Nikodem Hodur takes on Nandi & challenges her back.
There’s a new kid on the block and Nandi Bushell has a challenger. He goes by the name of Nikodem Hodur. Niko is a big fan of Nandi’s and today he has laid down the challenge. He crushes the Green Day song Basket Case and challenges Nandi to cover one of his YouTube drum covers.
Watch the video below.
Niko has a very similar back story to Nandi, his farther played in bands. He is only 10 years old and has already become a better drummer than his farther.
His dad started teaching him when he was 7 but soon found he needed a real drum tutor to take him to the next level.
Niko says “I have my lessons with Paul Mallyon who is one of the best tutors in the UK”
“He asked me on the first lesson if I would like to work on the Rockschool grades, read notes and to play to the music tracks, which I liked very much.”
“Grade 1 gave me some problems because everything was new to me, notes, playing to music sub-frames, and at the right place. Grade 2 I managed to finish in three weeks. I often watch YouTube and try to imitate my idols: Travis Orbin (Darkest Hour) and Matt Greiner (August Burns Red).
In my opinion, they are the best drummers in the world. One time I told my parents that I would like to have a YouTube channel like Travis so I could show my friends how I play and that’s where I came across Nandi.”
Paul Mallyon had this to say about Niko “Niko is a wonderful little drummer. It is rare that someone so young has a real passion for the finer details and techniques of drum kit playing and Niko has this in abundance! He loves his double bass drum playing but has been a star pupil when we have been working through the Moeller hand exercises. Keep at it Niko!”
Watch Niko play The Offspring – The kids Aren’t Alright below.
One thing is for sure with these two at the helm the future of Rock is in good hands.
Lightning to the Nations 2020 I cannot remember exactly when, but I saw Diamond Head live at the Southampton Gaumont ( some time in the early 80s) and I have been a fan since. They were always a bit overlooked at the time, but produced some great work.
I especially like Borrowed Time and ( yes I know I shouldn’t say it! ) Canterbury but Lightning to the Nations is also one of their stand out albums.
So now we have the 2020 version- A full 40 years on from the original and supplemented by four covers( Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin , Judas Priest and Metallica) as a kind of homage to what was going on at the time of writing the original album.
Lightning to the Nations has been cited by none other than Lars Ulrich as the catalyst for Metallica and has also been heralded as one of the pioneering works in what became known as the Mew Wave of British Heavy Metal.
The album has been rerecorded and the sound is AMAZING. Some of the riffs and vocals here are of the highest order and it is easy to see why the original album was the start of something big- for rock music in general if not, unfortunately for the band itself.
Commercial success was achieved to an extent but possibly not as much as they deserved.
For fans of the band, this is a trip down memory lane to listen to a great set of songs. For those that missed out the first time, this is well worth a listen- Am I Evil is still, in my humble opinion, one of the best metal songs ever written.
I have to say I miss Sean Harris. He was the vocalist that I know and I liked his voice a lot. Take nothing away from Rasmus Bom Anderson who has a fantastic voice and fits brilliantly with the rest of the band.
Singers move on for lots of reasons and we would have lost Queen, AC/DC and Deep purple years ago( to name but a few )if this didn’t happen.
The different vocalist is not reason to ignore the album or to denigrate it but it is- for me – different and new. I have rediscovered the band as a result of this rerelease and for that I am very grateful.
The album deserves to be thought of as a solid piece of work – the rough edges have now been removed and it is a reminder of where some aspects of rock music today took a lot of its influence from.
Go listen! Do not forget Borrowed Time and Canterbury as well ( although be prepared for the latter to be a bit of a medieval surprise!)
Lightning to the Nations 2020 – A Review by James Griffiths
Epiphany: Life & Matt Peach An Interview & Album Teaser with A UK Artist On The Rise.
Matt Peach An Interview by Roctavia.
I recently got the chance to chat with rising UK artist Matt Peach. Peach has an impressive repertoire of helping those in need, standing up & speaking out for struggling indie music venues (causes after my own heart as well I’ll admit), and creating deeply thoughtful tracks for his soon to be released album Epiphany. In this interview we were honored with a deep dive into captivating storytelling, trials of overcoming school bullies, and wisdoms in love & life gained, all through the eyes of the budding British artist himself.
Roctavia: Hey Matt, I just wanted thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about your new album Epiphany! After listening, I have to ask, how has nostalgia played a part in your writing process?
