Tag Archives: punk

Blakfish | Music Photography

By Dave Piper | November 3, 2009 - 10:34 pm | Dave Piper - Latest Work, Music Events Leave a comment

Slam Dunk Festival | Vans “off the wall” tour, ft. Funeral For A Friend , Fightstar, Blakfish and Farse.

All 3 stages in the new O2 Academy in Birmingham

As you may have noticed 2008 was quite a year for Birmingham’s Blakfish. After playing almost 200 shows in over 10 countries, releasing their mini-album “See You In Another City” on highly respected UK independent label Big Scary Monsters to much critical acclaim, receiving 4th Best British New Comer in Rock Sound readers poll, NME’s ones to watch for 2009 and a 4 K review in Kerrang.

Their debut single, “Jeremy Kyle Is A Marked Man”, garnered a whirlwind amount of press including being featured by four different Radio One presenters, Colin Murray, Huw Stephens, Mike Davies (The Lock Up) & Daniel P Carter.

Building up a steady cult following on the strength of their live shows and hard work ethic there are no signs of them stopping anytime soon.

The start of 2009 has already seen them finish the recording of their debut full-length album, entitled “Champions”, in Seattle USA. Produced by Chris Common at the legendary Redroom studios (Mastodon, Fall Of Troy, Minus The Bear, These Arms Are Snakes, Hey Mercedes), it is set to be released at the end of May on Hassle Records (Cancer Bats, Alexisonfire, Rolo Tomassi, Thursday).

With plans to tour more excessively than 2008 it looks like this year Blakfish are going to be even harder to ignore. – last fm

Bakfish are :

Thomas Rock
Richard Hollywod
Sammy Vile
Robert Fruit

Link to Blakfish.com

Link to the full photo gallery

Tagged Bands, birmingham acadmey, Birmingham’s Blakfish, Blakfish, Champions, Dave Piper - Latest Work, Farse, Fightstar, Funeral For A Friend, Jeremy Kyle Is A Marked Man, Metal, Photographers, punk, Punk Rock, Richard Hollywod, Robert Fruit, Rock n Roll, Sammy Vile, See You In Another City, Slam Dunk Festival, Thomas Rock, Vans "off the wall"

Zebrahead | Music Photography

By Dave Piper | October 26, 2009 - 3:13 pm | Music Events Leave a comment

Zebrahead is an Orange County, CA-based punk-pop-rap band which was formed in 1996 by vocalist/guitarist Justin Mauriello (formerly of once there), guitarist Greg Bergdorf (formerly of 409), bassist Ben Osmundson (formerly of 3-Ply), and drummer Ed Udhus (formerly of 409).

Inspired by acts including Fugazi and The Descendents, the group found themselves uninspired by the local trend towards ska punk and instead began incorporating elements of hip-hop into their sound, eventually recruiting rapper Ali Tabatabaee to join their ranks.

After issuing the EP Yellow on the indie label Doctor Dream Records in May 1998, Zebrahead signed to major label Columbia Records to release their full-length debut, Waste of Mind, which appeared later that same year. The band’s follow up album Playmate of the Year was issued in mid-2000 and the Stupid Fat Americans EP followed the next year as an exclusive release for Japan.

Zebrahead headed over to Europe with Green Day to support the records and played various festival dates as well. Throughout the years, they also shared gigs with bands like Less Than Jake, Kottonmouth Kings, 311, Reel Big Fish, and Goldfinger.

Three years after having released a full length album, MFZB (aka Mother Fucking Zebrahead Bitch) appeared in 2003, and shortly afterwards lead singer/guitarist Mauriello exited the group to pursue other interests (namely start a new band I Hate Kate). His departure distressed fans, as the singing/rapping dynamic between him and Tabatabaee was crucial to the band’s sound. However, Zebrahead was soon back in action with the addition of new vocalist/guitarist Matty Lewis (formerly of Jank 1000) to their lineup. — last FM

Full Gallery – Click here

Tagged Bands, birmingham, Dave Piper - Latest Work, Ed Udhus, Edits, en Osmundson, Greg Bergdorf, Justin Mauriello, Metal, Photographers, Photography, punk, Punk Rock, punk-pop-rap, Waste of Mind, wedding photographer birmingham, Zebrahead

MC Lars | Music Photography

By Dave Piper | October 26, 2009 - 2:33 pm | Music Events Leave a comment

MC Lars were on the Party in your Pants tour with Bowling for Soup. Birminghams O2 academy.

MC Lars, real name Andrew Nielsen, (born October 6, 1982 in Berkeley, California) is an American rapper. He is the self-proclaimed originator of “post-punk laptop rap”. He has recorded for Truck Records in the UK and his Laptop EP is licensed to Sidecho Records in the USA. He was formerly known as MC Lars Horris but changed his pseudonym to MC Lars in 2004 for the sake of simplicity.

Tagged Bands, birmingham, birmingham acadmey, Dave Piper - Latest Work, Edits, Photographers, punk, Punk Rock, wedding photos

Bowling for Soup | Music Photography

By Dave Piper | October 26, 2009 - 2:18 pm | Music Events Leave a comment

Party in your Pants Tour, Birminghams O2 Academy,

Originally from Wichita Falls, Texas they formed in 1994 from the ruins of an old metal band. Quoting Jaret Reddick, the lead singer, “we wanted to make happy music”. They’re known for their often humorous lyrics, upbeat guitar riffs, and Jaret’s voice.

