PREY - UK Hardcore Fighting Back ! (HardCore - England - Interview with Eddie).
Hello ! Can you introduce yourself and tell us how it all began for you - your encounter with this musical universe, what appealed to you, what fascinated you and what made you want to get into music?
My path to hardcore punk was a fairly typical one. I've been obsessed with music from a really young age. My parents had cool records and cassettes that gradually migrated from the living room to my bedroom and never made their way back. I learned quickly not to leave records on the window sill... My mum's copy of The Beatles "Hard Days Night" turned into a merry-go-round. I still regularly play the Doors, Blondie and even Yes records.
Nirvana was definitely the catalyst into harder stuff though. I remember when I was about 8 my friend's older brother Tom put on "Territorial Pissings" full blast and went nuts to it... rolling round on the floor and acting crazy. I've been digging deeper ever since.
Tell me about the band... How you met - the current line-up - past experiences - and above all - WHY the need to form THIS band?
We all met about 20 years ago at a Paint It Black gig in London. Me and my girlfriend gave Pete and Laura a flyer for a gig we were putting on, and they asked if their band could play a future show. They sent us a CD of their band at the time "Flick Knives and Splinters", which ripped, so we happily obliged. I was playing in a band called TV Party at the time, and we started gigging together a lot. We all did other bands, moved further apart for a while then lost contact. After a lull of no band activity the thirst to do something short, fast and loud came back and we made it work besides the geographical headaches... There's about 400 miles between all three of us.
Describe your sound and explain why I should listen to YOUR band at all cost ?
Like many others before us, we play short, fast and loud hardcore punk. Hopefully, there are enough twists and turns in the riffs, tempos and three way vocals that set us apart from our contemporaries. I guess you'd have to listen and decide for yourself.
Lyrical and musical inspirations/influences ? How important are the lyrics for you ? Are there any specific messages or thoughts you try to develop and share through your lyrics ?
Musically we're drawing influence from the whole punk and hardcore spectrum, with a heavy dose of early US hardcore, Deep Wound, Poison Idea etc, then there's a big nod to 90s/00s power violence, Capitalist Casualties, Iron Lung and so on. We seem to get booked to play with all sorts of punk, anarcho and even noise bands, so I guess those influences must show through too.
All three of us write lyrics and share the lead vocal duties. It's very important to us. We never discussed a shared aim, but all naturally addressed the same topics through a mutual despair at the state of the world and our own personal neurosis. I don't think we claim to have the answers to any of these problems, it's just an an outlet for our feelings and hopefully some shared catharsis for the listener.
About the band's discography... Imagine someone who doesn't know your band at all and wants to get interested in.. Which release would you recommend to start with, and why?
We have two LPs, "Unsafe" and "Loathing". If you are new to us, start with the latter. We're proud of both, but I feel like we'd found our lane by the time we made Loathing. There are more songs with Laura's vocals on there too!
About your latest release ?
"Loathing" was recorded in summer 2024 at the Station House in Leeds with Atko, ex-Voorhees, The Horror etc. We love his old bands, and he's worked on a lot of records we love.
Hopefully, some European distros have the vinyl. If not our bandcamp is the best spot to pick it up or stream it.
https://preyhardcore.bandcamp.com/album/loathing
The front cover was created by an artist known as Betternotcollage (aka Jake Kennedy). We also use his artwork for the first LP "Unsafe". The back cover was created by L127 (aka Rory Clark). The lyric booklets were designed by our Pete (drums/vox) and painstakingly screen printed and hand-stitched by Laura (vox).
Future plans ?
We are just about to go back into the same studio to record our side of a 7inch split with Thumbsucker. Their side is already done, so we hope to get that out into the world before the winter.
We spend most weekends trekking to all corners of the UK. Particularly looking forwards to a Scottish weekender with The Domestics in Autumn.
We also have a one off show in Mallorca this summer too. We're all buzzing about that.
Your most insane dream with the band would be ?
I think we all just wanna make music that we're all truly happy with. We're all our own worst critics, so that is still a dream to be honest, haha.
Your BEST & WORST concert - as a band - and why ?
I won't name and shame anyone, but they are probably the same gig to be honest. Sometimes the really shit gigs where you play to no-one in a nowhere town are the most memorable. If one of the few people there comes up and says they'd never seen live hardcore before, and they feel changed by it, that's more rewarding than playing to a full room of people that think they've seen it all before.
Next live-appearance(s) ?
Our next gig is down in Trowbridge. A small town in the South West corner of England. Sketch Book Records have been putting on a lot of great bands down there. We've been trying to find a date that works for everyone for a while. Glad we finally did!
Some words on your local scene - bands you're friends with and you'd like to name ?
We're not really local to anywhere as we're all spread across the country, but the UK punk and hardcore scene is thriving at the moment and we've been made to feel at home all across the map.
Top bands to check out would be Thumbsucker, Agoniser, Domestics, Gimic, Stupid World, Ritual Error, Tethered, Spree, Pascagoula, Remote Viewing, Face Off, Mincer, Votiv, Rat Cage, Sneer, Sex Germs, Monlithian, Skreg, Vetch, Self Help, Armoured Virus... To name a few.
Last word is yours..
PEACE !
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