DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Root Zero
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 Root Zero 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?
Giac: Probably In Absentia by Porcupine Tree. I hate these questions because my musical taste is incredibly broad, but I feel like that album encompasses enough of my taste that I wouldn’t get sick of it as quickly.
Sasha: That’s really difficult! Probably October Rust by Type O Negative, it’s a really chilled out album and I haven’t gotten tired of it thus far.
Llyr: Ach this one is just tearing my brain apart but I’m going to have to follow my gut and say Hard Candy by Counting Crows. I never get tired of those songs and hopefully the upbeat vibe will help keep us optimistic!
Wren: It’s a really tough one, but the one album would probably be Holding Absence - The Greatest Mistake Of My Life. That’s an album that’s already gotten me through a lot in real life.
Rob: It's tough to narrow it down, but I'll be the most basic prog fan and go with In The Court Of The Crimson King by King Crimson, its one of my favourite albums of all time, I could listen to the synth part of the title track on a loop for hours and still be loving it
Josh: Always an impossible question to answer, but Common Courtesy by ADTR. Even though I have rinsed it to death, I never get tired of it and it means a great deal to me. (BONUS: Outer Wilds soundtrack. Despite being space themed, it would be amazing for exploring!)
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?
Giac: Melana Chasmata by Triptykon, just because I’m a huge HR Giger fan!
Sasha: This Heathen Land by Green Lung, I love the woodcut style artwork and how the title looks like an old Penguin classic or a ‘Scarfolk’ post!
Llyr: Asymmetry by Karnivool for sure. One of my favourite bits of album art ever, so much so that I really want to get the full version of the art tattooed sometime.
Wren: I’d also love Asymetry, but since we already have one of those i’ll go with Leprous - Pitfalls.
Rob: I'll say the cover of Purple by Baroness, I have a signed copy already hanging on my wall. John Dyer Baizley is such an amazing artist, and its so cool that he does all the artwork for all or his bands albums. Really id take any Baroness album, but purple takes the edge as its my favourite colour
Josh: The Pick of Destiny by Tenacious D. It's inspired.
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?
Giac: I’m gonna be captain sensible and say water, if watching Castaway and Life of Pi has taught me anything it’s that staying hydrated when you’re marooned somewhere is one of the most important survival tips!
Sasha: I’ll be equally boring and go with water too, mainly out of fear for my tooth enamel.
Llyr: Screw being reasonable, I’m taking a perfectly mixed double dark rum and coke every time. I can hydrate from the ice melting (even if that means getting very drunk in the process). Also, desert island and no rum? Sacrilegious.
Wren: I'm going to be very autistic and say Ribena, if we’re stranded that’s the one comfort I couldn't manage without.
Rob: Wouldn't be a holiday without a delicious one thousand pints of lager, I'll have whatever is on tap (as long as it isn't Carlsberg)
Josh: The smart answer would be drinkable water. The correct answer is ungodly quantities of Pepsi Max.
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?
Giac: I have a really nice silver Behemoth necklace, so I’ll go with that.
Sasha: I have a Black Sabbath t-shirt from their 2013 gig in Birmingham, it was one of their last tours so it’s pretty special.
Llyr: Definitely my Bastions longsleeve with the art for Majestic Desolation on it. It’s just so damn comfortable and would do me well on cold island nights
Rob: Although I couldn't tell you exactly where it is now, I had a special edition Misfits CD collection that came in a little coffin. I’m thinking if the worst happens on this island I could at least have a proper burial, assuming I somehow shrank to the approximate size of 2 cd cases
Josh: This might be some kind of copout, but my Bloodstock 2024 T-shirt. It hallmarks such an unforgettable milestone for RZ that I’m eternally grateful to have been a part of.
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?
Giac: I’d want to be shipwrecked with Sasha regardless of if we were in a band or not! Maybe a cat or two as well.
Sasha: Likewise, and why stop at two cats!
Llyr: I’m gonna be really pragmatic and say a bunch of survivalists haha. John Hudson, Ray Mears, anyone that can keep us alive until the boats come. Plus I just wouldn’t want to drag along anyone I care about from my life, I’d never hear the end of it.
Wren: Honestly, there isn't anyone I'd rather be stranded with! (Although an additional cat to hang out with would be wonderful)
Rob: If I'm being selfish, my DND group. If we were all stuck on an island together it'd make scheduling a game a lot easier
Josh: Who took my two cats??
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?
Giac: Either Soundgarden at Hyde Park in 2012 (which I went to) or the Septicflesh show they did with a full orchestra in Mexico.
Sasha: Maybe Strangers In The Night by UFO – one of my favourite live albums.
