DEVIL’S ISLAND featuring The Larches
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 The Larches 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?
Sonny: Pussysoul Soilent Green- so progressive and the best of sludge, grind and hardcore all in one beautiful mish mash
Joel: For me would be something a bit more on the mellow side, nothing says relaxed on a deserted beach like a bit of Spiderland by Slint.
Noah: The album that I would definitely reach for would be the cowboy by mitski. Although I love my heavy music being stuck on a desert island I think my head would explode with enough time. Being the cowboy for me has a great nostalgia factor and a calming melancholic feel to it which would keep me sane on a desert island.
George: Pig Destroyer – prowler in the yard. pure anger and intensity with most songs hardly reaching over 1 minute. the production is dirty and adds to the eerie and perverted atmosphere in the best way possible. The narrative is disturbing yet introspective. They know how to slow it down with the last couple songs as well, making every chug feel like a punch to the face.
Merf: Melvins Haudini- Like the fact they have birthed most of the sludge bands that we have been influenced by
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?
Sonny: Acid Bath- When the Kite String Pops- maybe John Wayne Gacy watching me sleep would encourage me to escape
Joel: For the poster I’d definitely have to put up scalps ‘NOT WORTHY OF HUMAN COMPASSION’ cover poster would keep me from knowing what’s real and fake.
Noah: For the poster in my shack I’d go for Saturday night wrist album cover. I’d choose this poster because it’s my favourite album artwork of all time. Also, the lady on the front will keep me occupied.
George: Suffocation – Effigy of the forgotten. probably my favourite album cover ever. really represents the brutality and technicality of the music and as piece of art itself it is brilliant
Merf: Mastodon Leviathan – plenty to look at and it has a shipwreck on it so quite fitting
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?
Sonny: Jack and coke no explanation needed
Joel: Solidifying 1 choice for a drink is hard for me but I’d have to settle on an ice-cold tap of Modelo on the island bar, and if I wanted to switch it up then I might rob some of Sonny’s Jack and Coke
Noah: For my drink I’d stick to the island theme and go for a cocktail of some kind, maybe a sea breeze.
George: Pipeline punch monster. go to drink and when chilled is absolute bliss
Merf: Cellar Sounds Cider Homebrewed in Lingdale by Sonny’s dad
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?
Sonny: My Eyehategod shirt- my girlfriend refers to it as my skin at this point and claims it doesn’t get washed
Joel: I got a pretty sick Geese tee from their latest album drop and the design would be too cool to let it be left, it’s like a first person POV of a Call of Duty game wielding a combat knife saying Geese above it in the classic burzum font, Cool stuff.
Noah: My salvaged piece of merch would have to be my private music windbreaker from deftones.
George: Pig Destroyer – Prowler in the Yard t-shirt. How much do you love an album if you don’t have its t-shirt?
Merf: A Solient Green Grinder, you never know might need one to grind some coconut
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?
Sonny: Happy with George- we’d find a way to write a couple of tunes and make it worthwhile
Joel: Wata from Boris. On the one understanding she brings all her orange amps and Gibson les Paul’s.
Noah: I’d probably rather be stuck on the island with my cat.
George: Pretty happy to be shipwrecked with the lads, as Sonny said himself and I would write some class tunes and tbh we would probably have a good laugh. saying that we’d all get fed up with each other after a couple days like. anything else I’d probably rather be by my own
Merf: Just some random stranger from the street, I know the band so having someone else to talk to might be good
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?
Sonny: Pig Destroyer live at cbgb, JR’s microphone breaks and his vocals are still audible over double stack guitar cabs, insane shit
Joel: I’m gonna go out on a whim and stick to my guns with Scalps live EP, titled ‘Live Extremity’
Noah: The show on my walkman would definitely be an early acid bath show, probably Hollywood 1996.
George: Probably just one of our old recordings so i can laugh at how shit we used to be lol
Merf: Sleep & Boris & Son
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?
Sonny: Kirk Windstein, Crowbar- absolute tank of a guy he’d find a way to help me
Joel: I’d send the message out to Masayoshi Takanaka, after his live session literally in the sea, he gives me a bit of hope because he’d be around the beach a lot.
Noah: My message would go to Fred Sablan from Deftones he seems level-headed and suitable for the rescue.
George: I trust my life in the hands of Ben Falghoust (Soilent Green).
Merf: All my boyo’s let them know I’m alright
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?
Sonny: Merf.
Joel: I’m thinking tactically and saying Noah because I feel like he has a lower survival instinct than the rest, it would be Merf because that just makes sense to everyone but after evaluation I’ve came to realise he’s quite a habitual guy that can hold his own up, still kinda smells nevertheless.
Noah: Joel would be the first to get sacrificed. He’s tall and gym mad, seems like the healthiest option.
George: Joel is pretty buff so he’s getting thrown on the fire first
Merf: Sacrifice Jody the Manager if he survived, plenty of meat on him and he’s had a good innings.
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?
Sonny: Dax or Sammy from Acid Bath. Dax’s strange yet beautiful lyricism has inspired me a lot in my own writings and Sammy has pretty much changed the way I play and write guitar the way he approaches playing has made me a better player
Joel: Jimmy Bower, his tone is very influential on me with certain techniques giving him a sound like no other.
Noah: Chino Moreno would have to be the musician I would save. He has influenced each corner of my musical mind in some way shape or form.
George: Either my music teacher in secondary school, first person who really pushed me with something I was good at and had a passion for (this is mostly for my piano playing) or my good mate who is an unreal drummer and has really helped me get better over the years with technique and just general confidence
Merf: Matthew Terry – Summer Salt after listening to them it made me want to get into music & art.
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