PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Fresh from their recent set at Download, States of Panic are due to hit another festival, this time a little further north. But before they play Les Fest this coming weekend, I spoke to Hex (bass) about why they’re looking forward to playing their set.
There are only a couple of weeks now until Les Fest in Scotland, how excited are you about playing there?
We can’t wait man! Scotland has been missing a good metal festival and Les Fest is exactly what is needed to breathe a bit of life back into the metal scene up here!
What is it that you’re most looking forward to?
The festival as whole really… I had never been to a festival at all until we played Download last weekend and I loved it! The upside of Les Fest is that it’s close to home so there will be no 7 hour trips with a soul destroying hangover afterwards.
This is the second year of Les Fest and the first time playing there, do you know what to expect?
We expect utter chaos, the very best kind! You put a whole load of Scottish people in a field with metal music and alcohol there is no other outcome!
Why did you want to play Les Fest? What feedback have you heard from last year’s Les Fest?
When we were all growing up we would have killed for a festival like this so close to home and now we have one we are honored to be a part of it! We have heard a lot of good things about the festival which as are all evidently true by how the ticket sales are going, just merely the fact that it has sold out so quickly shows that it has the power to expand to meet and even exceed some of the bigger UK festivals!
Can you explain how your band began?
Johnny put a band together with Rusty in highschool and they’ve been playing together for years. The lineup changed quite a bit over time until the present lineup formed… You know, it’s a tough job finding the right guys who share your passion but eventually people with the right drive and attitude end up together – and so you have this monster that we like to call STATES OF PANIC.
What’s been one of the biggest highlights so far?
I think I can safely say for myself and the rest of the band it has been winning the Marshall Ultimate Band competition and walking away with a Marshall endorsement, a feature in Kerrang! and getting the play Download Festival last week. It is something we will never forget!
For those going to Les Fest who may not have seen you play before, could you describe your music?
Anthemic! Our music defintely crosses genres … We merge oldskool metal with new skool, electronic synths, hooky vocals and even some savage screams. Johnnys lyrics are quite anti-establishment, and the songs highlight the general feeling in the world at the moment… you know corrupt governments, greedy bankers and seedy politicians, the list goes on. The world is a mess, everyone can relate to this and our music is there to drive that point home to those with their head in the sand!
If you could choose one States of Panic song to encourage everyone to come and see your set, what would it be?
Our new single One Of Us that we released through Kerrang last wednesday. It is a perfect example of what to expect if you come to see one of our shows!
Do you have anything special planned for your set?
Well we watched Ramstein live on Sunday night and were blown away by the pyro heavy show they put on but I can’t seem to find a flame throwing gas mask on amazon….
How are you traveling up to the festival? Do you have any eventful road trip stories when you’ve travelled to festivals?
My suggestion that we should get helicoptered in seemed to get shot down pretty quickly but I’m still holding out hope that I can sway the other guys! Well our first festival as a band was Download last week, it wasn’t exactly an eventful road trip! It mostly consisted of us underestimating how much space all of our stuff would take up and Dagan having to sit with a suitcase on his knee for the entirety of the journey! We do most of our gigging down in England so there has been so many road trips over the last year and a half! The return trips tend to be the more eventful after we have tried to fit an entire evenings drinking between coming off stage and leaving, I’m sure everyone has already seen the video of me having a not so tactical spew at the side of the motorway….
Is there anything you would like to say to those who are going to Les Fest?
Leave your troubles, worries and inhibitions at home and if you can’t then drink till you forget your own name!
Website:
You can listen to States of Panic’s new single One of Us via this link: http://www.kerrang.com/blog/2013/06/introducing_states_of_panic.html