Matt Peach: Hey Roctavia, yes musically speaking, I had no intention of breaking new musical ground here. Everyone has a musical home, a place they feel most comfortable and I realised it’s been far too long since I last visited. There’s no reinventing the wheel here. It’s rock n’ roll and I’ve realised it doesn’t need fixing; it was never broken. My previous albums got experimental at times, I love them, but I’ve always wanted to make an album that reminds me of my childhood… that was really important here, because this really is an album about coming of age, the surrender of one era in your life and the start of the next chapter. Sonically you could say the sound looks backwards, whilst most of the lyrics look forwards, it’s an album where the protagonist is poised on the threshold of adventure.
Roctavia: I could sense that it was pretty multifaceted. So what were your inspirations for this album’s sound collectively?
Matt Peach: It was really natural. Often I’ll create a mood board of songs that I really like that I wanna borrow aspects from in terms of production and tone. But this time around almost everything was already in my head, because it’s the sounds that I’ve always loved. If I had to put it into a list:
The Alarm, Green Day, Frank Turner, The Clash, U2, The Darkness. There was one exception, and you can probably spot the elephant in the room when you hear the album. “Crush” was inspired by a Prince documentary I watched, and the moment the credits rolled, I thought “Wow I gotta write a tune in the style of Prince, just as an exercise”. Then I showed it to some people and they loved it and very quickly we knew it had to be on the album.
Roctavia: The album seems pretty deep, was it all written from a personal perspective?
Matt Peach: Yep, even the cheeky ones haha. I decided very early on that I wanted it to feel slightly like a concept record, in terms of the action rising and falling. And to that end I knew that it had to be really honest and open, almost like the audience is watching a tv drama where you see all the characters emotions. I was very fortunate to discover Frank Turner just as I started working on this album and the first thing that hit me about his song writing was how much I connected with every line in his songs, because he’s just so honest. “Surrender” is a completely metaphorical song, it’s based around the “moment of surrender”, which is when an addict realises they’ve got a problem and finally admits they need help. I was really struck by this idea, especially being a rather proud, “I don’t need any help”,
kinda fella. And then there’s “Guy Bueno” which is a true story about a winter night I got spiked and nearly froze to death on a car park floor only to be thrown in someone’s car and taken home. I was so inebriated at the time that I had no idea who had saved me, I could only remember their voice. Months later at a gig I heard this reggae band, and in between songs when the singer was speaking, his voice really pricked my interest – I recognised it. I got speaking to him after the show, and it materialised that he’d saved a half frozen drunkard in a car park a year before. Everything lined up perfectly, location, time, all the events. I couldn’t believe it! I knew it had to become a song.
Roctavia: Oh wow! That is an incredible story! Proof positive that people always come into your life for a reason I guess. Really glad that everything turned out ok. Well, back on to the interview after that! Haha what an incredible story. So, now I have to know, what is your most cherished song on the album & why?
Matt Peach: That’s a real hard one. So hard to choose. “Epiphany” (the song) is the heart of the record but I think if I had to choose, it would be either “Dreaming” or “My Sweetest Friend”, I feel like those are two of the simplest and yet best song writing I’ve ever done. “Dreaming” was inspired by the passing of my Grandmother, and the perfect love that my Grandfather had for her. I thought – I want a love like that. Whereas, “My Sweetest Friend” is a song that hit me at 4 in the morning and made me cry my eyes out with joy when I recorded the first demo. It’s about a real person and real events, but was actually inspired by the line, “what have I become, my sweetest friend,” in Johnny Cash’s “Hurt”. I knew that at the end of this record I wanted the protagonist to have come of age, they’ve changed a lot, they have a new attitude, a new outlook, new goals and morals, they return home, and though they’ve changed, the loyalty to those they love does not.
Roctavia: I had wondered that being a huge Johnny Cash fan myself! What a great story and concept for that song! So how did you get turned on to music in the first place & what made you choose to play the guitar?
Matt Peach: Seeing The Alarm live when I was about 10 years old and getting dragged into a mosh pit by a stranger. I remember watching the guitarist and thinking that’s what I want to do! It made school so much easier, if you’re useless at sports then what else can you do to be cool? Get yourself in a band. It was a lifeboat in a sea of shallow kids and bullies. I had far less altercations at school after that, even the gangster lads that listened to hip-hop and the like had a form of honourable respect for the boys in the rock bands. And then I remember TheDarkness appearing, before then, I kinda thought rock had to be super serious, straight faced. They injected the fun – and the killer guitar parts and I was completely hooked.
