Features

The People Vs. Neige: Alcest’s frontman on bad gigs, black metal and retro videogames

French blackgaze icons Alcest have a fanbase glued to everything they do. As they release their cracking new album, Les Chants de l’Aurore, we asked you to put your questions to mainman Neige. Good news: you’ll get well fed if you ever go round his…

Teen Mortgage: “As soon as you turn 18, you have to fight for your right to survive in the world by paying your way”

From reckoning with the nightmare of human existence to channelling The Beatles’ punk ethos (yes, really), Teen Mortgage are bringing a much-needed cathartic release to these grey days…

Why you need unpeople in your life: “I’ve never been scared that a crowd is gonna hate us”

In the midst of a busy summer of festivals, we grabbed unpeople’s Jake Crawford and Meg Mash and got them to tell us all about how they’re one of alternative music’s best new bands…

Stone Gossard: “This is everything we could have ever hoped for!”

Founding member Stone Gossard opens up on Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter world tour, 30 years of Vitalogy and his group Painted Shield’s brilliant new album…

From Myspace knee-highs to bedazzled booties: The best in alternative style this month

We take it back to the Myspace era this month with the hottest trends and coolest collabs in all of alt. fashion – from retro Converse to cutie patooties!

Fu Manchu’s Scott Hill: “Surfing, skateboarding, cars – that’s all I know”

Thirty years since their debut full-length, stoner giants Fu Manchu are still kings of the stoner age. As they release their 14th album, Scott Hill looks back on growing up in the California punk scene, car obsessions, and Metallica and Foo Fighters hailing them as masters of the fuzzy riff…

10 bands you need to see at Mad Cool Festival 2024

Bring Me The Horizon, Avril Lavigne, Pearl Jam… Mad Cool is stacked with heavy hitters. Here are our picks of who to see at this year’s fest!

The Warning: “Rock makes me feel powerful… everyone connects in such a big way”

A decade on from going viral for a cover of Enter Sandman, The Warning have become one of rock’n’roll’s most attention-grabbing young bands. And, yet, they’re still only just getting started. On the eve of fourth album Keep Me Fed, and with a headline date at London’s O2 Academy Brixton set for 2025, the Villarreal Vélez sisters reflect on all they’ve accomplished so far, and why nothing is more important than inspiring others…

“There’s a certain magic in things being imperfect”: Inside the raw beauty of The Mysterines’ new album

Having left their fortified, riff-tastic sound of their early EPs and debut album Reeling behind, Liverpool four-piece The Mysterines have unveiled their second LP, Afraid Of Tomorrows. Darker and more introspective, vocalist Lia Metcalfe and drummer Paul Crilly talk us through the inception of the record, finding beauty in raw intimacy, and life on the road with two of rock’s hardest touring bands…

Who are Green Day’s fans?

We head to Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester for the first UK date of Green Day’s epic tour celebrating Dookie and American Idiot (and new album Saviors) to find out who their fans are and why they keep coming back for more…

De’Wayne: “I’m planting my flag in the ground… I want to be the artist that’s here to bring joy and love to people”

On new EP I WANT YOU MORE THAN ANYBODY WANTS YOU, De’Wayne arrives with his most accomplished work yet. Ahead of its release this Friday, the musician talks love, boxing, going deep, and how he plans to reach the musical playoffs…

Black Veil Brides: “Our fans have supported us for so long that we’re able to do exactly what we want”

Andy Biersack always had a little razorblade edge about him, but Black Veil Brides’ inimitable frontman has sharpened it further, tapping into his inner Demon Barber for Sweeney Todd-inspired new EP Bleeders. With a Wembley Arena takeover scheduled for Devil’s Night on October 30, too, the Californians’ next chapter will be all about conquering rock on their own bloodthirsty terms…

Destroy Boys: “Breaking patterns and making changes are a really important part of this record”

Destroy Boys’ new album isn’t an ending, but a beginning. A decade since first starting as teens, and having learned a lot about showbiz, manipulation, other people and themselves, the California punks are stepping into a bold era on Funeral Soundtrack #4. One where they “hope to make a change and make the world a better place…”

In pictures: Download Festival 2024

Relive this year’s Download Festival from the comfort of your screen – no mud necessary!

SPIDER: “I want there to be more Black women in alternative music… That definitely drives me”

Inspired by the grunge icons of the ’90s, SPIDER is a superstar in waiting – and is carving out a space for Black alternative artists…

Fall Out Boy: “When we get onstage, we as a band are still earning it. That’s exciting!”

As Fall Out Boy prepare for their headlining turn at Download Festival, Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz lift the lid on their past year of mega-shows, why they’ve always managed to avoid falling into a nostalgia trap, and how after Donington they’ll be embracing “the challenge of figuring out what the next thing is…”

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