DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring House of Hosts
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 House of Hosts 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?
James – Jee-eez, hmm, I guess my answer would be Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell. I honestly don’t think I could go the rest of my life without hearing those opening chords again!
Jack - An impossible question, as it always depends on the day you ask me. Today, I’d probably go with “I Let It In and It Took Everything” by Loathe, has an amazing mix of atmosphere, heavy riffs, beautiful choruses and lyrics. (Update: I came back the next day and changed by answer. It’s now Bring Me The Horizon’s “Post Human: Survival Horror”)
Dan – One album? Damn man! Umm it would have to be “Nightwish – Imaginaerum” as I have such a love for their music but this one is what really got me into telling stories through music.
Beth – No Brainer... Evanescence – The Open Door! After growing into my own and maturing (a bit) from my baby emo stage, this album ripped my head clean off and not only gave me a contrast of songs to "Mosh your heart out in your bedroom at 3am”, but a select few songs helped me through some dark struggles. This is one of the albums I have held, and forever will hold close to my heart! ...also, Amy Lee though *gay panic!*
Ross – That’s a tough one! It will have to be Black Clouds & Silver Linings by Dream Theater today. It’s an album which formed a lot of my style of composing to date and is just something that has been a cornerstone in my library since hearing it for the first time back in 2014 or earlier... somewhere around that time! Fitting for how we got ship-wrecked in the first place.
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?
James – Hmmm, I guess even staring out at the endless ocean can get boring after a while so it’s got to be an image that I can really get lost in. So I’m going to go Dio – Holy Diver. Helps that it’s an awesome album too!
Jack – Radiohead’s “A Moon Shaped Pool”. I find it very calming, and if I’m sleeping in there, I’d like a calming poster.
Dan – Now I tried to think about this one a bit but what stuck with me was “Glory hammer – Fly away” cause... F*****G UNICORNS, HAMMERS AND S**T!
Beth – Honestly, I might get h8 for this, BUT HEAR ME OUT! “MCR – the black parade” poster. If I was marooned on an island, I’d want to be able to visualise something that will bring me some class memories, and as I have already stated, I was the ultimate emo growing up and me and my friends would head on up the park, vodka in hand, donning our finest “Criminal damage” wear and listen to their album on repeat while drunkenly serenading each other. Also, my parents may have bought me the black parade jacket when I was like 14, and I wore that sh*t to DEATH haha!!
Ross – I’ve been quite a Power Metal fan for more than I have been a Dream Theater fan. You’d see me pasting up a Pheonix Rising poster by Galneryus for sure! Mythical creatures, majesty, power and glory! It’s just cool to me. The kind of stuff that would make me look at it and go “F*** yeah!”.
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?
James – Normally on a beach I love anything with Rum and Fruit but as it looks like we’re going to be hanging around for a while, I’m going to go for long island ice tea. Cans of coke and lemonade never really go off and you can chuck any sort of spirit in there and call it good!
Jack – Jack and Coke. Well, diet coke, got to watch my figure.
Dan – Right en, if I’m stuck on this island and I can only have one drink for the foreseeable future, its gonna be a proper slamming piña colada! Freshly done, none of this out of the bag and into the glass s**t! Ooo and extra brollies cause I’m a classy gal.
Beth – I’m with James on this one, Long Island iced tea is my anyway “go-to” cocktail. Strong & sweet...a bit like me!
Ross – Would have been a well-aged whiskey. But now I’m a dirty dark rum man. I’ll go for something simple but always well done. Give me a Kraken straight!
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?
James – Got be my picture of The Beast signed by the man himself, Bernie Marsden. I met him after a gig in Cardiff a few years back and he couldn’t have been a nicer guy.
Jack – Probably my “Holding Absence” T-shirt from their last tour. It’s super comfy.
Dan – For me it would be my first ever slipknot t-shirt from their Iowa album. It was gifted to me when I was 10 years old and it helped pave the path that would become my musical journey.
