DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring The Effigy
Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil's Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's not your average desert island and we'll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.
This week when we arrived at Devil's Island we find The Effigy sat on the beach. The island is far from the bands home, so how did they end up here and how did they cope with life on Devil's Island?
Find out now...
Welcome to The Razors'e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don't worry about it's name I'm sure it's not as bad as that would suggest.
So you're marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn't live without. Which album did you each chose and why?
Like everyone on this planet, this is a super hard question to answer because I love so much music. If I really had to only pick one album to listen to while indefinitely marooned on a faraway island, then I would have to pick Hallowed Ground by Violent Femmes. When I was growing up, my parents would take me and siblings (two brothers and a sister - I’m the youngest!) on holiday in an 80s VW Caravelle. I don’t know how many cassettes we actually had, because we only ever listened to Hallowed Ground. When it reached the end, we’d chat while it was rewinding and then we’d stick it back in again and continue the sing-along. Being stuck on an album would be a lonely thing and I think Hallowed Ground is the album that would remind me of what I was holding on for.
Just behind that palm tree is a shack for each of you to stay in, with enough space for you to put up a poster on the wall of one album cover. What album cover do you each chose?
Right now, I’m kind of obsessed with the album artwork for Reliqa’s album, Eventide. Frankly, it’s just a stunning piece of art. I love the colours, I love the composition, I love the motion. If I’m gonna have only one piece of art to look at, then it’s gotta be something I’d never tire of seeing - and every time I see this artwork again, I find something new to enjoy about it.
There's also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What's your tipple of choice?
Okay, I guess it’s time to fess up. I don’t drink alcohol. I barely drink caffeine. In fact, other than water, the only thing I really drink is caffeine-free coke zero. But in my defence, I have laryngeal dysfunction! Caffeine makes my throat spasm, and the sugar really isn’t good for me, so it’s basically just coloured fizzy water with some flavouring. Yeah… fair enough, it’s pretty sad.
Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you each managed to salvage one item of band merch. What’s the merch and for what band?
This might be a total curveball, but I’ve seen Mega Ran live twice now. I’m huuuge on nerdcore and I absolutely adore Mega Ran’s music. The second time I saw him, I grabbed a t-shirt where the design is like the outline of an 8-bit Mega Man, but the inside is a Union Jack. I love that t-shirt, I’d be heartbroken if I lost it, so that’s what I’m grabbing.
You’re sat on the island thinking “I’m stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity”… who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?
To be fair, as the only person in my band, I would get sick of myself very quickly. I want to be marooned with Turisas. First of all, there are a fair few of them so that’ll help keep me company, but they also just seem really fun, and if anyone could get us off a deserted island, it’s the Varangian Guard!
There's a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?
So I was supposed to go see Within Temptation and Evanescence in London before the world turned upside down. That show got postponed so many times that I ended up moving to another country and now I won’t get to see them when it finally happens. If someone can go record that on tape and then airdrop it to me, that’d be great, thanks!
You're getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?
Okay listen up, if there is one person on this planet who I trust to read a random message in a bottle from a random stranger and actually act on it, it’s James Blunt. Is he a bit odd? Yes. Is that exactly what you should look for in a rescuer? Hell yes. He’s ex-military, and the exact sort of person who’d go off on an adventure to rescue some poor shipwrecked fool marooned on a deserted island!
You've been stuck here for a while and food supplies are running low. There's only one thing for it... which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?
It’s me. It’s only me. I will have to eat myself. It’s cool, I’ve watched 127 hours. Cutting my own leg off will be a piece of cake. And then… just like a piece of cake, all I’ve gotta do is eat it… right?
Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?
Lindsay Schoolcraft. No two ways about it. Watching Linsday forge her own path in the music industry; seeing her carve out space for herself with such unapologetic authenticity was life-changing for me. In the last year, she’s gone from someone I was a distant, quiet fan of to someone I am beyond proud to consider a friend and she inspires me every single day to be a better me than I was yesterday.
