Team TINAS

Ross Allen

Founder/Editor In Chief
Music has been a constant presence in Ross’ life since a very early age, be it rifling through his father’s record collection or listening to his own 7” vinyl, gathered each week from a supply of white labels and ex-radio station stock that somehow found its way to the local paper shop! The influence of his father’s collection and that of his elder brother helped to form an early identity with the alternative side of the indie music scene in the late 80s/ early 90s, bands such as The Wonder Stuff, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Half Man Half Biscuit, Manic Street Preachers, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and The Cure were the staple diet of his High School years. It wasn’t until his college days that the influence of metal was to rear up its ugly head… Bands like Nirvana, Alice In Chains and Faith No More had already planted themselves firmly within his collection but it wasn’t until a friend played him two cassettes in 1991 that the gates to hell’s record collection were finally opened! Those two cassettes were Megadeth – “Rust In Peace” and Anthrax – “Persistence of Time”, this was swiftly followed by seeing Megadeth and Pantera live at the NIA in Birmingham on the “Countdown To Extinction” tour, from that moment on he was hooked…

Throughout his school years and for a long time afterwards Ross tried his hand at becoming a rockstar himself, playing guitar in bands such as Kin, SuMp and Products Of The Fall, with varying degrees of success. Alas, pressures of university and then work put paid to that dream and dropped music down in his list of life’s priorities. For almost a decade music was on the back seat, it was still there in his life but not up front where it should have been. Then, out of the blue a ticket for Download 2009 arrived, courtesy of his sister, and the spark was re-ignited, well it was more of an explosion than a re-ignition! Music was now back at Number 1!

Ross immediately began to write about Download and other shows he attended on his personal blog, where his writing style caught the eye of the Music Editor at OneMetal, Mark Wrigley. For 12 months Ross happily wrote for both OneMetal and his own blog until the itch to take it to the next stage was too great. Using his schooling and acquired skills, and those of a dear friend, ThisIsNotAScene was born… That brings us to today where ThisIsNotAScene has a team of over 40 writers spanning the four corners of the globe.

Mark Wrigley

Senior Editor

Many years ago, Mark won a pig shaped picture disc for “Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)”, from the W.A.S.P. fanclub. He won because he happened to be such a huge fan and was able to spout forth some obscure piece of trivia about Chris Holmes or Blackie Lawless. That was the first day that Mark actually wrote anything down about a metal band, and could be classed as the origin of his music journo career. As with many, Mark’s teenage aspirations of becoming a “Rock Star” never quite came into fruition. Performing to tens of people at “The Shoulder Of Mutton” in Chapel-en-le-Frith and penning such punk infused anthems as “John Craven” and “Bedrock City” never elevated him to the Guitar God status that he was after. The final nail in the coffin in his musical career came whilst losing out to the Girls Hockey Team at a University talent contest, all because “they got their pissing tits out… so what chance did we stand”.

From that day Mark has put his English degree to use, and he has written about music and movies ever since. Writing for numerous publications including Total Guitar and The Daily Mail regional newspapers and websites, along with other metal and entertainment webzines. He is an old school metalhead at heart, with his passions spreading from Alice Cooper to Sisters Of Mercy, whilst taking in everything in between. Living in Nottingham with his wife and two sons, he thrives on metal, and he still plays guitar… although he does admit he seriously has more guitars than ability.

Myron Schmidt

Senior Editor

I am a 44-year-old father and grandfather that has been a life long metal lover. I purchased my first metal album, KISS “Destroyer,” as a new release in 1976, and somehow convinced my younger brother to use his allowance money on KISS “Alive.” I haven’t looked back since. From that time music has always been a source of inspiration, comfort, and company throughout my life. Whether I was feeling down or needed company during the long graduate school night’s music has been there.

Now, music is something I share with my two sons. I am not bound by any one genre of metal; I like to listen to all types of metal. It is my belief that artificial borders should not bind appreciation of music. If music strikes a chord with you, listen. Focusing on one type of music mean that a listener will miss out on a universe of other good music.

