Complexity Reduced to Black and White

Overthrow are currently writing some new songs! About 5 in the pipeline at the moment. A blend of everything we've done in the past, whilst moving forward in a slightly new direction. I think we are finally honing our sound, which is exciting for us, and my anticipation for a new release is increasing daily! I will leave it open to personal interpretation when it surfaces, rather than having to keep our music, and peoples perception of it within the confines of certain words.

I have a new guitar! A Gibson Les Paul Studio, and it's amazing. My old guitar was an Ibanez SZR520. It did me well, but a few years of wear and tear haven't been kind on it. A cracked body and bodged tuning peg have left the intonation ruined, and it wasn't until I used the Gibson for the first time last week that I realised how long I'd put up with using a fucked guitar, afraid to play certain chords and places on the neck for fear of it being out of tune. Now I'm free to play everything with ease and beautiful tone. Clearly I'm slightly obsessed at the moment!

Punktastic are making an Un-scene 5, so hopefully we will be privileged enough to get on that

I find it hard to get into punk bands nowadays, whether it be an entirely new band, or new material from a band I already know. They rarely seem anything but generic, no spark of interest or flourish of ingenuity, and I struggle to believe they follow through with what they say, that they practise what they preach, or a lot of the time that they even care about the music at all. It makes me question what is a punk band? What are the values that a band should try to uphold? I feel that punk is an approach to music that transcends genre. Punk to me is playing music you love no matter what, not compromising what you do for fame or fortune, not trying to fit in or worrying about being part of a scene, just sticking to your guns. My point is it feels less and less like punk music to hear a band with fast drumming, distorted power chord riffs and lyrics scratching at the surface of deep subjects. This leads on to lyrical content which is an issue I struggle with myself. Being the singer in a band is the perfect platform to express our opinions to the world, and spread a positive message. It's a great opportunity to raise important social and political awareness. Most bands seem oblivious to the opportunity. We all have our own prerogative, but it's frustrating to hear a lack of depth, intelligence and awareness in lyrics, regardless of subject matter really, but especially from supposedly socially/politically conscious bands. We just have to be careful not to say something that's already been said before and better by someone else! And that's something that I struggle with when writing lyrics. That and not being hypocritical. It's a hard line to walk between voicing our ideals, and just telling people what to do without doing it yourself! Many bands do the whole "political punk band" thing, but if you look at their lifestyle they're probably no better than the people they're trying to motivate. As Jam Scones has described us, we're pacifist analysts; conscientious objectors. But regrettably nothing more at present. It's hard to know where to start in a bewilderingly corrupt, complex, unjust world with regards to activism, but I digress. That's not to say people should actively go against the grain (whether it be of music or society or whatever) for the sake of it. Just that I despair at bands that are willing to clutter the already over diluted musical world with music that has no real substance or meaning, whilst others of us struggle to be heard in an industry dominated by image based, intentionally uncreative meaninglessness. It should be all about freshness, ingenuity, creativity, passion, belief and longevity of worthy bands. It's easy to see why the mainstream isn't like this, as it's a business not an art, but it's a shame when punk rock bands seem to fall prey to the same ideology.

This week I finally saw Propagandhi for the first time at Concorde 2 in Brighton, and boy did they restore a bit of faith! They are everything a punk band should be. They're fast, tight, technical and fuck me do they rock live! Their lyrics are satirical, intelligent and so much more than the ignorant anger most punk bands portray. They promote an array of issues, and practise what they preach. They set the president for doing things your own way, refusing to compromise integrity, and standing up strong for what you believe. My attempts pale into insignificance in comparison, but they are proof that it's worth the effort, and I will continue to try and improve!

Back to working on vocals and watching John Pilger.