DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Ward XVI
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 Ward XVI 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?
Psychoberrie: Appetite for Destruction because it’s the best album ever made and it has the added bonus that I could just play it anytime I wanted a break from Dr Von Stottenstein because he’d be sure to move to a part of the island where he can’t hear it. Do we also get to take a CD/record player or do we just get to take the album and look at it cause that might change my answer?
Doktor Von Stottenstein: Possibly Iron Maiden Somewhere in time.. it’s a tough call between that and 7th son, but this one just pips it as I get more of a nostalgia hit from the tones, the songs are a touch more uplifting and the art work would keep me entertained for months looking at all the Easter eggs hidden away.
Wolfy: Lateralus by Tool, so I could play it on repeat and guarantee that noone who snores wants to sleep near me.
Bam Bam: Probably The Wall, as that's always been my go to album when things turn bad
Rico: Blind Guardian's 'Nightfall in Middle Earth'. My sister recommended it to me and it changed my life, turned me into the nerdy metalhead I am today. It's also an abridged musical version of The Silmarillion so I technically get a book as well
Nurse Betty: Caligulas Horse - Bloom. It's a really beautiful album, it explores a variety of topics including mortality and the briefness of our time on the planet.
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?
Psychoberrie: Iron Maiden-Killers. That’s my favourite version of Eddie, mainly because his hair is amazing!
Dok Von Stottenstein: probably our second album metamorphosis. Has the beautiful face and body of my wife... something to remember her by after I’d eaten all the coconuts and succumbed to hunger and ate her.
Wolfy: Butchered at birth by cannibal corpse because IF there is anyone other than us on said island, they need to be scared of stealing from me if they went into my shack
Bam Bam: Maidens piece of mind because it's just cool AF
Rico: BZFOS' "All These Fiendish Things". It's spooky, dramatic, and has the Bride of Frankenstein on it, who totally isn't my crush. Honest. I'm not weird, you're weird. NEXT QUESTION!
Nurse Betty: Lateralus because Alex Grey is an incredible artist (plus we've got one up at home)
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?
Psychoberrie: Gin and Cranberry.
Dok Von Stottenstein: If this is the only drink I can drink (including foraging etc) water, if water is excluded probably ice cold lager… but it has to be ice cold… like my heart.
Wolfy: An old fashioned.
- Woodford reserve bourbon (60ml)
- Angustura bitters (2-3 dashes)
- Simple syrup (7ml)
- Mix over ice!
Bam Bam: Jager of course!
Rico: Irn Bru. Everyone is going to be saying their favourite booze, but who's going to be laughing when they're all dehydrated and begging for release, I'll be supping well on the greatest flavour in the world! It tastes of girders! (Ask your parents, they'll probably get it)
Nurse Betty: Rum and coke
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?
Psychoberrie: A Guns n Roses T-shirt then I can sit there playing the album, drinking Gin and smirking in Dr Von Stottenstein’s general direction.
Dok Von Stottenstein: probably bam bam’s shirt… he’s a big fella so could use it as a tent or a fishing net.
Wolfy: My psychedelic porn crumpets t shirt. It looks good, light colour, light weight and ideal for not getting burnt by the sun.
Bam Bam: Did KISS produce a dingy? Alongside everything else. They probably did! Yes, a KISS dingy.
Rico: A massive Burzum flag. That way I can burn it for heat or as a beacon with absolutely no remorse.
Nurse Betty: War of the Worlds t-shirt from their recent tour.
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?
Psychoberrie: Aside from maybe having my son, daughter and step-children there I couldn’t imagine anyone better to be stuck with... Except Slash. Unless of course we were all starving and disease-ridden, then I’d rather they were safe at home.
Dok Von Stottenstein: Not sure I'd condemn that fate to my wife and kids… not the island, but living isolated with me. I’d choose John Hudson who is a survival expert from the programme ‘dude you’re screwed’ and is really funny and pragmatic..more so than Bear Grylls who is too bloody happy ha ha.
I’d do ok alone to be honest. I'd find my routine for sure between sitting in the sun, watching waves, exercising all day and drinking home made Malibu.
Being isolated with the band would be a massive motivational factor in me finding an escape route or thriving.… their dried bones/ tendons would provide great building materials for a hut or a raft, food would be a-plenty and there would be wonderful silence.
Wolfy: A trustworthy dog.
Bam Bam: Tommy lee......He's got a boat, i know! I've seen it on a DVD once
Rico: Anyone else? Literally take your pick? Insufferable, the lot of them. I won't say my girlfriend or my son because I wouldn't wish a desert island on them, so I dunno. Jordan Peele? If we made it out alive he'd write a film about it with a single word title.
Nurse Betty: Actually just Wolfy
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?