Chris Ward

Copy Editor

Becoming a devotee to the cause of metal during the mid-1980’s when, at the tender age of ten, I saved up my pocket money and purchased Europe’s ‘The Final Countdown’ album on vinyl, I have spent the last quarter of a century trying to cram as much metal into my cranium as is humanly possible.

Having worked manual labour jobs since leaving school but always having a love for the written word, it took being made redundant in 2009 for me to fully embrace writing music and film (my other hardcore passion) reviews as a serious pastime and was picked up by Rock Midgets to write weekly album reviews, features and suchlike. During that time I also contributed to sites like Horror Society and The Horror Press, as well as writing my own blog site.

Having found employment again my writing had to take a back seat to earning a living but I have steadily built things up again, and have been writing for Onemetal.com since early 2011. After receiving an email from Raymond in December of 2011 I also started writing for Alternative Matter, and have carried on doing so now they have merged with ThisIsNotAScene. I have also recently started contributing to Eat Sleep Live Film and Scream magazine. Ultimately, I would love to be able to make a living from writing about the things I love and am just waiting for that call.

A die-hard Iron Maiden fan, my other main musical favourites are Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Paradise Lost, Machine Head, classic Sepultura, Thunder, Down, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Napalm Death, Carcass, Sick of it All, Anthrax, Megadeth, The Resurrection Sorrow, Cannibal Corpse, Type O Negative, Fear Factory.

Follow me on Twitter @Horrorsmith

Raymond Westland

My first exposure to that lovely noise called metal was the infamous video clip of One by Metallica. Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Camel were part of my musical diet back then, but it was Hetfield and Co that really ignited my craving for loud and heavy music.

In early 2000 I hosted a radio program called the Black Box together with two friends. We all had very different tastes, so I got exposed to a whole range of different bands, artists and subgenre. This was only a sign of things to come.

In 2003 we chose to end the program at a high note, because we had achieved everything we set out to do and much more. In the years that followed I wrote for several online publications, including Zwaremetalen and Vampire Magazine (RIP), writing countless reviews and conducting many interviews with bands along the way. In hindsight these were my formative years as a writer and interviewer.

In 2009 I was pretty done with writing and heavy music in general, but after some months and some thunderous encouragement by my girlfriend I ventured out on my own with a blog called Home Nucleonics. It started as a vehicle for my love for progressive, forward-thinking and experimental music, but soon it grew into something bigger with several writers sharing the same passion for cutting edge and intelligent rock and metal. That blog served as a starting point for my next venture called Alternative Matter, a full-blown website dedicated to more experimental bands and artists.

We achieved quite some success and we managed to turn a lot of heads, but after a year of hard work, a couple of setbacks and lack of financial and long term perspective it was to move on and merge with a bigger website with a similar outlook on things. UK-based ThisIsNotAScene was the perfect partner and Ross Allen welcomed me and the rest of the Alternative Matter crew with open arms.

Nowadays I’m active as a senior editor for ThisIsNotAScene and I’m also a contributor for Hellbound Canada and About.com Heavy Metal. I enjoy listening to many different musical styles and genres, but I always come to back to bands and artists like The Cult, King Crimson, Killing Joke, Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Mastodon, Cynic, Meshuggah, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Deftones, Pink Floyd, Isis, Red Sparowes, Oceansize, Anathema, Ulver, Steve Wilson, Devin Townsend, Blut Aus Nord, Red Harvest, Ihsahn and Enslaved.

Besides writing and discovering new bands I love to read, taking long walks, drinking special Belgian beers and spending time with my girlfriend.

Lorna Allen

Hello, I’m Lorna and I like music and food (and my dog, cherrypie!). I have this unwritten rule that if a tune doesn’t grab my attention within 10 seconds, it probably isn’t worth listening too. I know it’s not empirically sound, but it has worked for me since I first listened to the Grease soundtrack….on repeat….a lot!

What else, I don’t like genres, I like music that is unusual, different; stuff that takes you away from the mundane. Oh and I have a little penchant for Mike Patton. That is all!

