Camden, the hub of all things unique, wacky and downright beautiful … oh and London’s biggest and best one-day festival.
The likes of The Cribs, Zebrahead and Reckless Love rounded off an incredible bill of artists whom ensured everyone had the most epic day you could possibly wish for.
Though, like most Festivals, Camden Rocks is mayhem, the kind you relish in. Swarms of rockers, hell raisers and general music lovers take to the streets to head to one of the 20 stages available on the day.
Luckily for us we had the opportunity to catch up with a handful of slayers before they take to the stage.
First up Finland’s merry metallers Reckless Love made a welcome return to a place they say was their first ever gig on English soil. Armed with their trademark locks, their determination to show us a party of course a back catalogue of corkers, Reckless Love were ready to take to the Electric Ballroom stage. Having landed in the UK just a couple of hours before their set they needed some chill time, but not before giving us a little sneak peek in to life back stage.
My initial thoughts where … how will this work with the language barrier? Turns out these guys know how to speak English better than a lot of people I know and according to them, they never see it as a problem as long as their fans know what they are all about. So what are Reckless Love all about?
“It’s about entertainment. We have a new record out and the first track of the record is called ‘We Are The Weekend’ and that basically sums it all up. It’s that feeling. Every one of us knows or has at least been working at some point doing a 9-to-5, five days a week, but when that Friday comes everyone knows the feeling when the clock strikes by. It’s freedom. It’s paradise for 3 days. It feels good.”
With the guys touring and travelling together in close proximity it is hard not to maintain a healthy relationship, however they seem to have it sussed with a family orientated outlook: “We take care of each other. When we arrived at the venue about half an hour ago I had this massive headache, a migraine or something and since I don’t have any medication with me, they noticed I wasn’t feeling so well so they tried massaging my shoulders. We just do stuff for each other. Whenever someone is down we leave them be for a while, give them some space. It’s like a four-way marriage.”
The Reckless Love will be heading back to the UK in November for two intimate shows in London and Nottingham.
Ready to rock with the return of an old friend to fill in for the recently departed Nico, AshestoAngels showed no signs of letting the changes affect their up and coming high-profile performances. Having seen them support Aiden on their farewell tour earlier this year I already knew what kind of band they were, energetic, no holds barred and absolutely frigging crazy. But was this a stage persona or are they really that crazy?
Well as soon as I met the guys at their tour bus I knew the answer straight away. They are a whole lot of fun and passionate too. They have spent years plugging away, doing things for themselves, being the ultimate DIY band and all because they love what they do. As we were sat there chatting away a fan appeared near the van, a guy they recognised from social media, a reminder their fans matter to them. They also let me steal one of their sweets…they understand the importance of looking after people. So what’s coming up for AshestoAngels once they pack out Camden’s latest music Venue The Crowndale? Just a slot at that little known Festival in Donnington. Enough about that though, I wanted to know more about why lead singer Adam Crilly was now Des (Designated Van Driver): “Every time I was meant to stay in a hotel, I would do something ridiculous like climb out the sun roof or get on the floor of the car and start messing with the peddles, they tell me to stop so I mess with the hand brake, climb out and run.”
As for where he gets his energy from “Lack of sleep” and their next goal as a band? “I’d like to do Warped Tour. We’ve packed out Barfly, We’ve packed out Borderline. It’s a big jump to the next size venues in London. I’d like to be able to sell out Underworld, that would be great. I’d really like to go on a support tour that I haven’t booked. We spent so long building our audience and our relationships the old school way. Unfortunately, it means we kind of neglect the industry side of things. We have a proper agent, she’s amazing, she’s really passionate which is so important to make stuff happen.”
Their new single ‘Down We Go’ is available to view now.
Dublin Castle played host to Birmingham’s very own SHVPES on the day, another DIY band with a hard-working mentality, oh and an impending debut album. Before their set I had the chance to chat with lead singer Griffin. It is always important to break the ice, thankfully we were able to establish pretty quickly that karaoke is a lot harder than singing because “You have to be hammered and there is judgement everywhere”, his words not mine. Once we realised that both were equally as scared it was back to less important things like how do you get ‘Festival Ready?’ “There is no ritual there, you just get thrown in to a room or in a corridor 20 minutes before the set, trying to warm up in like a broom cupboard or something like that. Get thrown on the stage, then it’s a WTF just happened basically.”
In a time where many bands struggle to maintain the balance between touring and having to work their regular jobs, success comes in different packages for most. “To me there are different levels of it. For me personally I would gage success as for example playing a sold out Underworld and having the whole crowd sing our track.”
Griffin’s five most essential items on tour:
1) Spare pair of pants – You never know what’s going to happen. Trust me, they always come in useful. If there is a shower in the venue or after your riskier manoeuvres
2) Vocal Zones
3) Headphones for warming up
4) A blanket – A nice soft blanket
5) Good team spirit – A positive mental attitude, created by beer
Everyone knows old school pop punk is a real good time and Zebrahead certainly know how to put on a show. Having recently played a killer sold out tour here in the UK it was fair to say there was a lot of hype surrounding their appearance at Camden Rocks. Meeting me before their set was Dan, the master of moustache making, guitarist and all round fun guy. They had been in London for a couple of days by this point so it was time to get the gossip on days gone past.
“We had a load of Tequilla, which is probably not a good idea, but we had a fun time,” Dan explained. “I fell on stage. I was playing and I jumped on a solo and for some reason I get a lot of crotch grabs, quite aggressive crotch grabs from men (I think) and it freaked me out so I jumped, fell, got back up on stage, thought well I was just drunk, fell on a load of cables. I had enough Tequilla so the pain didn’t matter. Got some weird bruises in weird places though.”
He also states he thinks the song was still played well, but at least he has a story to tell. Moving on to their up and coming schedule which includes a two-day drive to Budapest, they are heading in to mainland Europe. Hopefully there won’t be any more injuries accumulated.
As for crazy fan request … he has one in mind: “Once we were doing a signing and a guy asked if we could sign his penis. No one else wanted to do it, I was the only one that would do it, so I signed his penis. If you’re going to sign Lady parts then you might as well sign men’s parts. Gender equality.’
Dan’s five most essential items on tour:
1) Booze
2) Beer
3) Wet wipes – You don’t always get a shower so you do a hobo shower so you can be semi-civilised.
4) Phone charger
5) Spare guitar – So I can practice on the bus, or you know throw at guys with tattoos on their penis.
And lastly it was over to the Bloc Bar for my last chat of the day.
Stoneghost are flying high right now with a supporting slot on Raging Speedhorn’s up and coming tour and a one-off Skarlett Riot show as well as a recent trip to Ibiza (though they are keeping tight-lipped on that particular venture). So I thought I was attempt to get the info out of guitarist Andrew a different way by asking who he thinks they’d need an insurance policy on. “Most likely Jason. I love the guy to bits, but he is a walking disaster really. When we went to Ibiza we got held up at passport control because he left his on the plane. Day after that, he jumped in to the pool without taking his wallet or his phone out of his pocket. There is a list as long as your arm. He is probably the most entertaining person I know.”
Thankfully I was told what any fan is eager to hear after the Speedhorn tour: “We have quite a lot of new material now that we’ve been working on since the last album came out. With any luck we will get the chance to turn it in to a record at some point. Nothing is set in stone just yet.”
They head out with Raging Speedhorn next month!
Feeling the post-Camden Rock blues or simply want to relive the day?
Check out this highlights video:
| Main Image: © Justine Trickett |