DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Drown
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 Drown 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?
Billy - World Record - Lower Than Atlantis. It reminds me of home, mates and summer times in England. On reflection probably an awful choice as it would make me really homesick and want to cry
Will - I choose The Mollusk by Ween, a perfect album and one which truly encourages immersing oneself in oceanic environs.
Ben - v2.0 by Gogo Penguin. Gorgeous album with plenty of very unique and creative musical ideas. Would help to relax after sailing many seas
Sam - The self-titled EP by Sour, the greatest emo band of all time. There’s a moment for every type of emotion in that EP.
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?
Billy - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me by Brand New. It’s probably my favourite album artwork ever. It's haunting, beautiful, provokes so many questions and just sets the vibe for the album.
Will - Surfer Girl by the Beach Boys. it might be a bit of a bummer being stranded on an island, but if you look at it another way, you’re on the beach forever baby. Just like Brian Wilson.
Ben - Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. It’s a heroic piece of artwork. I find it to depict the idea of a great celebration after hardships and misgivings. Would help motivate the team throughout our stay on the island.
Sam - Deftones, Around the Fur. I feel like it would suit the vibe of the beach shack and also allow us to pay homage to the best band in the world.
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?
Billy - Prime. I’d drink all the other boys' drinks and stockpile mine. Make a fortune when we get saved and sell them in bulk
Will - I would pick a lovely pina colada, but I reckon you could find most of those ingredients just about the island, so it’d be a bit of a waste of a choice. Probably Pepsi Max if I’m being honest.
Ben - Tea. Milk two sugars. Can’t be beat
Sam - One of Will’s coffees made by Will every time.
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?
Billy - My trusty Limp Bizkit snapback to keep me (looking) cool during the presumable heatwave we’ll be having on the island
Ben - My black Holding Absence hoodie that I basically live in anyway. Got a lot of love for that band.
Will - Literally no idea. What band is most likely to sell a rubber dinghy? Electric Callboy or someone.
Sam - A Nickelback lighter so we can start a fire with the help of the most fire band.
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?
Billy - Aquaman. I’d be home in no time
Ben - Anyone else. Only because then the boys would be tucked up all cozy at home.. cos I’m nice like that.
Will - Ben’s answer is good. Makes me feel guilty that I was gonna pick Bob Mortimer.
Sam - Liam Gallagher and Shovels, Billy’s neighbour, it’d be a right laugh.
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?
Billy - My go to live performance to watch is Oasis doing Slide Away at Glastonbury 1995. They were at the peak of their ability. Liam's voice was incredible and so were Noel’s harmonies. When the song crescendo s and the 2 brothers are singing together, it gives me chills.
Ben - Sleep Token at Eventim Apollo London last January. One of the best shows I’ve ever been to. Although I can’t imagine the walkman having the best sound quality, it would do
Will - Fiddlehead at Outbreak last year. Definitely a bit of recency bias but my brain is a sieve and that show ruled.
Sam - Great choices from the boys, I’d probably watch theirs all the time. For me it would definitely be the Kurupt FM Radio 1Xtra takeover.
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?
Billy - Isn’t the geezer from Descendants a Scientist? Probably him
Ben - I’d ask Fred Durst to come get us on a jet ski. Reckon that would be a pretty sweet rescue mission.
Will - Damn, that’s a good shout. I’d get Zach de la Rocha to join Fred’s operation in a sort of nu-metal odd-couple buddy comedy. Zach might actually get it done, too.
Sam - Probably Winston from Parkway Drive, those Aussies would know how to save us.
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?
Billy - Me. i’m the fattest, more food for the rest. (but Will really)
Will - I’d sacrifice myself. Not worth living around these three moaning about how hungry they are all the time.
Ben - I’d sacrifice Will cos he seems fine with being sacrificed and the boys gotta eat.
Sam - Billy. I need Will to make me coffee and Ben is just too nice to sacrifice.
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?
Billy - Chino Moreno. His vocals are just insane and is probably what helped me get into metal music. I love the ethereal sound he brings to Deftones and the melancholicness of it all. I don’t know any other vocalist who has a range as wide as Chino. Deftones also currently don’t have a bass player, so I'd try my luck with him.
Ben - There are a great many drummers that have impacted on me since I’ve been playing, but I’d probably have to go with Tre Cool from Green Day. I wanted to be him when I was a kid
Will - mine is probably Michael Stipe. His dedication to never doing the obvious thing and constantly moving and adapting his art without submitting to trends is insane considering REM was the biggest band in the world in the 90s. He’s also a massive baldy like me.
Sam - Jesse Doreen of the band Counterparts. Their 2011 and 2013 albums really shaped the way I play and write songs, from really heavy and fast moments to ambient crescendos. His technicalities as a guitar player are unmatched and makes for some really smart music which ultimately serves each song.