Sabrina Ramdoyal

From murky, subterranean Manchester, there is a metal music ninja who is part photographer, part interviewer and part live reviewer, ready to swing and grab what is within the moment. Whether if it is a body-flying concert or band members being tied up to a chair with a spotlight on them, she can bring it all with camera, vision and voice.

Beware of this meek but unstoppable crime fighter as you’ll never know when or where she’ll turn up next! Look out!

Mat Davies

Mat Davies is a Welshman living in London and trying to do as many gigs as he can before his bank manager finds out the state of his overdraft. He’s got a proper job too but don’t let that put you off.

Mat’s music tastes are pretty eclectic but he has a penchant for most metal, thrash, prog, death and a little bit of black metal, but only when the mood takes him. You can also find him watching rugby and drinking Guinness, often together.

Pete RingMaster

Pete RingMaster is a word doodler from the shadows and music is his lifeblood, the reason to start and enjoy each and every day, though deliciously tormenting everyone comes a close second. His blue fingers are involved as A&R with the exciting and ground breaking website Reputation Media, in the promotion of new, unsigned and independent music and artists and he helps create and co-host the live Reputation Radio Show, the site’s own award nominated internet radio shows, alongside the inspirational and site creator Johnny Summers. He hunts the internet and streets finding new artists and bands to share with the listening world, though some might say stalking, and is a ‘legend’ in Serbia, though no one knows why, especially himself.

RingMaster writes promotion pieces and music reviews for artists own websites and EPKs, and has his own website containing the dark, sometimes light, and occasionally teasingly delicious poetry from his haunted mind, Carnivale Of Dark Words And Shadows.

Music burst into life for Blue Clown when the first safety pin was inserted and pogo safely executed and his pleasures have never looked back, all genres enjoyed but make it loud, angry and metallic and he is in carnival heaven.

Stephen Fallows

After being brought up on a healthy diet of Queen & The Beatles, became a lover of all things noisy since upon hearing Iron Maiden’s “Live After Death” back in 1986. Stuck in a grim outpost in Cumbria for the time being, but always looking to escape to gigs and festivals. These are mainly in Manchester and Liverpool, but Donington and Knebworth have also been regular stops on a seemingly never-ending quest for live music. The 200+ shows cover everything from Jean Michel Jarre to The Jesus Lizard, Simon & Garfunkel to Slayer and most things in-between. The highlight (so far) of all these gigs was seeing the “Live After Death” stage show at Twickenham back in 2008.

Have worked in education and youth work for 8 years, currently between jobs and hoping to move away in the coming months to a new job and better opportunities. Outside of work and music, photography and art are major passions. Currently collaborating with several artists and venues on various different projects. This includes working on three music videos over the coming months. Started writing for ThisIsNotAScene in March 2011.

For all sorts of rambling nonsense and occasional sense follow me on twitter @falcoholism and @dvlpmntlstudios for news of my art projects.

John Toolan

Music has been a very important part of my life since being a pre-teenager and listening to the likes of The Sweet, Slade and Mud. I very quickly progressed from my diet of glam rock, into developing a penchant for early Electric Light Orchestra albums and acts which were classed as “progressive” such as Genesis, Van Der Graaf Generator, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, King Crimson, Robert Fripp, Brian Eno and all the side projects that were associated with them. Whilst at high school the “punk” phenomena happened and I became aware of bands such as The Stranglers, who I became very fond of and found myself contributing to their fanzine “Strangled”. Punk enveloped my life until I attended University in Leeds, and I allowed myself to become aware of other styles of music such as metal and classical music, and begin to add elements of those to my collection.

When I began employment, and, more importantly, began earning money for the first time, a whole new range of musical styles opened up to me, and I began listening to, and collecting jazz, particularly the more obscure European acts that were to be found on the ECM label. As the years have progressed and I have understood myself and music more fully, I have grown to appreciate an alarming range of musical styles, and can now confidently say that I can listen to and collect jazz, reggae, dub, funk, soul, dance, ambient, folk amongst many other styles that would be impossible to categorise. An unintentional common thread of obscurity has always run through my musical and cultural taste, and continues to this day. If there were to be one sentence to sum up what I feel about music it would be “There is music I like, music I don’t like, and music I haven’t heard yet”.

