A Catch Up With....World Vs World
With Trudi Goldsmith ( Nov 2016)
This Saturday 12th November ‘World Vs World’, ‘Trackstar/Pornstar’ and brand new band ‘Fat Wreck’ hit the Masons Arms in Llanelli for a night of live music. I caught up with Damian from World v World ahead of their forthcoming gig.
How long has it been since World Vs World last played live?
It's been quite a while to be honest. We've all had a lot of projects on this year so we haven't been able to get out as much as we like to. Last time we played was at Uplands Music Festival in Swansea back at the end of August! So it's nice to get back out again!
What have you guys been up to in that time?
Well in between coming up with and developing ideas for the next album, Kirk has been busy learning the dark arts of Goldsmithery, Krist's been doing some solo recording and occasionally providing logistics for corporate events, and I’ve been moonlighting in a few bands including Fat Wreck whilst just recently starting a Psychology degree. All learning valuable skills for the impending nuclear apocalypse!
What's your favourite WvW song to play live and why?
I suppose we all have personal favourites. I can't speak for Kirk and Krist but I suppose I have a soft spot for The Beat Of The Alpha, Dark Night Of The Soul, Chaos & Opportunity, and Bang To Rights...probably others, but those in particular really get my brain releasing all the right endorphins!
Which W Vs W video is your favourite and why?
I dunno. They're kinda all special to me as they are all products of my own slightly warped mind in a way! I mean we all have a certain level of input, but I usually come up with a concept and Kirk and Krist pretty much trust me enough to leave me to it! They must be crazy! I suppose Bohemian Groove was my favourite to film and direct because it's just ridiculous how it all came together! I just thought, this is our first proper go at a video, let's see what we can get away with! Before I knew it I was chatting with the Head of Mercedes Benz UK's press and PR department negotiating the use of a £100,000+ Mercedes S-Class! And we managed to get one too!!! It was mental! Dark Night Of The Soul was quite difficult to shoot, but is very special to me for personal reasons!
What do you consider is the bands greatest achievement so far?
I dunno, I think we have lots of personal unspoken milestones for ourselves, one is us sticking together for so long through thick and thin! But I guess highlights have been securing the contract with Death Monkey Records, releasing The Sentinel Paradox, achieving our endorsement from Dirtbag Clothing, our affiliations with JD Music Promotion and Detroit Wave Promotions, and maybe Bohemian Groove being voted #1 in XRP Radio's Top 100 Tracks of 2015! Our trips up to Scotland to play have been special too!
What can people who come out to see the band live this weekend expect ?
Jeepers! I don't even know what to expect!!! Uhm...if you've seen us before, you kinda know what to expect I think! If you haven't, basically it's 3 socially awkward weidos on a stage playing like it's the last day on earth, just in case it is!!! We also have possibly 2 brand new tracks we're gonna try and squeeze into the set! So expect that too!
You are bringing two support bands to Llanelli with you this weekend Trackstar/Pornstar and Fat Wreck. Can you tell me a bit about them?
Yeah we played with Trackstar/Pornstar a couple of years back at The Duke in Neath, but we've known Brewer and Simon a while as they also play for our label mates, 100,000 Bodybags. Fat Wreck are a newly formed punk tribute act started by Julian, bassist from Trackstar/Pornstar. I play the drums, on guitar and vocals is some dude called Lewis. He used to play in Sabrage. He's cool.
Speaking of Fat Wreck, bassist Julian Hunt said: With Fat Wreck, I wanted to get a band together to play some of the contemporary punk rock songs that we have all been influenced by. I knew Damian and Matt so they were obvious choices to get with. I had also, at that time, recently met Dai from Searching For David. He was up for it but has since had to pull out due to vocal troubles and is now waiting for an operation on his throat. I always wanted two guitarists for the band but it took a while. I’m not much in to that over amplified / mechanical extended soloing method of guitar playing and with Llanelli being a kind of metal / dodgy soft rock style town, you get to hear a lot of that - Almost a paint by numbers approach to playing. I saw Lewis’ band at the Masons over the summer and knew immediately that he was different, he was special. He is technically brilliant but his style is very organic, fused with feeling. Lewis comes from a blues rock background and although at that time he was kind of insistent that he hadn’t really listened to punk rock, I knew he’d fit perfectly with what we were looking for and he has – Both as a person and as a guitar player!!
For these first upcoming gigs we are playing as the three of us - Damian, Lewis and I. Matt has been unable to commit but will hopefully be back with Fat Wreck late November.
Back to Damian- Anything else you want to add about WvsW or fat Wreck e.g. What plans do you have for 2017.
Damian: After this gig, World Vs. World will be joined by King Goon and Fat Wreck at The Duke in Neath on Friday 18th November, and then Fat Wreck will be back at The Masons again on Saturday 19th. World Vs World will be going in to the studio in early 2017 to continue to lay down foundations to the follow up to The Sentinel Paradox.
