Questions & Answers

10 Questions For The Charismatic Frontwoman Of… THE SPECTORS

Posted on by JL

Discover up & coming artists in 10 questions…

From Belgium here are up-and-coming pop daydreamers THE SPECTORS. This swirling
4-headed outfit just released their second longplayer, titled OOH AAH AAH. A sunlit record dominated by glimmering melodies, multi-layered guitar electricity and highly catchy choruses with frontwoman Marieke Hutsebaut‘s sensitive vox in the middle of the ecstasy. Their songwriting formula is simple, yet highly effective. Pop-ular music, ladies and gents, is about elevating tunes infiltrating the listeners’ hungry ears and putting a big smile on their faces. And that’s exactly what The Spectors do. Marieke will tell us a bit more about it all, but before starting the chat let’s get in the right mood with newest single off the album. Here’s radiating gem ‘Only You‘…

Hello Marieke, welcome at Turn Up The Volume!…

1/ Is the band’s name in any way related to famous 60s
wall-of-sound producer Phil Spector?
“It is definitely related to Phil Spector. The band name follows
the ‘60s tradition of band names starting with ‘The’.”


A genial Spector from the past…

2/ This is the group’s second album, but with another line-up than the
debut LP. Is it a new start for you too, personally, Marieke, as an artist?
“In a way it is because I feel like I can really do my own thing with this new line-up.”

3/ The new longplayer’s title ‘OOH AAH AAH’ sounds jubilant,
even sensual. What’s the story behind it?
“It is based on the opening line of Borderline, one of the
songs on the album, which starts out with ‘OOH AAH AAH’.”

4/ Who did the front sleeve’s artwork and what
was the inspiration to do it the way it is?
“My dad came up with the idea for the album title and the artwork.
Some people will love it and some people will hate it. The motivation
for the album’s artwork was to shock people with its brutal simplicity.”


The magic of simplicity…

5/ Is ‘Borderline’, one of the album’s singles, about yourself, Marieke.
If so, can you share with us the emotions that led to this song?
“I wrote this song after going to London with my boyfriend at the time. I suffered from
a terrible food poisoning after eating some bad sushi. Because of that I was very weak
and tired and had to rest all the time. He thought I was boring, so he dumped me after London. It’s quite funny when you look back at it.”

6/ If the band was an animal, which one would it be?
“A flamingo. Probably because I’m in bed now and my sheets have
flamingos all over them it’s the first thing that popped into my head.”


Pretty in pink…

7/ Which movie would you pick to visualize the new album
on a big screen when playing a concert?
” ‘Neverending Story‘. It’s one of my favorite movies ever and
I think our dreamy pop songs would go very well with it.”

8/ If you could go back in time on which artist’s front door would
you knock and ask to have a selfie together?
“I would probably never ask an artist for a selfie because I know they
already have to do that all day long. I think I’d just leave them alone
altogether and would only speak to them if they actually wanted to
speak to me.”

9/ The band that’s on top of your dream-list to do a world tour with?

10/ Future plans for THE SPECTORS?
“Playing a lot of shows and start recording
the next album as soon as possible.”

Thank you for the interview, Marieke.
May the road rise with THE SPECTORS!

Here’s OOH AAH AAH in full…

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Album available on iTunes

THE SPECTORS: Facebook – Instagram –  Twitter

10 Questions For Manchester’s Glamorous Guitar Popsmiths – Meet… ALTAR FLOWERS

Posted on by JL

Discover thrilling artists in 10 questions…

3 April 2018

ALTAR FLOWERS are heartfelt guitar popsmiths based in that legendary sonic city of Manchester. They write heartfelt, lifelike songs about love, death and all mixed emotions
in between. Amplified musings about real emotions and human experiences, colored with a glamorous touch caused by poetic guitar lines and tempting male/female vocals here and there. Musically they bring The Human League‘s catchy electro romanticism and Pulp‘s high-quality pop songwriting to mind. After their excellent 2016 debut album i.d.s.t the band just returned with magnificent 4-track EP Performance. Time to talk. Before doing
so, with frontman (guitar/vocals) Jay Gibb, let’s get in the right mood. Here’s ‘Dead Leaves‘, the compelling opener off that fresh extended play…

Welcome Jay Gibb at Turn Up The Volume!…

1 / What’s the story behind the band’s name?
“Have you seen Batman Forever with Val Kilmer? The scene where Edward E Nigma is
coming up with his name for The Riddler… like that! We got it from a heavy metal band-name generator. We liked it in a very tongue-in-cheek way but I liked the idea that the exact same decorative flowers on an altar would oversee loads of different occasions
and celebrations like ‘love’ in marriage, baptisms, morning mass repenting, and
of course, death!”

2/ “Love.Death.Pop.” Does these three words on your Facebook-page
indicate what ALTAR FLOWERS is all about?
“In 3 words, yeah. We’re very much one extreme or the other but at the same
time working within our boundaries which is the pop element, and most bands
seem to say the opposite. Which is probably why we’re better than most.”

3/ I’m always intrigued by records’ artwork. What’s the story
behind the image on the new ‘Performance’ EP’s sleeve?
“It was very last-minute to be honest but I dig it. We spent a lot of time on another
cover that got over-complicated and smart-arsey, so in the end I just thought, fuck it,
it just needs a visual to look how it sounds. I’m very lazy like that. But no underlining meaning, no.”

4/ The band released excellent debut LP “i.s.d.t.” about two years ago.
What does the title stand for and which track is the group’s favorite?
” ‘i.D.S.t’ was written all over every wall, park bench, even carved into trees round our way in the 90’s when I was a growing up. It stands for ‘If Destroyed Still True’, haha. Like a kind of a ‘statement’ of everlasting eternal forever, ever and ever and ever love between young teens whose relationships lasted a whole 3 weeks. My favourite track is ‘So Happy‘. We played it live in a church once, it was truly, truly beautiful. One of ‘them’ moments, ha.”