Victoria Anderson

Victoria Anderson marries her degrees in Theory and Compositon with Visual Anthropology. She wanted to be Jimmy Page when she grew up, but her guitar playing is rubbish. She developed a love of bass guitar, “It’s easier and more fun to play” so she can be out of the box and creative in her music. Charlie Mingus is her inspiration. She was actually late for an Iron Maiden concert in Paris because she was distracted by the architecture. Paul Stanley of KISS says she smells good. And John Taylor of Duran Duran once turned down her marriage proposal.

Victoria is short. Cute. Obsessed with pretty colours. And she’s well stocked for the impending Zombie invasion. When she isn’t geeking out at Comicons, reading theoretical physics books, or doing what ever her kitty kats tell her to do, she is working tirelessly to capture her love of music visually to create The Moment When All The World Stops (TM). She blogs and publishes her own photography magazine. You can also follow her on Twitter
@theKaliDiaries. Victoria believes that shooting and interviewing should be fun and natural. She works in an organic, free flowing style that puts those around her at ease. If you are looking for a one of a kind, zen, groovalicious photographer – Victoria Anderson is the person you want shooting!

Simon Crampton

My name is Simon. Megadeth obsessive, Thrash devotee and all around metalhead. Every now and then bands let me interview them and then I tell people to go to their gigs and buy their albums. I am sarcastic, outspoken and cannot tolerate stupid genre labels, music is not a scene its a way of life. All opinions are my own so apologies in advance. This is me, you’ve been warned.

Berns von Bernington

Hi, I’m Berneau a.k.a. Berns von Bernington, a 22 year old trapped in a 38 year old’s body. I am a South African based metal head into Extreme Metal from Thrash Metal to Black Metal and of course Death Metal. I have a passion for music and it is reflected in my writing. A recent IT double major graduate from Monash University. I play bass in two bands; one is a Thrash Metal project known as Death Pegasus and the other a Black Metal outfit known as Belthezar. Music is my first love and passion, a Porcupine Tree and Camel fan boy. A creative swearer. Oh, and once a year I go on a pilgrimage and find myself in Germany for some Metal festivals.

Greg Latham

Hey I’m Greg, I love metal and rock and really love seeing bands live and getting involved in the festival atmosphere. OK, I love getting drunk in a field and singing songs until I lose my voice. My favourite band is MetallicA, my favourite shot is Jager and I am chuffed to bits to be part of this awesome team – thanks for reading and I’d love a beer!

Chris Tippell

Chris Tippell is a young lad from Cambridgeshire who from writing his own blog was found by Raymond for Alternative Matter, much to his surprise. Chris currently spends his time between writing for TINAS and stressing out about University assignments (although hopefully in a couple of months this won’t be a problem anymore, fingers crossed).

Chris enjoys most forms of rock and metal, as well as many other forms of music. He also seems to have not understood the concept of a guilty pleasure, and can be found singing along to songs that he probably shouldn’t be (apologies in advance). He also enjoys watching Football and Wrestling and the usual stuff. Some day after graduation he would like to make a living out of music journalism.

You can follow Chris on Twitter at @ChrisTippell. If you happen to see him at a gig at all he would really love and appreciate a pint of cider.

Cheryl Carter

Cats. Music. Film. Coffee. Transformers. Tea.

Can be found tweeting – http://twitter.com/Cheryl_Prime and listening to music – http://www.last.fm/user/Cheryl_Prime – sometimes simultaneously.

Occasionally seen in the hallowed pages of Metal Hammer UK trying to be informative on the darkest of all metal.

Tries to blog at http://cherylprime.wordpress.com/ but mainly posts awful pictures from gigs and reviews of really old albums.

