ‘South Australia’, because it’s so well known, but we put our own spin on it, fill it with ‘Trowmanisms’ and delivery it with power and energy.

Where can we listen to it?

http://www.roaringtrowmen.co.uk/music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hC7i2UL1bU

Where can we find out more about your music?

www.roaringtrowmen.co.uk

www.youtube.com/user/RoaringTrowmen

roaringtrowmen.bandcamp.com

https://soundcloud.com/roaringtrowmen

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?

My history in singing is interesting. Started with family when I was three. Recorded a record with them when I was four. Sang with them, church choirs and school choirs till I was 15……  then had a 25-year break! Started again in 2002 with a 15-piece a cappella group, sang to a total in excess of 50,000 people over six years of gigs, joined another a cappella group in 2010, but only got into sea shanties in 2013. Now it’s all I do!