DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Zebedy
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 Zebedy 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?
Jonny: 'Train of Thought' by Dream Theater. It's simply my favourite album of all time; heavy, proggy and just a great flow. Goosebumps every time, so well worth saving from the wreckage.
Ben: Probably 'Grand Unification' by Fightstar - then if I had nothing to play it on at least I’d have some really wonderful artwork to fall into as the dehydration and starvation set in!
Dave: 'OK Computer' by Radiohead. Anyone who knows me would say this is predictable, but it has so much depth, and, for me, you can pick out something different with every listen. Easy one to choose for a long stint on the island.
Tom: 'In Absentia' by Porcupine Tree. Timeless album and one of the few records I could listen to on repeat from start to finish.
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?
Jonny: 'Fragile' by Yes. All of their album artwork was outstanding, but Fragile really takes me to another place, which would be pretty cool.
Ben: 'Rosenrot' by Rammstein – it has a boat on the front – surely a boat is what you need as inspiration when you’re stranded, but I guess that got us into this mess and I’m sure the one on the cover is beached. Plus Till Lindermann would make an awesome but terrifying captain!
Dave: 'Beyond the Horizon' by People in Planes. Suitably nautical for the predicament. Although 'Oppacities' by Sikth and Behind the Devil’s Back by Fightstar both get a worthy mention for their beauty.
Tom: 'On Letting Go' - Circa Survive. These guys have always had very interesting artwork but this one has to be my favourite.
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?
Jonny: White Russian because if it's good enough the dude in the Big Lebowski then damn right it's good enough for me.
Ben: Whisky, lots of whisky… ahhhh hang on a minute… nope it’s still whisky!
Dave: I’d say rum, but that’d be predictable, right? So, I’m plumping for Guiness – it’s like a meal in a drink, so I’d say it’s a cunning choice.
Tom: Definitely Southern Comfort for me. To this day, the only spirit I can drink straight without wincing.
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?
Jonny: A vest of the cover of Def Leppard's Hysteria album, because it's beautiful, and it would make me feel pretty good.
Ben: Psychostick ‘Don’t eat my food’ sticker. I reckon that would come in pretty handy, plus it would remind me of the awesome opportunity we had to support them.
Dave: I’ve got this ace t-shirt by an Aussie band we supported called Closure in Moscow. It was for their first album, ‘First Temple’, and they had a logo done in a similar style to Star Wars – love the t-shirt, great album, and love Star Wars.
Tom: Architects t-shirt from their lost forever // lost together album because well... Architects?
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?
Jonny: I'm going with the boring but best answer my wife because if she's put up with me for 20 years then she's definitely worth being stuck on an island with....plus she has lovely boobies which seems quite important in the shipwrecked scenario.
Ben: Well Jonny’s wife has already provided the boobies right? Suppose I’d have to go with someone like Bear Grylls – being shipwrecked would be way chill then, and he’s into all that sort of survival stuff, so surely I’d be doing him a favour?
Dave: Ben, you’re too old to use the word ‘Chill’ in a sentence....... I’d like to make use of Bear Grylls, but he’s likely to get annoying, so I’d have to counteract him with my own survival guru, Ray Mears. Actually, I’m changing my mind, it’s got to be a much less practical option - Billy Connolly. The sort of life stories he has to tell and his general humour and demeanour would keep you smiling for a long while.
Tom: Dylan Moran, if I'm going to die stranded on a desert island, at least I'll die laughing.
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?
Jonny: Deep Purple - California Jam 1974, not my favourite era, but that performance from the whole band is outstanding and ferocious, and the end of that concert is insane. Mistreated is a particularly highlight.
Ben: Bring Me The Horizon, Live at the Albert Hall – one of the few live performances I listen to that if I could, I would genuinely kick myself in the nuts for missing. I’m a sucker for strings and a choir.
Dave: Queen at Live Aid – an incredible performance by one of the greatest bands and frontman of all time.
Tom: I'll go with a concert I went to. I saw architects a few years ago not long after they lost their guitarist, Tom. One of the most emotionally charged gigs I've ever been to. The memory of that atmosphere will stay with me.
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?
Jonny: If I said Sting, would that be wrong? But it would have to be Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden because he has a plane.
Ben: Brennan Huff of Prestige Worldwide – Boats N Hoes! Plus, Will Ferrell is awesome and I think he’d be up for the road trip. Or am I thinking of Chad Smith from the RHCP?
Dave: Alex James from Blur seems a sensible option – he’d come along with some essential produce from his farm.
Tom: Anyone with the means and the will to help at this point!
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?
Jonny: Tom, definitely Tom – sorry, not sorry.
Ben: I know Jonny had already taken Tom out… but I’d want to be really sure!
Dave: Well, I can’t eat me and the other two are too scrawny, so it would have to be Tom by default.
Tom: Seems like this one has been decided for me. I'd like to think I'd take at least one of you with me. If I had my way it'd probably be Jonny.
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?
Jonny: Danny Elfman, because he wrote the soundtrack for films that totally influenced my life. If you're not familiar, he did The Simpsons theme, Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas in which he also did all the singing for the character Pumpkin Jack. Need I say more?
Ben: That’s a tough one. My taste in music and artists is really quite genre-fluid – I nerd out for the whole package – musical composition, lyrics, artwork, visuals, performance, symbolism – put all this together and if I can be taken from where I am and how I feel to somewhere completely different. That’s the real deal for me. In this moment, that’s Brian Molko, Placebo… Protège-moi
Dave: Initially, I was going to say Johnny Greenwood as I love his style of playing, guitar tone and compositions (check out There Will Be Blood) but thinking about it Thom Yorke has had the most influence through his unusual chord structures and unique vocal melodies. An honorary mention must go to composer John Williams, phenomenal themes for some of the greatest movies made. Thom Yorke is number one for me though.
Tom: Frank Turner. In my opinion, one of the best songwriters and lyricists alive today. His music has influenced many aspects in my life.