Contributes to http://www.cvltnation.com/ and attempts to dissect film at http://cinemart-online.co.uk/

Best bands: Darkthrone, ROME, Anathema, VNV Nation, Emperor, Inquisition, Walknut, Burzum, 40 Watt Sun, Kelly Clarkson.

Very short. Constantly busy.

Gilbert Potts

I like songs with no words. And sometimes songs with words. I like independent, alternative, inventive, experimental music.

I like standing near the front, playing air-drums and going deaf at gigs. I like bands that change my life.

Thomas Mathie

I live in Motherwell, Scotland; with my wife and kids. By day I work as a business analyst and by night I consume vast quantities of music, some to review for ThisIsNotAScene, The Future Elements and my own blog, and some to consider releasing on my ambient music netlabel, we are all ghosts.

I love music in almost all shapes and sizes. My fave artists include Radiohead, Cousin Silas, Sigur Rós, Björk, Vangelis, Lowercase Noises, The Echelon Effect, Good Weather for an Airstrike, Craig Armstrong & Orbital… to name a few.

Steve Dinsmore

Steve Dinsmore is a child of the 80s and the son of a blues-rock guitarist. Introduced to the music of Cream in utero and raised in the Church of Clapton, he discovered Black Sabbath as a young lad and bravely overcame an early hair metal addiction.

Steve loves all kinds of metal—especially death, black and doom—plus grindcore, classic hard rock, jazz… and some guilty pleasures that he’d rather keep secret for now!

Steve Dinsmore lives in the San Diego, California area with his wife and son, and makes clothes for a living.

Chris McGarel

I am a music junkie living in London. I have been a fan of metal since I was 9 years old. “Number of the Beast” was the first album I bought with my saved up pocket money. My first love though is the golden age of classic prog – Rush, Camel, Yes, Genesis, Marillion, Magma, Jethro Tull, Van Der Graaf Generator. King Crimson have been my favourite band and biggest musical influence for over 20 years.

When not listening to music I can be found attending gigs or recording at home. A guitarist of 25 years, I have been learning drums for 2 years with the goal of producing my first album. Besides prog and metal I listen to a lot of electronic music, krautrock, post rock, jazz and 20th century classical.

My excitement and enthusiasm for music appear to be growing unabated as I leave my 30s and through talking to others I am constantly discovering new (and old) sounds to keep the silence at bay. Silence, not fear, is the mind-killer.

Christine Hager

Christine Hager is a concert fiend, headbanger and visual artist, with a passion for all that is dark, destructive and beautiful. She’s made it her mission to get to get to as many festivals, venues and house shows around the world as she can before anything remotely close to an average life tries to invade her existence.

Now studying Energy Kinesiology and trained as a Holistic Nutritionist, she may just be the only metalhead you’ll find holding a green juice instead of beer.

Dewie

Enjoys listening to Iron Maiden, Rush, Celtic Frost, SikTh, Testament, Overkill, Cormorant, The Ocean, Between The Buried And Me, Orange Goblin, Meshuggah, Decapitated, Primus, Carcass, Dream Theater, Suicidal Tendencies, Opeth, Vader, Warrior Soul, Behemoth, Gojira, Savatage, While Heaven Wept, Ministry, Mayhem, Will Haven, Grand Magus, Voivod, C.O.C. and pretty much all Swedish death metal!

James Donaldson

At the age of 28, James is simultaneously opinionated and open-minded about music. He likes to hear music that is different and challenges him. Sometimes he likes being made to think by music. Sometimes he likes music that almost prevents thought.

After rejecting the evil, middle-of-the-road tastes of his elder sister, he turned to his Dad’s old Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin records. He grew up, like many a child in the mid-90’s, listening to The Manic Street Preachers, The Stereophonics and Blur. One of his favourite bands is The Libertines, but his CD collection includes everything from The Pixies to Bob Dylan, Faithless to Scroobius Pip.

He loves finding new bands, whether it’s stumbling across them at festivals, being pleasantly surprised by supporting acts or happening to be in a dingy pub when a band starts up. That’s
why he now lives with his beard in north London, 15 minutes away from the Camden pubs that have been the proving grounds for so many bands.

