DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Ventenner
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 Ventenner 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?
Charlie: The soundtrack to Spawn. It’s the first time I heard guitars and electronic music fused in a way that made sense to me. It was a lightbulb moment that defined the rest of my life as a musician.
Romy: I’d bring ‘Brand New Eyes’ by Paramore. That album shaped my adolescence and gave my teen angst the perfect outlet. I remember getting it for the first time in the preorder premium deluxe edition box. I was already hooked on Paramore, but as I went through each song, I sat there with my mouth wide open, thinking, this is what music is.
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?
Charlie: I get bored easily, but Smell The Glove by Spinal Tap would be a wonderful blank canvas.The gift that keeps on giving. All I need is some chalk and I can spend my days drawing all the album covers I like.
Romy: I’d choose the poster of Fall Out Boy’s most recent album, ‘So Much For Stardust’. The cover is cool and aesthetic and to me, this album represents not only the band’s big comeback but also a reminder of my younger self, the energy, passion, and drive that still live in me today and continue to give me strength. They’re the first emo band I fell in love with and they steered me to find my other favorite bands and main taste in music.
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?
Charlie: Up until a couple of years ago it would have been a nice dark rum. Ideal for island life too. Now I’m sober my main vice is black coffee. However, if I had to pick anything it would be Gatorade. I can’t get enough of it, I’m obsessed. I even read the book about the guy who invented it and have loads of Gatorade merch. To be honest it’s a problem.
Romy: Pink Gin for the win! Lots of ice and mixed with lemonade.
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?
Charlie: The Nine Inch Nails promotional tooth brush set would be a wise choice for being marooned. I suppose I could use one of those Kiss coffins as a canoe.
Romy: In this case, I’d definitely have to salvage the inflatable pool ring from “Parahoy” - Paramore’s cruise festival that I was lucky enough to attend twice. It was a cruise from Miami to Mexico and then Miami to the Caribbean. Four days full of Paramore and other bands, 24/7 buffets, parties, drinks, and a ship packed with emo kids.
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?
Charlie: To be fair there are worse people to be marooned with. None of us have ever had a bad word between us. My wife and cats are my whole world, but Bear Grylls would be a good shout purely for survival tips. And he’s sturdy, so could easily be skinned and turned into a sail or hang glider. Or a poncho if it’s chilly in the evenings.
Romy: My future girlfriend. Girls, hit me up
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?
Charlie: Probably the best show I ever saw was Jonsi, the lead singer of Sigur Ros. He toured his first solo album years back, and it was nothing short of spectacular. I went with Luke (drummer). Totally made me rethink what a live show could be.
Romy: Not to sound like a total fangirl (I am) but it would have to be Paramore’s last UK show at the O2 - the night I got pulled up on stage to sing part of Misery Business.
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?
Charlie: If purely just for the irony I’d hope Sting would find it. Someone nearby in the tropics would be handy I guess. Or at least someone with a plane. Gary Numan is a pilot I think, he’d be a welcome face for sure.
Romy: It would be Charlie. I trust him completely, and if nothing else, I know he’d keep me laughing through it all.
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?
Charlie: I’d like to say I’d sacrifice myself for the greater good but I don’t see it happening. Romy would be a good meal. Ted would be hard to catch, and I don’t think Luke would have much flavour.
Romy: I am fully aware that I would be the one to get sacrificed so I would probably just run and hide.
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?
Charlie: I think Billy Corgan would be right up there for me. And he’s a genuinely fascinating and amusing guy to listen to. I can’t imagine we’d run out of stuff to do. There’s a Smashing Coconuts pun in there somewhere too.
Romy: Hayley Williams of, yet again, Paramore. She’s my favourite vocalist, an absolute powerhouse. She influenced my singing and pushed me to get better: to take lessons, to learn how to belt. Her voice in Paramore helped me through heartbreak and all that messy stuff. She made it cool to be a woman fronting a band. Cool to be real and flawed. To wear what I want. To know that comfort in your own skin is what’s sexy, not how you look. To believe in love despite the pain, to use pain to create, to rock out and turn it into good energy. She remains my favorite performer ever, and I’d definitely save her. She’s also extremely hot.
