DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Burning Circus
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 Burning Circus 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?
ALEX: Queen, Live at Wembley ’86. One of the greatest musical acts of all time at the peak of their power. Absolutely phenomenal.
TRAD: Skid Row’s self-titled album! I have such good memories of listening to that record. Each song is packed with energy and reminds me why I’m alive: to make kick-ass rock music! Never skip a song on it!
CHRIS: Skid Row, Slave to the Grind. I couldn't not hear Bach's vocal performance on “Wasted Time” ever again.
GAV: This has to be Nevermind by Nirvana. When it was released it was the only thing I listened to for a good three months. It still stands up now as much as it did back then.
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?
ALEX: Spinal Tap’s Smell the Glove, since it definitively answers a profound question.
TRAD: Green Day’s Insomniac! I have a feeling I’d be spending a few nights staring at the ceiling worrying about what’s coming next, not being able to sleep. So having that album to look at gives me songs and lyrics to think about.
CHRIS: Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell II; first album I loved as a kid and I thought the cover was just the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
GAV: Metallica’s …And Justice for All as it was on my bedroom wall for years as a kid. Another album that I played to absolute death!
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?
ALEX: Jack Daniel’s and Coke. It tastes great, plus if life on the island turns out to be unbearably bleak then I have the option of drinking myself to death.
TRAD: Okay, okay. The rockstar in me wants to say Red Stripe. I love that beer. But I feel like I should be smart here and just go for good old H2O. Who knows how long we’re gonna be stuck here: as fun as beer would be, water might actually help my chances of getting off this island.
CHRIS: Vanilla milkshake. Extra thick. Beautiful.
GAV: Spiced rum and coke, please! (My dad’s favourite).
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?
ALEX: I own very little in the way of band merch, so I’ll go with a Carpenter Brut carpentry kit so I can build a boat out of trees on the island. I mean, I can only assume he’s a qualified carpenter, right? The clue’s in the name.
TRAD: Oooh. I used to have a Mötley Crüe T-shirt with the Girls, Girls, Girls album cover on it that I cut the sleeves off. But that thing was lost way before the wreckage. So now it’ll probably be my oversized Ice Nine Kills shirt!
CHRIS: Swimming shorts so I can attempt to swim away from the island, Gene Simmons must have some Kiss-branded Speedos in his range?
GAV: I had an amazing all-over print T-shirt of the Slayer South of Heaven album cover from the States when I was 16. No clue where it is now, but at the time I thought it was the business!
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?
ALEX: One of my comedy-hero duos, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer or Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson, because that way I’d at least spend my remaining days laughing my ass off.
TRAD: Oh, I’d much prefer to have my girlfriend (and her cat) with me. We’d have so much fun! The days would absolutely fly by!
CHRIS: Morgan Freeman for those soothing tones as he narrates my life back to me.
GAV: My good lady. We wind up on the weirdest tangents so we’d never run out of things to discuss. She’s my calm in the storm.
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?
ALEX: Since I already chose Queen’s Live at Wembley ’86 for the first question, I’ll go for the Supersuckers gig I attended at Rock City in Nottingham. Great band, great gig.
TRAD: Green Day, Jaded in Chicago 1994! What a show that is! These guys were in the depths of drug abuse but f**k me were they tight as ever. Each song executed flawlessly. Despite Billy Joe absolutely tweaking off his nut!
CHRIS: Airbourne, live at Wacken. To get me pumped up for those wild nights on the island.
GAV: Probably when I took my kids to see Ghost at Resorts World in Birmingham. They were flawless!
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?
ALEX: Bono, because he’s stupidly wealthy so could afford to launch a rescue, and would likely help just so he could claim it as another humanitarian crisis he personally solved.
TRAD: Most suitable for rescue? Hmm, that’s a tough one. I’d have to go for someone more personal. Cuz Slash wouldn’t care if some random lad is stuck on an island. Okay, I’d have to go for my buddy Dave from Family of Addiction! He’s such a happy chap. Always willing to help. I’m sure he’d find a crazy way to come rescue us!
CHRIS: Bruce Dickinson; having a qualified pilot would be helpful in this situation!
GAV: Doyle from the Misfits. With his massive arms he could easily just swim back and tow us all to civilisation!
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?
ALEX: I murder all of them in their sleep then feast like a king. If I’m facing the end, at least I’ll be drunk and well-fed. It’s what they would’ve wanted.
TRAD: Sorry, Alex: you’re up! The way he moves around onstage paired with his karate, I think there’s more meat and muscle on those bones than you think. But if I know Alex, he won’t go down without a fight.
CHRIS: Trad; sorry, dude! He's the youngest so would taste the most fresh. Not much meat on him, though...
GAV: They’re all too skinny, so I’d probably nibble my own love handles to start with! One of the few advantages of being the band member with the most voluptuous figure.
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?
ALEX: Freddie Mercury, the greatest frontman of all time with one of the greatest voices of all time. And a fabulous moustache, of course. Legend.
TRAD: Love him or hate him but Yungblud has been my idol since he came onto the scene! His energetic stage presence and the pure love you feel in a crowd at one of his shows is unmatchable. He’s taught me to be unapologetically myself and to keep pushing through no matter how tough it gets. His music and stories have taught me to love myself and to not tolerate any kind of hate. His stage presence is so electric and I always try to bring a good blast of life into every single show!
CHRIS: Keith Richards, Mr Rock ‘N’ Roll. Welcome home, mate. I hope you like milkshake...
GAV: It’s got to be Lars! Drumming legend, full of stories, crazy faces, and an all-round random little dude!