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5/ Many big bands (The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Oasis, Happy Mondays etc…)
came out of Manchester. Is the city still that buzzing place for alternative music today?
“I don’t wanna sound like a dick but I wouldn’t know to be honest. So, probably not.
I don’t get out much, so, for all I know it could be absolutely buzzin ‘n’ ravin it’s fuckin
tits off. Put it this way, a promoter sent an email to us just before a gig saying summut
like “Right you guys, tonight, I want the bands to be talking and buzzing with each other from start to finish to create a party atmosphere” that probably says it all.”

6/ Which movie would you pick to visualize your music
on a big screen when playing a concert?
“ ‘Robocop’. Part man, part machine, innit… or maybe something like
Weird Science or a John Carpenter movie. Though to be fair, he did his
own soundtrack music which was fuckin’ boss. He’d laugh at us.”


Special guest at Altar Flowers’ next gigs…

7/ Your number one artist/band to do a world tour with?
“Probably, Poison or Skid Row . One of those fun bands from the 80’s with big massive vodka swimming pools and disposable Lamborghini’s, innit. Or Elton John, I can watch
his tantrums on Youtube for hours. I’d love to wind him up, cut the heads off his flowers
or put a fake shit on his piano or summut.”


Altar Flowers’ world tour ambition…

8/ Manchester City or Manchester United?
“Man U obvs.”

9/ If you could go back in time on which artist’s front door
would you knock and ask to have a selfie together?
“Cher in the 60’s was a proper fit. I’d fancy my chances
aswell, definitely.”


Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPiere…

10/ Future plans for ALTAR FLOWERS?
“I feel like we’ve probably spent too much time in the studio,
so probably just to get out, and do it live a bit more and to just
be wonderful… we’d like a 2nd ep out, before the end of the year,
but we’re taking it all as it comes for now I reckon. It’s all good
in the hood at the minute.”

Thank you for this interview, Jay.
May the road rise with ALTAR FLOWERS!

Here’s new EP ‘Performance’ in full…


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ALTAR FLOWERS: Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
Debut album ‘i.d.s.t.”: stream on Bandcamp


Love.Death.Pop.

(promo photos received via band)

10 Questions For Steamy Synths Punks… KUDZU

Posted on by JL

Discover up and coming artists in 10 questions…

From Springfield, Missouri here’s… KUDZU

KUDZU is a steamy two-piece engine. Mark Gillenwaters (vocals and guitar) and Seth Goodwin (vocals, synth, and drum programming) produce hectic-synths-punk-firework
that is both mind-blowing and sticky as top glue. The duo just released their new album DEFEATED. A fulminating 9-track fireball of electronic pandemonium. Thrashy, resounding and head-twisting. A couple of dreamy, reflective songs give you here and there time to reload your batteries and dive in again. An overall cutting achievement. Enough reasons
to have a chat. Let’s start the acquaintance with Turn Up The Volume‘s favorite smack on the LP. Fasten your seatbelts ’cause here comes ‘Burn Yourself‘…

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Hello Kudzu, welcome at Turn Up The Volume!…

1 / What’s the band’s name about?
“It’s an Asian vine that is invasive to the United States’ south. It was sold as a way to stop soil erosion, but it grows really fast and climbs houses, trees, shrubs, anything and kills any plants by shading them. It’s pretty shitty in the states but also it looks cool written down and we like short snappy names for things.”

2/ When did you know: ‘this is how we want to sound,
this is what we want to tell the world’?
“It was a process of trying a lot of different things and settling on something that felt true as our voice. We settled into post punk and synth pop and for inspiration for lyrics from personal experience.”

3/ Brand new, explosive album is titled ‘DEFEATED’. Who’s the beaten party?
“It’s probably us, or everybody. We tossed a few different ideas around that I can’t remember but ‘Defeated’ so perfectly describes the vibe we got from touring the
States in 2017. Everyone was in kind of a daze after the election and it was strange
seeing different communities deal with the consequences of having a reality tv star
for president.”


“America: you’re defeated”…

4/ Which song would you pick as your signature track so far?
“‘No Backbone‘. It was one of the first songs we wrote and kinda set
the pace for all the others.”

https://soundcloud.com/kudzu-kudzu/no-backbone
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5/ If KUDZU was a politician who would it be and why?
“Probably Stubbs the Cat aka ‘Mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska‘.”

6/ What movie would you pick to visualize the new album
on a big screen on stage when playing a show?
“I’ve been meaning to rewatch Pink Flamingos so I’d have to go with that.
The only downside is we wouldn’t be able to hear all the fantastic writing.”

7/ Whether The Simpsons live in your hometown – Springfield, Missouri – or not,
tell us who your favorite character is in the series.
“I think Matt Groening based Springfield off of a town in Oregon but I totally thought it was the same place as growing up. I’ll go for Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure. Phil Hartman really made both of those characters hilarious and it doesn’t hurt that the show had some of its best writers when he was on the show.”


Attorney at law Lionel Hutz delighted with Kudzu’s love”

8/ Your number one artist/band to do a world tour with?
“Hannibal Buress.”

9/ If you could go back in time on which artist’s front door
would you knock and ask to have a selfie together?
“Arthur Brown, seems like he’d take a good selfie.”


Arthur’s on fire…

10/ Future plans for the band?
“A music video for ‘No Backbone‘ is in the works and a slew of
shows/small tours. Maybe we’ll finish another album soon too…”

Thanks for the chat guys.
May the road rise with KUDZU…

DEFEATED in full right here…


Album available on Bandcamp

KUDZU: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter

(promo photo on top received via band)