Imperial Wax

The first track you played on repeat?
Pete: The Beatles - 'She Loves You'. My dad gave me a tape recorder to play with when I was just a toddler. I played this song over and over till the tape broke, I managed to fix it multiple times using sellotape so I could play it again and again...
Keiron: Jimi Hendrix - 'Manic Depression'. I remember the first time I heard this song and it just transported me into a different dimension mentally. I would put my headphones on and become totally immersed in my own world. I love how Mitch Mitchell made a waltz sound so heavy.
Sam: I can’t remember my first one so I’ll tell you one that I’ve been hammering recently. 'Fingertips' - Brian Jones Town Massacre. 

A song that defines the teenage you?
Pete: Violent Femmes - 'Add it Up'. Me and my friends played the first Violent Femmes LP so much that it's now part of our DNA.
Keiron: Black Sabbath - 'Sweet Leaf' for obvious reasons. Learning to expand the mind! I don’t think there’s a better way to start a song... cough cough cough bang.
Sam: System of a down - 'DDevil'. 

One record you would keep forever?
Pete: Vic Chestnutt - 'Little'. I could never get bored of this LP. The gritty ugliness/beauty of his lyrics, plus his way of adding another seven syllables to any given word makes him a unique songwriter.
Keiron: Melvins - 'A Senile Animal'. A great record that I’d be lost without. I can play this record any time and it never gets old. If I have to pick just one track from this album, it’d have to be 'A History Of Bad Men' pure filth. 
Sam: 'Coast To Coast' from a 'Basement on a Hill' by Elliot Smith.

A song lyric that has inspired you?
Pete: "When love is gone, there's always justice. And when justice is gone, there's always force. And when force is gone, theres always Mom. Hi Mom!"
'O Superman' - Laurie Anderson. 
Keiron: "If you can latch on to it, it’s mine, it’s mine. If you can eat or screw it, it’s mine, it’s mine"
'Mine' by Cows. It’s just one of those songs that inspires me to take the most out of the day instead of sitting around waiting for things to happen.
Sam: Not so much a particular line but I Love Leonard Cohen, his lyrics and Poetry have always inspired me. I remember when I first heard 'Avalanche' it really opened my eyes to seeing lyrics as poetry rather than just something to shout over a guitar.

A song you wished you had written?
Pete: Herman Dune - 'My Friends Kill My Folks'. This song applies to many people in whose company I've shared nights and all kinds of mornings.
Keiron: Captain Beefheart - 'Low Yo Yo Stuff'. Absolutely love this song. It’s just a great song. Amazing vocal and totally inspiring push and pull drumming.
Sam: More or less every song I like, but I’ve been listening to the new Iceage album and 'Catch It' is an amazing track. 

Best song to turn up loud?
Pete: 'Handsome and Gretal' - Babes in Toyland. It's loud at any volume.
Keiron: 'Bomber' - Motörhead. I’ve been lucky enough to see Motörhead live on numerous occasions and the louder they play, the better it is. They were that loud my nostrils began uncontrollably moving with the bass drum!
Sam: Bad Breeding - 'Age of Nothing'.

A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
Pete: N-trance - 'Set You Free'. Looking at me now, you wouldn't expect it but I used to dance like a right prat to this, back in the day. Probably still would.
Keiron: Howlin' Wolf - 'Spoonful'. I’m not sure people would expect me to like blues or not. Most people think I’m into heavy stuff but I’ve got a broad spectrum. I do however believe heavy vocals have been massively influenced by Howlin' Wolf. If you follow it back maybe he was the start of the death metal vocal! Who knows?
Sam: 'Moon River' - Audrey Hepburn

The song to get you straight on the dance floor?
Pete: 'Clean Up Woman' - Betty Wright. As long as no one is watching.
Keiron: James Brown 'Super Bad'. I don’t think anyone can sit still when the hardest working man in show business is playing. He had total control of his vision and made it happen.
Sam: Tom Waits - 'What’s He Building?'. Such a banger, I can’t control myself

Best song to end an all-nighter?
Pete: Royal Trux - 'Mercury'. Guaranteed to make the speediest of night owls throw up and piss off home to bed.
Keiron: Hepa.titus 'Annas Simple Rules'. 'Champagne Of Incest' was probably my album of 2018. I think you sort the calibre of people with this track at the end of an all-nighter. Most people will go home so I’d be left with the people I can handle hanging out with!
Sam: Napalm Death - 'You Suffer'

Any new bands you are into at the moment?
Keiron: I’ve been listening to Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs quite a lot recently. 'GNT' fairly well rips your head off. Coincidentally the singer Matt Baty works for our publishing company 'Wipe Out Music'. He’s a decent chap!
Sam: Shakamoto Investigation, Feels, Uranium Club, Crack Cloud, Fontaines DC, Drahla, Crows.