Features

The rise of Enter Shikari, as told through their most important gigs

From selling out the London Astoria as an unsigned band in 2006 to this year’s stunning arena tour, Rou Reynolds looks back at how Enter Shikari have conquered… well… literally everywhere.

Code Orange: “I would love for this band to be as visible as possible. We have more to offer than in the bubble we currently live in”

In the shadow of their formidable album The Above, Code Orange return to the UK this weekend, laying waste to one of the biggest stages of the summer. But despite being one of heavy music’s most abrasive acts, armed with perhaps their darkest record yet, the Pittsburgh punishers know they belong in the big leagues – and they know how to get there…

Celestial Sanctuary: “This new breed of UK death metal boasts something grimier: a disgusting edge”

Death metal is meant to be disgusting. Brit sickos Celestial Sanctuary understand this better than most. And though business is on the up-and-up, including a spot at Download, don’t expect them to tone down the reek of putrefaction anytime soon…

Avenged Sevenfold: “We want to make a roadmap to show artists that there’s a better way”

Ahead of the band’s third headline performance at Download this weekend, and one year on from the release of brain-bending eighth album Life Is But A Dream…, M. Shadows is, well, living the dream right now. And having successfully found the freedom he’s always wanted for Avenged Sevenfold, he’s now focussed on showing other artists how they too can own their future…

Mannequin Pussy: “I was told you get less angry as you grow up, but I’ve not found that to be true… It grows deeper every year”

Mannequin Pussy are one of U.S. punk’s most talked about bands. For singer Missy Dabice, having found an emotional outlet, she’s now using it to take on capitalism and find a new way to live…

The Struts: “We formed in f*cking Derby and suddenly got picked up in the U.S. – when does that ever happen?”

Want real rock’n’roll? Here come The Struts, led by suave musical superhero Luke Spiller. Having relocated from Derby to LA, they’ve made America – and their heroes – fall in love with their very English flamboyance. Now they’re coming home to take the Apex Stage at Download. Hopefully it goes better than last time…

PVRIS x Scene Queen: “It definitely feels like a union of our humour and levity”

PVRIS and Scene Queen have been tearing it up together on tour in Europe. When we caught up with them in Berlin, we found Lyndsey Gunnulfsen and Hannah Collins becoming fast friends, even as road-life constantly threatens to send things sideways…

Practical or “parasitic”? Examining the impact of AI on album artwork and music videos

With artificial intelligence starting to permeate the alternative space, we meet two musicians on either side of the argument to hear how and why their own work has been impacted – and if this is the beginning of the end for some artists…

The rise of Fall Out Boy, as told through their most important gigs

From terrible shows in school cafeterias to headlining hometown stadiums, Fall Out Boy have risen like a phoenix to become one of the biggest bands on the planet. As they gear up to headline Download Festival for the first time, Patrick Stump reflects on the pivotal gigs and tours that made them the saviours of rock’n’roll…

“I’ve had to stop so many things in my life… but I’m not prepared to give up music”: The truth about touring with chronic illness

Bundling into the back of a van for days at a time, eating junk food and not having a second to yourself would take its toll on anyone, but especially those living with a chronic illness. We talk to members of Bowling For Soup, As Everything Unfolds, Black Foxxes and Mallavora about the emotional and sometimes embarrassing realities of being a touring band while trying to manage a debilitating condition – and how the industry needs to change…

ZULU: “People are scared to try stuff… But it’s awesome to have a band so open to growth”

Onstage, rising hardcore stars ZULU are as furious as they are fun. In person, frontman Anaiah Rasheed Muhammad is a far more reserved, reticent man. But, as he says, this guardedness is a learned part of life. And as we discover, his musical expression says far more about him…

While She Sleeps’ Loz Taylor: “When this whole culture and community hit me, there was no going back”

Skateboarder. Gig promoter. One-time professional football hopeful. Who is Loz Taylor, really? As While She Sleeps prepare to hit Download, we caught up with their livewire frontman to trace his journey from young Doncaster mosher to British metal icon, and learn how he’s still fighting to keep the scene that nurtured him alive…

“I want to do as much as I can before there’s a chance that I can’t do it anymore”: Supermilk’s Jake Popyura on the realities of his ALS diagnosis

Supermilk frontman Jake Popyura discusses living with the fatal, debilitating disease ALS and why he won't give up music just yet...

LØLØ: “I’m either heartbroken or anxious! There is nothing else”

With the release of falling for robots and wishing i was one, LØLØ has delivered one of the best debut records of 2024. Here, the Toronto pop-punk talks about the journey she’s been on to make it – from heartache and mental breakdowns, to hanging out with Green Day and tackling online trolls head on…

The rise of Sum 41, as told through their most important gigs

Almost 30 years on from a Battle Of The Bands in which they sold “zero tickets”, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley reflects on the shows that made them – from MTV medleys, to a legendary K! Pit, to selling out rooms of 10,000 people.

Billy Corgan: “I don’t play any songs I don’t want to play. I don’t care if they’re classic or not”

Smashing Pumpkins hit the UK this week for their massive arena tour with Weezer. Billy Corgan tells us about their new guitarist Kiki Wong, learning to balance the old and the new, and avoiding the nostalgia trap…

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