Psychoberrie: Alice Cooper’s Welcome to my Nightmare show. Though it’s the visuals that make it so brilliant, but I think I know it well enough that I’d be able to visualise the whole show whilst I listened.
Dok Von Stottenstein: Dream Theater ‘scenes from New York'. It’s genius.
Wolfy: Opeth at Manchester. Made my cry how good they were. I would say something like pink Floyd but I wasn't there so I don't have the emotional attachment.
Bam Bam: Acid Reign at Bloodstock Sophie tent. Think it was 2017 one of the best shows i've seen
Rico: Are walkmans still a thing? This may be cheating, but in Germany many moons ago I was at Summerbreeze Festival (can't recall the year, I've slept since then). I saw Powerwolf, Einherjer, Saltatio Mortis and In Extremo in one uninterrupted run. Flawless.
Nurse Betty: Tool/Opeth
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?
Psychoberrie: Bruce Dickinson, he has a plane and a pilot license and probably has his own beers on board.
Dok Von Stottenstein: Defo not Psychoberrie. If my life depended on her reading an urgent text/ phone call or message, I’m doomed. Katy Perry is an astronaut and has a rocket, and Bruce Dickinson has a plane. We could always get a gig from Bruce… not sure what Katy could offer 🤔
Wolfy: Oh god I really am screwed there... In today's economy no one has time to go to the beach so I guess it'll never be found... I'm gunna go with the members of Gojira because all of their songs are about the whales so they must spend time at the sea right!? And they would have the money to send rescue... I hope.
Bam Bam: Dear Tommy, if you're ever passing in your boat, please would you pick me up?
Rico: Bruce Dickinson. The lad's got a pilots license. He'd come and rescue us because he loves the band and then we'd tour with Iron Maiden and Dok would nod approvingly. And by that I mean he'd turn into an awkward fanboy and that alone would be worth the weeks of struggles on a desert island.
Nurse Betty: Rin from Death Ingloria if she can't fix it no one can
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?
Psychoberrie: Wolfy Huntsman. He’s the submissive one and if I egg him on to do something stupid he never lets me down, so I just feel like he’d be the easiest to talk into letting us eat him. We probably wouldn’t even need to kill him, I reckon I could convince him to just give up his legs, that way he could still play bass when we get picked up by Bruce Dickinson.
Dok Von Stottenstein: Bam Bam.
Wolfy: Oh god wow... I was gunna say the corny thing and say I'd sacrifice myself because who cares about the bass player, but then I looked in the mirror and thought I'm way too skinny, I wouldn't last long at all! Bam Bam on the other hand... There'd be a good few steaks there... It would be pure muscle thought because he's hench AF but definitely enough for a few days at least....
Bam Bam: I'm guessing the rest of the band chose me? But I would give the diplomatic answer to this. Maybe we could play twister or something and eat the looser.
Rico: I mean, everyone else said Bam Bam, right? Although I fear people would eat me first just to shut me up.
Nurse Betty: Bam Bam
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?
Psychoberrie: Alice Cooper. His theatrical shows inspired me to set up Ward XVI, after watching the Welcome to my Nightmare show on VHS I just said to myself “why aren’t more bands doing this? ” I didn’t want to just completely copy Alice Cooper, our music is vastly different and the albums follow a concept which runs throughout every album where Psychoberrie is being interviewed whilst incarcerated telling tales of her past. But without Alice we’d just be playing bog standard rock songs in the village pub. Though if it wasn’t for Alice we’d never have been touring and we’d never have been shipwrecked either so with that in mind I might just let him drown.
Dok Von Stottenstein: I’d say Jason Becker. He’s the guy who influenced me to have the courage fight against my illness, to use music as a conduit to channel my stresses and to make sure that i had something tangible recorded to show I loved music once I’m gone, but unfortunately there’s not the resources for his life support equipment on the island.. probably Corey glover and Vernon Reid from living colour tbh.. seems a witty and intelligent/ interesting dude and could borrow Corey’s neoprene wetsuits to go surfing in.
Wolfy: Justin Chancellor of Tool. Which could mean the rest of Tool were on the boat aswell!
GOD DAMNIT we're not gunna get another Tool album!
Bam Bam: Nico McBrain is the reason i play the drums and my main insparation, plus he makes cracking ribs! (he'd have to have brought some along, if not, i'd say Alice Cooper)
Rico: Dani Filth. Controversial I know. But being raised catholic, Cradle of Filth was of my first discoveries of the darker side of metal. My parents weren't assholes about it, they were wonderful to me growing up. But having this unexpected rebellious aggressive aspect really changed me. This was ALMOST King Diamond; Mercyful Fate was the first metal band I ever truly fell in love with, but Dani Filth just pips him because I taught myself to shriek listening to him (and it you listen to me doing so, it'll probably be pretty obvious where my inspirations lie)
Nurse Betty: Jeff Wayne (War of the Worlds)
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