They are best known for their singles “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” in 2002 on Drunk Enough to Dance which was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award for “Best Pop Performance by a Group or Duo” and “1985” (originally written by Mitch Allan of SR-71) in 2004 on A Hangover You Don’t Deserve. The band’s name is derived from comedian Steve Martin’s “Bowling for Sh*t” routine from his 1978 comedy album, Wild and Crazy Guy, itself a reference to Bowling for Dollars. Their single ‘1985’ can be found on the UK and the Norwegian editions of Singstar Rocks for the PS2.

They have also became hits on Radio Disney with edits of “1985”, “Punk Rock 101”, “High School Never Ends”, and the inclusion of their version of “I Melt With You” in the Disney movie “Sky High”. They have also written and recorded “Today Is Gonna Be A Great Day” as the theme song for Disney’s “Phineas and Ferb” – Last FM

Band Lineup:
Jaret Reddick – Lead Vocals/guitar
Chris Burney – Guitar/vocals
Eric Chandler – Bass/vocals

Full Gallery – Click Here.

Tagged 1985, Bands, bfs, birmingham, birmingham acadmey, bowling for soup, Chris Burney, Dave Piper - Latest Work, drunk enough to dance, Eric Chandler, girl all the bad guys want, Jaret Reddick, Metal, party in your pants tour, Photographers, punk, Punk Rock, Punk Rock 101

Enter Shikari | Music Photography

By Dave Piper | October 15, 2009 - 4:05 pm | Music Events Leave a comment

Birminghams Brand new 02 Academy play host to Enter Shikari, Devil wears prada supporting.

Enter Shikari are a four-piece post-hardcore band from St Albans, Hertfordshire, England formed in 2003. Inspired by hardcore (in both punk-rock and dance genres), metal and trance.

Despite being offered several major label record deals, their debut album Take To The Skies was released on their own label – Ambush Reality – in March 2007, reaching the dizzy heights of #4 in the UK’s official Album Charts and going on to sell over 100.000 copies in the UK (the album was released in Europe through PIAS, in North America on Ambush Reality / Tiny Evil, and in Japan on Hostess).

In March 2008, after spending 12 months on the road across the globe, Enter Shikari set up camp in their rehearsal room (a large shed in Chris Batten’s back garden which they christened “The ‘Low”) to begin writing tracks for their second album such as Antwerpen which was released as a free digital-download from the band’s website.

In July they played to their largest live audience at the UK date of Linkin Park’s ‘Project Revolution’ travelling festival alongside JayZ, Pendulum and N*E*R*D, as well as playing several shows with Linkin Park in mainland Europe.

Enter Shikari followed a UK / Ireland tour in October 2008 with the release of a one-off single ‘We Can Breathe In Space, They Just Don’t Want Us To Escape’ (a finished version of a track the band demoed in 2005 but never got around to ever finishing properly until the summer 2008). — last fm.

Link to the bands website

Tagged 02 academy, Ambush Reality, Antwerpen, Bands, birmingham, birmingham acadmey, dance genres, Dave Piper - Latest Work, Enter Shikari, Hertfordshire, Metal, music, Photographers, Photography, post-hardcore, Project Revolution’, punk, Punk Rock, St Albans, Take To The Skies, They Just Don’t Want Us To Escape, We Can Breathe In Space

Skindred | Music Photography

By Dave Piper | October 12, 2009 - 1:20 pm | Music Events 3 Comments

Skindred is a four-piece “ragga metal” band from Newport, Wales. Their genre is an innovative mix of metal, punk, and reggae. The band was formed in 1998 following the disbandment of vocalist Benji Webbe’s previous band, Dub War. Skindred blended reggae and dancehall with searing thrash and punk influences for a striking take on heavy metal hybridism. The group emerged from Wales in 1998, after the dissolution of vocalist Benji Webbe’s previous band, Dub War. Rehearsals for a new project featuring other Dub War veterans didn’t work out, but soon Webbe had hooked up with bassist Daniel Pugsley, guitarist Mikey Dee, and drummer Dirty Arya, and Skindred was officially born. The debut LP, Babylon, first appeared in 2002 and 2003, with sporadic success in parts of Europe and the U.S. metal underground. But it wasn’t until a year or so later and Lava’s involvement that the album really took off. Skindred re-released Babylon in August 2004. Lava’s version featured different cover art, and included newly recorded material in addition to the original, Howard Benson-helmed songs. Skindred then headed out on a series of tours with acts like Sevendust, Nonpoint, and Papa Roach, and never looked back. - Last FM.

Tonight’s Venue is the Wulfrun Hall in Wolvohampton. Super excited to be seeing them tonight, to be able to photograph them is amazing. I have been a long time fan of Skindred since first them way back in 2002. Thank you to Luke for sorting stuff out once again! Thank to Skindred for showing the world how to ROCK !!

(Full Gallery)