DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Cthulhu Dreamt
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 Cthulhu Dreamt sat on the beach. The island is far from their 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.
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?
Jake: Oh man that is tough. There’s a lot of albums I miraculously haven’t gotten sick of yet, but if I had to pick one it would probably be Music Has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada. I love all of their albums but this one stands out. It’s just so timeless. I would miss that weird melancholy feeling Boards of Canada gives you if I was stuck without it!
Ben: Tchaikosvky’s The Nutcracker, (specifically the Kirov Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev). Because it’s badass, it’s my favorite album of all time, and I don’t know how I’d survive if I knew I’d never hear it again.
Reed: Here’s the thing… I grabbed my old iPod just hoping it had a charge… and on that iPod were the albums The Shape of Punk to Come by Refused, Let’s Talk About Feelings by Lagwagon, and the soundtrack to Shaun of the Dead. Shit…. I forgot my earbuds.
Nate: Probably 311 Live : I figure I’ve already been listening to this album for 20 years, it has heavy moments, groove, Melodie’s, you can sing along pretty easy and has a lot of energy. Love it.
Chris: This was super tough but I think I'm going with Dark Side of the Moon. I probably wouldn't pick any individual track as my favourite, but as a whole experience it's just incredible.
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?
Jake: The album art for Mirror Reaper by Bell Witch hands down. I’m not the biggest fan of the funeral doom genre but that album is great and the art blew me away. I’m also a massive fan of the artist who painted it, Mariusz Lewandowski, who’s become the undisputed god of metal album art recently.
Ben: Yell Fire, by Michael Franti and Spearhead. Because it’s fearless and angry, just how I think you need to be to make it on a desert island.
Reed: the full poster made for Mastodon’s Leviathan. Drawn by Paul Romano, I loved this art so much, various elements of it adorn my body as tattoos.
Nate: Steel Panther - balls out. It’s the closest I’m probably getting to naughty magazines on a deserted island.
Chris: I really like Gojira's From Mars to Sirius. Big fan of flying whales.
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?
Jake: Oh it’ll be margarita time. It’ll be the most pleasant ship-wreck you’ve ever seen.
Ben: Inca cola.
Reed: I’m assuming this bartender is my exact generation and can make me an OK Soda.
Nate: We are stuck on an island - rum w/ juices feels tropically appropriate.
Chris: Gin mixed with raspberry liqueur. You can drink it like water, it's that smooth. Probably inadvisable, though.
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?
Jake: I have a borderline embarrassing amount of band shirts, but if there’s one I couldn’t part with it’d be my Gojira Magma tour shirt. Not the rarest shirt ever, but a combination of the amazing show I bought it at and the friends I was with when we all ended up coincidentally buying the same shirt design makes it mean a lot to me.
Ben: My hoodie from Lights’s Pep tour to survive those chilly nights.
Reed: The book from Coheed and Cambria with all the comics collected.
Nate: Slayer throw blanket : gotta stay warm at night!
Chris: I don't own a lot of band merch, sadly. If only I'd picked up that Meshuggah snorkel or that Car Bomb water filter! I do have a signed Area 11 CD, so maybe I'll say that and cheat another album onto the island in the process.
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?
Jake: My wonderful girlfriend of course! She’s one of the few people who puts up with my stupid sense of humor.
Ben: My wife, because what else am I going to say? But Reed would be a really close second.
Reed: if I’m stuck stuck and going to die here, my wife. Otherwise, my buddy Justin would be a good dude to be in a shipwreck with… cause he’d be able to build something to save us.
Nate: Sofia Vergara - while being gorgeous she went to school for dentistry which would be beneficial when I crack my tooth opening shellfish.
Chris: Nobody! I'm sticking with this lot. As the lone Brit of the group, I've never actually met my bandmates, so this is actually quite a cool opportunity, heh. Although I would miss my wife and five-month-old. So let's bring them too.
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?
Jake: Alright, I’ll shut up about Gojira after this but the Link Alive is the one that stands out. They put on great shows in general but that album is just so tight and precise but still feels like it’s about to explode with energy at the same time. I listen to that album constantly and would’ve killed to see it live.
Ben: Queen: Live Aid.
Reed: I’d have to say the recent tour from Gojira (Armory, Minneapolis). Their set was amazing, they sounded wonderful, and they closed with Chino Moreno (Deftones) playing “Territory” by Sepultura.
Nate: Lamb of God - Download festival 2007. I’ve watched it close to 80x already on YouTube.
Chris: Either Rammstein in Paris or Peter Gabriel's Secret World. Both great music and incesdible staging.
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?
Jake: I feel like Bruce Dickinson is the obvious answer, who else has a Boeing 737 ready to roll? I don’t know how he’s going to safely land a commercial jet on a remote island but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Ben: Dave Grohl. That guy can do anything.
Reed: I’m going to go out on a limb and say Fat Mike from NOFX. He’d be able to rally so many people for his next Punk in Drublic festival on our little island. Then it’s just stowing away when everyone leaves.
Nate: Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden - I figure he can fly a plane or helicopter and is our best chance of rescue!
Chris: Till Lindemann. He probably wouldn't respond, of course, but have you seen the guy? That's the guy I want bringing force to help me out.
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?
Jake: Mikael Akerfeldt without a doubt. While learning how to play guitar I almost obsessively learned Opeth songs and riffs and I think that shows in a lot of what I write today. I’m a shameless Opeth fanboy, guys!
Ben: John Williams. He’s the reason I write music.
Reed: The person I can remember having influenced me the longest is probably Dave Mustaine. Hearing Rust In Peace was a major milestone in my early memory, and man, that dude will have stories to tell by the beach fire, the spit slowly turning, Nate screaming loudly as the flesh crackles and juices dr…. Oh sorry, got off track. Dave Mustaine.
Nate: Devin Townsend - strapping young lad. I could talk music and life with that guy for hours.
Chris: Ooooooooh. I think it's gonna have to be Matt Bellamy from Muse. I haven't always loved everything they've done but I've always come back to them, and their tracks were some of the first things I learned to play. Plus he's from a little town half an hour down the road from me, so, uh, local solidarity or something.