Llyr: I mean it has to be Alice In Chains on MTV Unplugged right? So incredibly iconic. Or maybe that one Creed NFL halftime show… (kidding)
Rob: One of my favourite live bands is Zeal & Ardor, one of the shows I saw them at a couple of years ago in Bristol they actually had some recordings of the gig for sale but I didn't take one, so maybe this would be my chance to rectify that mistake
Josh: Seattle 1989. Metallica. EET FUK.
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?
Giac: I’d hope it would reach our friends in Karmen Field as they have a few songs about water, such as their song Oceans. I dunno, I feel like they’d know a thing or two about attempting a rescue at sea!
Sasha: Gojira as they’ve worked with Sea Shepherd who have a huge boat to rescue us with!
Llyr: The Police and hold out hope that they don’t misinterpret it as slightly conceptual fanmail. They’re also rich enough to fund a search party.
Wren: I’d just send a note saying there's oil here, and the military would show up in seconds.
Rob: Bruce Dickinson can fly a plane so I'm gonna up the Irons for this question. Or a viking metal band like Amon Amarth or Turisas, they can hop in a longboat and pick us up
Josh: I'm with Llyr on this. I'm sending it to Sting, he's got the work experience, and MAYBE would help. Definitely not Stewart though, he'd send the bottle right back with a new note saying ‘get fucked’.
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?
Giac: Rob’s the biggest, nothing personal bud but we’d need to be resourceful in desperate times!
Sasha: Yeah I can’t really argue with that, although granted it’s in my interest to say that being the smallest band member!
Llyr: Damn that’s a toughie. I think Giac’s thought about Rob is right; ultimately for the greater good. I would however argue that Rob would die doing something noble like defending us from a mountain lion or a shark. Also I’d suggest Josh for similar reasons but it’s so hard to find good drummers that aren’t in like 5 bands these days.
Wren: Damn, it’s not looking too good for rob. But y’all forget, he knows how to make Swords! Rob, should we form an alliance?
Rob: Well it seems my bandmates have left me no choice, it's me or them. Me or all of them. If I'm clever about it I think I could pull it off, I would have to strike first, get a few of them in the night, blame the other survivors in the morning, that sort of thing. I am a vegetarian though so I don't know how well I'd manage
Wren: Wtf Rob, I was on your side!
Josh: I'm converting my drumsticks into chopsticks and coming for you Rob. (There's actually a really lovely seafood bar on the beach, I'm just going after you for sport)
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?
Giac: Another really tough question for me but if I had to narrow my influences down to one person I’d have to say Trent Reznor. Reading about his approach to songwriting, his experiences with writers block, his opinions on the music industry and of course just the music he’s crafted over the course of his career, it’s something that I’ve always tried to aspire to.
Sasha: Probably Kate Bush, I remember hearing ‘The Whole Story’ compilation album in my mum’s car as a kid, and there was something so compelling and mysterious about her songs and the strange stories they tell; sometimes dramatic like Wuthering Heights and Babooshka, and sometimes wistful and melancholy like The Man With The Child In His Eyes. In terms of songwriting she’s probably the first sort of experimental/progressive female artist I heard and she’s a huge influence for me vocally too.
Llyr: Definitely Steven Wilson. I know that I’m involved in the music I love as a direct result of being introduced to Porcupine Tree when I was maybe 7 years old? Just a really profound effect on my tastes from that first exposure to their sound.
Wren: For the first few years of my life, I grew up in a house with little music, and what little there was didn’t inspire me; as a result, I believed that music wasn't something I was interested in. When I was a teenager, I remember one time when it sounded like the radio exploded. It was music, but not like I had ever heard before. It was the opening riff from "American Idiot" by Green Day. It might sound lame, but that may have been the first time I ever heard a guitar played aggressively, and it changed my entire perspective on music as an art form. From that point on, I knew that I wanted to play guitar! So i’d save Billie Joe Armstrong for sparking my interest in music.
Rob: I'd have to say Cliff Burton, it's probably a bit of a cliche for a metal bass player to say Cliff is their main influence, but for good reason. He played like nobody else at the time and absolutely pushed the boundaries of what bass could be within a rock and metal context. His lead bass style with that distorted wah sound is one that I often try to replicate with varying results. But as well as that his songwriting ability on the early metallica albums showed me that actually a bass player can be a songwriter too, and the ferocity and technicality of his less in-your-face basslines is incredible
Josh: Another impossible question when you have a lot of influences. If I had to say the most overall, it would have to go to James Hetfield for making me want to be in a band in the first place. He was the number one musician who made me think ‘Holy shit, this is so unbelievably awesome that I have to be a part of this’. For me, it's only natural it goes to him!
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