Roctavia: I hear that you are mates with Adam Slack of The Struts. How did the two of you end up meeting?
Matt Peach: I don’t think we even know. At one point we thought we went to the same school, then worked out we can’t have. I believe we first properly met when a fledgling version of The Struts and my old punk band did a gig together in Derby at the vic. It was very last minute, mid week, and hardly anyone turned up, haha. I lent Adz a guitar as his got busted halfway through their set, That’s the first time I really remember meeting properly. There’s many different types of guitar player, you’ve got the shredders, the wizards, the 4 chord tricksters, but he and I are made in the same mould. There’s a lotta similar influences with the brit pop and punk stuff, makes him very easy to jam with.
Roctavia: I know that you obviously weren’t able to have the Green Days gig this year, but what has been your favourite part of those experiences?
Matt Peach: My opening support slot! Haha joking, sort of…
At last year’s, it was absolutely rammed and during my support slot with my solo band we could hear the audience singing my own songs back at me louder than the on-stage monitoring. That was an amazing moment, and the first time I’ve experienced it! But in terms of those nights, the best thing is it’s fun – unparalleled.
You’re playing with the best guys, both on and off stage. You’re all in love with the music you’re playing. When we were 12, we all wanted to be in Green Day, and for one night a year we are, sorta. And then there’s the community side of it, everyone comes out to play. It’s the best Christmas party imaginable, you get to see everyone and they’re all having a good time, I suppose really that’s truly the best bit.
Roctavia: Hopefully we’ll all be able to get back into it next year then! You’re a pretty talented musician. I hear that you’ve gotten to play on stage with TheDarkness. Tell us about that experience!
Matt Peach: Thanks, I try my best! That was all a bit of a surprise. Last year I did a stem cell donation for a leukaemia patient and as a “well done”, my family bought me a meet and greet ticket. I’d never been on one these before so just that in itself was amazing. Then it was revealed that one person at the meet and greet would get the chance to play with the band. I never imagined it could be me. So when Justin Hawkins read my name out, I think I just stood there like, “Fuck me, no way!” Climbing onto that stage was the most terrifying moment of my entire life. Then he passed me his white Les Paul Custom, and I could not believe it! Some of my favourite songs ever had been recorded on this guitar. They asked what tune I wanted to do so we kicked into “Love Is Only A Feeling” and my playing got the nod of approval from the band, I relaxed then.
When we finished Justin said to the guitar tech that he couldn’t hear my guitar solo in his monitoring, so we got to do it again! I’ll never forget that. One of the best moments of my life.
Roctavia: That’s a pretty wonderful thing that you’ve done & I say what a treat that was well deserved. If you could have one wish granted in respect for your new album Epiphany, what would it be?
Matt Peach: Have Taylor Swift cover it, in its entirety. We can work out the royalties over dinner.
Roctavia: Haha uh-oh T-Swift, looks like you’ve got another upcoming album option to choose from! So I usually like to go out of interviews on a sort of fun, off the cuff note so I have one last question, if you could be any animal, what would you be & why?
Matt Peach: Wow that’s a hard one. Probably Taylor Swift’s cat so I could persuade her to cover my album. But just in case her cat isn’t fully fluent in English, probably Ted [the teddy bear] from Ted. He’s got all of Chucky’s magic superpowers, but he’s a considerably more likeable guy.
Roctavia: Hahaha! You’re an absolute gem Matt. Thank you so much for taking the time out to interview with us! We look forward to the album release & hopefully seeing you play it live!
You can check out Matt Peach’s new track “Cut Our Teeth,” an ode to imperilled grassroots music venues everywhere, which also just made BBC Radio Derby’sTrack of the Week here:
American Dreamin’ an interview with Jack Edwards of Piston
On the Radar Jack Edwards of Piston: An Insightful Chat with A Guitar Guru
Jack Edwards of Piston
I recently had the honor of interviewing Jack Edwards of up and coming U.K. rock sensation Piston. For being a fresh new rock formation, this bunch has some pretty eye catching acknowledgments in the books already. Piston’s ‘Rainmaker’ was ‘A’ listed on Planet Rock (UK’s #1 rock station). ‘Rainmaker’ was exclusively premiered online by Classic Rock Magazine and Louder Sound. Aside from being featured in Total Guitar’s ‘Ones To Watch,’ Music Radar nominated Jack Edwards and Luke Allatt of Piston for ‘Best New Guitarist’ 2019. The duo were even recently voted #3 in Music Radar’s ‘Best New Guitarists In The World Right Now’.
