DEVIL’S ISLAND featuring Night Thieves
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 Night Thieves 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?
Paul: Straight in there with the tough question! I’m going to keep this very simple and not overthink it. The Colour and The Shape by Foo Fighters. It’s a great album and my favourite Foo’s album.
Rick: On contrast I’m going to totally overthink this. It needs to be a long album with lots of variety. Can I have the Juggernaut albums by Periphery? Technically two albums but they were packaged together….. If not probably Tool - 10,000 days or Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist, both amazing albums!!
Jess: I think I'd have a playlist I couldn't live without rather than an album, that choice I'd be obsessed with trying to decide for days... If I flip it, Only Revolutions by Biffy Clyro comes to mind as one I could grab and live with, given some of my fave tracks of theirs are on it.
Ryan: I'd have to pick the album that I've never grown tired of. It's We Are Not Alone by Breaking Benjamin. I've been a huge fan of Ben Burnley since the early 2000's. His music will always have a meaningful place in my heart.
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?
Jess: Green Day Dookie, purely because we're stuck and might need to entertain ourselves with I Spy and Where's Wally (or Waldo) games.
Rick: I’m a sucker for great artwork and a great album cover will definitely convince me to buy an album. I love the Born of Osiris covers, but one that always sticks out is the cover for Fightstar - Behind the Devils Back. Such a cool piece of art and I used to research volcanoes and it reminds me of that.
Paul: I’m going classic with one and picking an Iron Maiden cover! They have the best artwork and they're all great but I’ll go for Somewhere In Time because it is so detailed and every time I look at it I find something I've not noticed before. Great for passing the time shacked up on an island waiting to die!
Ryan: I'll need something to keep my spirits up whilst trying to salvage good wood to build a catamaran from the wreckage. So S.C.I.E.N.C.E by Incubus will be perfect.
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?
Jess: Mai Tais. I'll be very happy and probably more entertaining than I usually am for most of the time.
Ryan: I will want something stiff like rum. But I'll always complain that it's gone...
Paul: A nice refreshing pale ale is tempting but mojito’s seem more fitting for an island. I could sip those all day long!
Rick: I’m a huge fan of craft beers, especially ones with funky flavours. Any interesting combination and cool can artwork and I’m there. Currently I’m into sours and had a really awesome rhubarb and custard one recently so let’s go with that one.
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?
Jess: Nirvana t-shirt, also handy clothes-wise.
Paul: The Metallica pinball machine. I had a very big suitcase! I’d set it up right next to the bar to play on while drinking those mojitos.
Rick: I pretty much live in band merch so choosing one is hard. I think it would be the most recent T-shirt I bought, from a Born of Osiris gig, I love it and I’d be looking cool while stranded on the island.
Ryan: I'd be smart and grab my Limp Bizkit cap to keep the sun out of my eyes.
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?
Jess: Nirvana t-shirt, also handy clothes-wise.
Paul: The Metallica pinball machine. I had a very big suitcase! I’d set it up right next to the bar to play on while drinking those mojitos.
Rick: I pretty much live in band merch so choosing one is hard. I think it would be the most recent T-shirt I bought, from a Born of Osiris gig, I love it and I’d be looking cool while stranded on the island.
Ryan: I'd be smart and grab my Limp Bizkit cap to keep the sun out of my eyes.
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?
Jess: Bring Me The Horizon at Royal Albert Hall, very interesting not just for the acoustics but the sound and arrangements with a live orchestra too.
Paul: I bet Ryan just Googled “what’s a walkman”! The free Rage Against The Machine gig in Finsbury Park that they put on after beating the X-Factor song to Christmas number 1. That was an awesome gig!
Ryan: I know what a Walkman is, Paul! I'd choose Incubus's Morning View Sessions. For the sound quality, musicianship and passion. It's perfect.
Rick: So many awesome gigs to choose from. I think it would have to be seeing Deftones at Brixton academy on the Diamond Eyes tour. It was like being hit by a wall of sound, incredible. Plus Coheed and Cambria supported, could I get that as part of the package?
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?
Ryan: I'd pray for Eric Clapton to swing by in his yacht. Then a nightmare would turn into a holiday pretty quick.
Paul: I’m thinking someone with a military background and for some reason James Blunt came into my head. I’m sure he could pull off an excellent rescue but if he started singing one of his songs I’d throw myself overboard! What about Sting from The Police?… he sent a message in a bottle and is still alive.
Rick: I think Bruce Dickinson gets my vote. He can fly a plane so he could man a rescue attempt straight away! Plus it’d be a fun trip home!
Jess: Brian May. He's a successful musician (respect), astrophysicist (brains) and animal welfare campaigner (kind-hearted). He comes across as a decent person who would answer the call and have the influence to genuinely rally support for a rescue too.
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?
Paul: Ryan. No hesitation! He’s the biggest, leanest, youngest, and we could feed on him for weeks.
Rick: I am going to have to go Paul. Ryan is definitely the handy man of the band so we need him around. Between Jess and Paul I’d have say Paul would feed us the longest. Using this criteria though I’m the most useless for survival skills, but don’t tell anyone that….
Ryan: Paul would ultimately suffer injuries on set by old age from chasing me around trying to eat me. So inevitably he would become dead weight. Sorry Paul!
Paul: Actually Rick made two very good points there so I’m going to change my answer to, Rick. Ryan, I take it all back!
Jess: I might sacrifice myself, I'd rather go out happy on the Mai Tais, f*ck that!
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?
Jess: I'll go for someone well-respected, Dave Grohl.
Rick: There are so many people on this category but I think Justin Chancellor of Tool would be mine. Just a fantastic bassist and so creative with FX, bass lines and how professional he is.
Ryan: Matt Halpern from Periphery. His feel, chops and grooves influence my playing style dramatically. Without him and his many YouTube videos, I wouldn't be the drummer I am today.
Paul: Mike Einziger from Incubus, the chords and riffs he uses on S.C.I.E.N.C.E and Make Yourself, as well as the way he uses FX made me approach the guitar and songwriting completely differently and made me a better musician.
