Photo: The Hell
Heavy Britain is a rock column that looks into some of the heaviest bands in the UK.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Black Mist: It's a good question. Should be, it's your fucking job. Never in a million years did I think people would go so nuts. I didn't start all this to be an edgy wind-up merchant, but I guess we took on the pantomime villain role like a duck to water. When something that's meant to be fun rubs people up the wrong way it tends to be a reflection on their own insecurities, or some shit like that. I don’t know, who fucking cares?Was it difficult to make the move into making more albums, touring and getting signed to a big label after the initial gimmick of wearing bandanas and being antagonistic?
You know what, our shtick is a fucking blessing, to be honest. We do what we want, when we want and I think people like that shit. I care about our punters, not some fucking dickhead at Pineapple Management and his cocaine addict mates. We never set out with some big plan, we’ve never sucked up to anyone for anything. Yeah, we’ve put records out through decent labels and whatever but everything is on our fucking terms. You come to a show and you know it’s all about us and the fucking punters. Know what I mean?
Advertisement
Tell you what, I can’t even lie, the mask thing shit me right up. Every cunt looks like us now, so that look is dead in the water. Gone. We’re in a transition of becoming professional thespians as well as incredible musicians so that will be reflected in our new get-up, you know? Snug-fitting polo necks, neckerchiefs, all that modern Shakespeare clobber.Considering you’re all meant to be tough guys with bad attitudes and worse reputation, I heard a rumour you’re all actually from leafy Hertfordshire. Is that true? That’s a bit posh, isn’t it?
That’s a great description, can I use that in our MySpace bio? [Laughs]. Listen, I’ve technically been a Londoner for two whole years now living with Turbo Rat. I’m basically running Finchley. The other urchins have dispersed a bit further out. Jackhammer is lying low in a gaff all the way up in Northumberland after a run in with… erm… actually I shouldn’t talk about that.Haha. So you haven’t gone soft in your old age?
Nope.Well, I have and I love your new album Joris: A Hardcore Opera. Can you explain to us what a “hardcore opera” even is?
Oh cheers, nice one John.My name is Jak.
Yeah, well theatrical metal is already out there and it sucks. All that operatic shite where the video is always in the woods, you know? Yeah, none of that pap. And I fucking hate musicals. Can't stand them. Too much happiness. Bunch of over-acting cunts prancing about to awful songs. So… a hardcore opera is a grittier, realer take on theatre. That doesn't mean it's full of macho bullshit. I guess it's easier to explain what it isn't. Let's just say it's a story about someone struggling to find this way through life but finding people to help them on the way. What's more hardcore than that?
Advertisement
It’s a long, complicated story, but I’ll try and boil it down. So five years ago, a Belgian punter named Joris sent us an audition video out of the blue asking to play Groezrock [festival] with us and we thought, “Fuck it, why not?” We made him the face of the band running up to the festival, his own song, the whole bit. We even tried to get him elected as Prime Minister of the UK. He almost fucked it all up, mind you. Joris was nowhere to be seen and we couldn’t get hold of the daft cunt five minutes before we were due on stage. It all worked out in the end though. By our last song, thousands and thousands of punters were chanting, “JORIS! JORIS!” and he came onstage to rapturous applause to end the set with us.Anyway, his wild journey to the top got me thinking I should write a record about a similar journey and name the lead character after Joris in his honour. This guy’s not exactly the Joris from Belgium, but he faces the same kind of trials and tribulations, I guess. Just in a north London hardware store. Does any of that make sense? Probably not.Yeah it makes sense. Sounds like it actually has a bit of a moral message.
Yeah mate, of course. Everyone goes through shit and I think they’ll see a lot of themselves in Joris. Everyone’s been in a shit job wondering what the fuck they’re doing, dreaming of doing something bigger with their lives.Is it autobiographical?
I can't give too much away at this point as it's only part one, but you might start to see some glaring similarities developing. I guess we all put ourselves into our art in some way. Listen to me, fucking John Malkovich over here! [laughs].
Advertisement
I'm sick to death of hearing and seeing the same old shit in heavy music. “Oh sick, you've released another album of breakdowns and shit choruses, have a fucking biscuit.” To me, there's only so far bands can take the “bunch of tattooed men frown onstage in front of kids kicking each other” formula. I want fans to experience something they've never seen before. That was the whole fucking point of this band to begin with. I wanted to do something immersive, create a whole fucking world of characters.I can see that. Did you take inspiration from other rock operas and concept albums?I've got a whole lot of fucking time for Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds. That record used to shit me right up as a lad. And years later A Grand Don't Come For Free by The Streets knocked me on my arse. I think looking back on our album I can hear both those records in there.Nice. Maybe I’m wrong, but I can’t imagine there’s much crossover with hardcore and metalcore fans and rock opera enthusiasts?You know what, when a band starts to worry about who their punters are and what they might or might not like it's fucking over. I know I said I'm all about making the punters happy – we're always trying to do cool shit for them – but when it comes to getting creative, fuck everyone and everything. I don't give a shit about what is going on in metal or hardcore and I don't have a fucking clue what goes on in the theatre world. We're just trying to do something bonkers, you get me?
Advertisement