Cover Story
Overview: Why the Cover Story? We corner the outcasts and upstarts steering culture’s next turn. These aren’t polished PR pieces – just blunt exchanges with the minds warping music and media into new forms. Whether hidden in basement studios or running empires from glass towers, we document the people forcing everyone else to pay attention.
2024 // Issues #44-
Body Count
#071 // Nov 18
“We’re still not accepted in a lot of things. A lot of people still don’t even know about this band.”
Soul Asylum
#070 // Nov 11
“There’s a big part of the punk rock thing that is being an underdog…I identify with that.”
Dave Guy
#069 // Nov 04
“I knew it was a special thing we were seeing. New York was my home. It was just an incredible time.”
Fliptrix
#068 // Oct 28
“I’ve ticked off so many milestones that I am extremely proud of what I have achieved…”
Devin Townsend
#067 // Oct 21
“If I was given a budget of five million pounds, I would be a menace!”
Creed Bratton
#066 // Oct 14
“You choose to be happy or to be sad. I choose the former, it’s a no-brainer for me…”
FEVER 333
#065 // Oct 07
“Love can be radical. Love within a hateful place is radical. That’s what I hope for next year…”
The Black Dahlia Murder
#064 // Sep 30
“As an encyclopedia of death metal, Trevor would love the new record…”
Terrorvision
#063 // Sep 23
“We are not robots, we are still just four Herberts from Bradford.”
Jager Henry
#062 // Sep 16
“I wouldn’t say I changed, more that I was taking the path I was supposed to take.”
Sofar Sounds x Salt Lick Incubator
#061 // Sep 09
“If you’re an independent artist… the machine does not notice you.”
Destroy Boys
#060 // Sep 02
“Imagine if somebody wrote about Knocked Loose being a crazy male-fronted hardcore band”
LOLO
#059 // Jul 01
“I’m so over-emotional and over-sensitive. I can be the most confident person one day and the most insecure person the next.”
Cavalera
#058 // Jun 24
“To me, that is purity that only happens in bands that have brothers. It’s crazy… It’s a connection.”
Frank Turner
#057 // Jun 17
“They all told me not to do this, including my music teacher, who told me to do something else with my life.”
Collective Soul
#056 // Jun 10
“In an era where everybody in the industry is telling us not to do a double record, we were tired of hearing that.”
High on Fire
#055 // Jun 03
“I definitely think that pent up frustration comes through in some of the aggression on the album.”
Formz
#054 // May 06
“I was always the confident kid in school, with a passion for entertaining and being the centre of attention.”
Good Kid
#053 // Mar 25
“We’re a very square band. We just like playing video games or board games with each other.”
While She Sleeps
#052 // Mar 18
“We never wanted to be a band that finds our sound and just sits with that. We’ve always wanted to push the boundaries.”
Comeback Kid
#051 // Mar 11
“I just loved the hardcore message, and I loved that it was about community and looking out for other people.”
Bruce Dickinson
#050 // Mar 04
“What if you had the four bikers of the apocalypse? What if they were the four Eddie Bikers of the apocalypse?”
Marc Whitmore
#049 // Feb 12
“If someone wants to record in a big creepy church, we should really probably go record in a big creepy church.”
Neck Deep
#048 // Feb 05
“As soon as we got into the studio back home, we knew this is what it’s supposed to be like…”
DAX
#047 // Jan 29
“I wanted to know how I reacted to anger… and I found out anger was a motivator.”
Albert Bouchard
#046 // Jan 22
“I want to see where it goes… expand ‘Imaginos’ beyond just the music.”
Helmet
#045 // Jan 15
“I write music I like because Taylor Swift fans will never ever respond to what we do.”
Foghat
#044 // Jan 08
“We always say, if you can’t have fun in a rock and roll band, you might as well just give up.”
2023 // Issues #14-43
Swavy
#043 // Dec 18
“This is just the beginning of what I do. Everyone has had a taster now and I’ve many years of stories still to tell…“
Godsmack
#042 // Dec 11
“We’re done making records, we’re done being thrashed in the machine and having to make a product and go and sell it…”
Fur Trade
#041 // Dec 04
“It blew my mind how effective song writing can be if the music and everything works together.”
Staind
#040 // Nov 20
“It’s just nice to be able to go up and perform and play the songs and to connect with the fans…”
3TEETH
#039 // Nov 06
“This album is almost entirely about death and transformation, which can be a little bleak, but there’s a lot of positivity in there.”