Beth – For me, it would probably be a sentimental thing and I'd grab 1970’s folk singer, Joni Mitchell’s – ladies of the canyon CD. As a child, my mam used to sit me on her knee, and we’d bounce along to the songs (my mam SWEARS DOWN this is where I got my rhythm from). Still to this day if I hear the song “Circle Game” it brings me to tears with happy memories.
Ross – It would be a t-shirt from DragonForce’s Maximum Overload world tour in 2014/15. Me and Jack went to see them in our hometown. Was extremely shocked to see them there so there is plenty of good times in that shirt.
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?
Jack – I should say my girlfriend...but the band are the boys. Shipwreck is for the boys.
Dan – I promise that I am writing this from the goodness of my heart and not because she is watching me... but I would say my wife and sons. *looks to wife for approval*
Beth – I SHOULD say the boys would be enough...BUT it will have to be my wife! “Straight-for-shipwreck" will break me being the token lesbian of the band!
Ross – I have a partner. Don’t get me wrong, I love him but, making and playing music is me so I guess let fate play its hand!
James – Gosh, almost anyone else....
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?
James – Any show on the Rainbow Rising tour. Dio, Richie Blackmore, Tony Carey, Jimmy Bain, and the unbelievable Cozy Powell. I honestly can’t imagine a better show!
Jack – Bring Me The Horizon live at the Royal Albert hall. Edgy alternative music with an orchestra? Sign me up.
Dan – Nightwish live at Wembley arena “endless forms most beautiful” tour. That show was absolutely incredible and the way they turned their songs into stories being told on stage was phenomenal!
Beth – Black Stone Cherry live @ Download festival 2018 *bows down*. They played a reggae intro to “Me and Mary Jane” and that sh*t hits me in the vibes every time I hear it. I can just imagine myself marooned on that island, wearing a hat made of coconut tree leaves, smashed on long island iced tea’s, swaying at the shore listening to that album. Kinda like if you picture the way Moana dances at the ocean. But drunker. Way drunker.
Ross – I think one of my favourite live show I’ve seen (on YouTube cos I wasn’t born), Dream Theater’s Live show in the Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo 1993. Incredible show, all in their prime.
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?
James – Probably a member of The Police, maybe Andy Summers. They’re masters of Messages in a Bottle after all
Jack – Someone rich, with a boat. Does anyone in Metallica have a boat?
Dan – Without a shadow of a doubt it would be Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden! The man is a damn pilot! It kinda makes sense.
Beth – *Set scene* - leaf scroll. “Halp pls, stuk on island. Ps. Amy lee, wife me?!”. Joke, I'd leave it to someone sensible in the band, they seem to have had way less alcohol than me...maybe James *strokes invisible beard*.
Ross – In that message, there would be an ancient phrase of and ancient text of mine that would have been passed down through generations. (P.S. don’t know who would be most suited but hey-ho), It would be titled to Jordan Rudess saying “Yo, wanna collab?” He’d fly over on his keyboard's cos he’s a wizard!
You've been stuck here 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?
James – Probably Jack. He’s the bassist.
Dan – Probably Jack. He’s the bassist.
Beth – Probably Jack. He’s the bassist.
Ross – Probably Jack. He’s the bassist.
Jack – Probably me. I’m the bassist.
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?
James – Richie Sambora, his ability to serve the song is unbelievable, and the guitar solos he’s been able to pull off along the way!
Jack – Hard to say, I’ve had so many different influences throughout my life. And a lot of them couldn’t exactly be on the ship due to uh...death.
Dan – Over the years my influences have changed, due to the dynamics of my vocals but one has remained true through my time. David Draiman of Disturbed! The man is iconic in not only his voice but the way he can effortlessly control and captivate a crowd.
Beth – My influences have changed so much over the years, as I’ve played practically every instrument in a band. But for my drum influence, it has to be Will Hunt. The man is a beast on the drums and manages to compliment every other instrument with his blend of heavy rock and technical playing style.
Ross – I don’t know how he’s on the ship but the John Petrucci himself. Need more of that chocolate cake tone in my life. (Jack: And have you seen his arms? Petrucci would be a lifesaver with those biceps!)