My main goal was to delve into Edwards’ musical roots & where he aspires to be with the band in the near future (once the world opens back up that is) as a possible introduction to U.S. audiences. This band truly seems as though they would be up for the challenge of going global with their already musically well rounded, rich & deeply Rock ‘N’ Roll tracks. This interviewer’s goal was obviously to gain more insight into the foundation & expectations of it all, but actually ended up uncovering quite a down-to-earth rocker in Piston guitarist Jack Edwards.
Roctavia: I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for answering a few questions with me Jack, I really appreciate your time. Let’s start things off with diving into where it all began for you. What inspired you to turn towards music, & what moved you to pick up your first guitar?
Jack Edwards: I have grown up in a house surrounded by rock music. My parents are huge fans of rock so we would always have that blasting throughout. My dad would often work on his Harley Davidson blasting Mötley Crüe records, I remember that! There was an old guitar lying around my grandparents house and I picked it up and started making noise, then it all picked up from there!
Roctavia: Wow. That sounds like a pretty great house to grow up in!
Roctavia: Do you recall your first gig? Can you tell us what it was like?
Jack Edwards: I remember my first gig really well. I was in high school and it was the first time I had played in front of an audience properly. I had been so nervous that I couldn’t eat for two days! Anyway, I remember the feeling of adrenaline like no other, and how well we went down. I mean, we were just kids playing in a school hall to lunch packers but I definitely felt like a rockstar (for three minutes).
Roctavia: If you had one message for all of the young musicians out there, what would you say to them?
Jack Edwards: Stick with it, keep going and stay true to yourself.
Roctavia: On that note, what has been your biggest gig so far?
Jack Edwards: Definitely when we were on tour with The Cult. We played Manchester Apollo which held 3500 people that night. It was a wild experience being on that stage that many legends have graced.
Roctavia: Wow! That sounds like a pretty electrifying experience.
Roctavia: So I’m curious as to what the writing process looks like for Piston & are there any current projects in the works?
Jack Edwards: We have just set up our own studio, which we now use to write all of our tracks. We send the tracks to Rob, our singer and he lays his vocals down and then we perform them together. I mean, these are demos and we have nearly wrote album 2.
Roctavia: Your song “Rainmaker” packs quite the punch! Where did you draw the inspiration for it musically?
Jack Edwards: Oh thanks! Well I think Luke originally had the riff. It come from an AC/DC style thing he had going on, and we refined it from there! AC/DC meets Black Sabbath!
Roctavia: That’s awesome! It really does make an impact on the first listen!
Roctavia: Where do you see Piston headed 5 years from now?
Jack Edwards: Well, that’s hard to answer giving the current pandemic. Will we be playing shows? Who knows! We hope to! We plan on making albums up until we can’t do it anymore. 2019 was a hell of a year from us, so we will pick it up from there and keep going!
Roctavia: So how would you feel about touring the US? What would you look forward to most about crossing the pond?
Jack Edwards: We would LOVE to tour the US. I want to play in the obvious places in LA, but I think with us going to America it could get messy… one of us will probably die for sure! Ha!
Roctavia: Haha! Yeah, we do know how to have a lot of fun over here…you gotta be careful haha.
Roctavia: If you could collaborate with any one of your musical heroes, who would you choose & why?
Jack Edwards: That’s a tough question. I’d love to write a track with Axl Rose, personally. I have always loved his vocals and his lyrics.
Roctavia: I always love to end interviews on a fun or off the cuff question, so if you could choose one song to play every time you walked into a room for the rest of your life, what song would you choose and why?
Jack Edwards: “Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe because it just makes me want to take my clothes off and go crazy!
Roctavia: Hahaha! Great answer! Thank you so much for taking the time out to interview with us today! We look forward to hearing all of the new music in the works from Piston.
Piston are: Rob Angelico (Vocals) Jack Edwards (Guitar) Luke Allatt (Guitar) Brad Newlands (Drums) Stuart Egan (Bass)