Candlebox
#038 // Oct 30
“It’s been heartbreaking and it’s been exciting, and it’s been damaging. Ultimately, it has been everything that I’ve wanted it to be and more…”
Beartooth
#037 // Oct 23
“It was just like hitting a very low point and living there for a while. Not quite being at rock bottom, but it was low and depressing…”
Danko Jones
#036 // Oct 16
“‘Electric Sounds’ represents us leaner, edgier and angrier and more rockin’ than ever before….”
Skindred
#03 // Oct 09
“‘Smile’ is passionate, loving and very real. It’s 100% organic music for a real world with real pain and real problems…”
Louise Post
#034 // Oct 02
“It’s the greatest feeling ever to know that people are caring about what you’ve just spilled your blood and guts into.”
Harm’s Way
#033 // Sep 25
“There’s always a way out, right? And sometimes the best medicine for that is writing about it or talking about it.”
Voyager
#032 // Sep 04
“The dream will be to make it sustainable for all of us . . . so we can keep it up for another 25 years!”
Sevendust
#031 // Aug 28
“We’re no different to anyone else in this life. We all walk through this crazy world together, trying to make it.”
Gin Blossoms
#030 // Aug 14
“I’m at a point now where I just want to share the perspective of what really fucking happened.”
Wolfgang Van Halen
#029 // Aug 07
“This record allowed me to be more confident. It almost feels like an evolution.”
Fat Mike
#028 // Jun 26
“I can be whoever I want to be. And good people will treat me well. Bad people are always gonna treat me bad.”
Daniel Ash
#027 // Jun 12
“Human creativity is out of the equation at a certain point because AI has taken over, so then we are obsolete, and all we would be is an audience.”
Earth Crisis
#026 // Jun 05
“People really take the bait when it comes to the divide and conquer propaganda.”
Amon Tobin
#025 // May 29
“You’ve got to put some legwork in if you care about what you have in your life.”
Gipsy Kings
#024 // May 22
“It’s very simple: Stay focused. Stay humble. Stay passionate.”
Loud As Giants
#023 // May 15
“It has taken a long time to release this project but, when we hit this sound, we both knew this was it.”
OFF!
#022 // May 08
“The kids have always been in revolt. And that’s just the way that it is.”
Selador Recordings
#021 // May 01
“It’s been a long ride, with many ups and downs along the way, but we wouldn’t change any of it!”
Verdena
#020 // Apr 17
“I grew up listening to non-Italian singing bands . . . The music should define itself!”
Filter
#019 // Apr 10
“We are going to choose our own destiny and do whatever we want. Filter is a creative outlet like no other.”
Enter Shikari
#018 // Apr 03
“I haven’t felt this full of energy for a long time. We feel like this is the rebirth of the band.”
X-Raided
#017 // Mar 27
“I try to convey to people that you’re going to struggle being alive on Earth.”
Skynd
#016 // Mar 20
“Everyone has that side to them, the dark side is just fascinating to people….”
Monte Conner
#015 // Mar 13
“It Never Dawned on Me that, 30 Years Later, People Would Still Be Talking About These Albums…”
Dave Rowntree
#014 // Feb 13
“If I can’t write about myself on my solo record, when can I?”
2022 // Issues #1-13
Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts
#013 // Dec 19
“Every day I wake up, and I don’t feel like I belong on this planet”
Melvins
#012 // Dec 5
“We’ve burned every bridge and it’s either this or homelessness, so it’s this.”
Bedouin Soundclash
#011 // Nov 14
“When you get to a certain age, some kind of hurricane happens in your life: and that’s where you’ll meet yourself”
Clutch
#010 // Nov 07
“The extra time really allowed us to check all the boxes on what we wanted to do on the new record.”
Damnation Festival
#009 // Oct 31
“We’re looking at an almost sold-out arena and wondering how we top this line-up next year?”
The Ramus
#008 // Oct 24
“You really have to go low and almost die to come back again and to be born again.”
Everclear
#007 // Oct 17
“I just wanted to play rock ‘n’ roll, and I always wanted to do it on my terms and make a living from it”
Nik Nocturnal
#006 // Sep 26
“I was kicked off the Honours programme but didn’t care, I just wanted to cover songs”
Arch Enemy
#005 // Sep 12
“People think we’re this big machine but, actually, it’s a very small family, and we’re very hands on with it.”
Steve Vai
#004 // Aug 30
“You can make a particular statement by the dynamic of the whole record.”
Turian
#003 // Aug 22
“The most marginalized people have the most important things to scream about.”
Seether
#002 // Aug 08
“Not everyone’s life is always amazing and awesome. There are shit days, too.”
GWAR
#001 // Aug 01
“Your common gorilla is a much more graceful and enlightened creature than your average human.”