Having studied journalism at university, he has always enjoyed writing – for a hobby and for a living.

Jayson

Jayson is a commercial artist. He lives in the woods in rural America.

One of the founders of To Eleven. Where he’s devoted significant coverage to experimental music of all kinds. He is extraordinarily poor at thinking up fun facts for biographical blubs.

Jason Novak

Jason Novak is a freelance writer, writing tutor, and co-founder of To Eleven. He’ll listen to just about anything, though he tends to gravitate towards twee-pop, surf rock, and music featuring grandpas’ guitars. If he could time-travel, he would go back to 1990 and tell Queen Latifah that in the future, she would be nominated for an Oscar in an Oscar-winning musical…and that Ice Cube would be doing family comedies.

Ian Girle

Hi, I’m Ian and music has always been such an integral part of my life I can’t remember a time I didn’t listen to it pretty much compulsively.

I love prog, metal, jazz and classical; and even after 42 years of listening to it, music still has the power to move me like nothing else.

If I had to choose my favourite bands I’d probably say Rush, Camel, Opeth, Enslaved, It Bites, Pat Metheny Group, Transatlantic, and a list of others so big it would need its own webpage.

My day job is as a product manager for an automotive company, I play the guitar (enthusiastically, if not particularly well) and I’m really happy to be able to contribute to ThisIsNotAScene.

Matt Spall

I am the ‘Man of Much Metal’. What else would you like to know about me?!

Contrary to popular belief, this is certainly not an arrogant, self-aggrandising title, but actually a nickname that I was given by my late younger brother many years ago to reflect his pride in his older sibling’s love of metal. The moniker has stuck, as has my unshakeable love of all things heavy metal.

A failed musician, I have instead dedicated my spare time to discovering and writing about the music that holds a special place in my heart; it is my way of giving something back to a community that has given me so much over the last 20 years or so. For the past five years, I have contributed to Powerplay Magazine in the UK and I am now a proud member of the ThisIsNotAScene team.

In keeping with this site, I do not restrict myself to specific genres although it must be said that I rarely venture far from my rock/metal roots. Progressive metal, in its loosest sense, is where I derive most pleasure these days but if it’s well written and features a guitar, I’m almost certainly going to like it.

Favourite bands? My top five would include Evergrey, Shadow Gallery, Katatonia and Haken with a spot open for regular rotation!

Curt

Curt is a Canadian who has been into metal since 1988 when he was 11 years old. The catchy sounds of hair metal bands like Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe and Stryper opened his eyes to the fact that there was something better than the Jacksons and Billy Joel.

A few years later he discovered King’s X and then things got progressively heavier with Megadeth and Anthrax and then finally onto Death and Black Metal.

In 1975 he burnt out musically from a steady diet of listening to nothing but metal and for the next 10 years got into 60s bands like The Beatles and mellower stuff like The Cure and Tori Amos.

In 2006 he saw an Iron Maiden concert on TV and remembered how he loved metal and is now back, this time remembering to listen to the occasional mellower band in between Darkthrone and Impiety. He also writes for several other on-line websites.

Catherine Morris

I was dragged kicking and screaming into the world of heavy metal by my older brother, who introduced me to the likes of Judas Priest, Dream Theater and Manowar at the tender age of thirteen. A few years and many gigs later, I discovered that girls make metal too, and fell in love with The Gathering and Within Temptation. My other favourites include Anathema, Devin Townsend, Candlemass and Volbeat (so the boys don’t feel left out).

I currently live in London where I’m doing a degree in Finnish language and culture, a decision I still maintain was influenced only partly by my love of folk metal. Somewhat surprisingly, my unusual degree choice led to me getting my first real journalistic experience last year, at Terrorizer magazine, where I blogged, wrote reviews and generally made a nuisance of myself.

Recently I started a blog about my experiences both at the magazine and as a girl-metaller. I would like to advocate gender equality in metal and encourage other women to break the stereotypes surrounding us. I also aspire to start my own all-girl metal band, but I kinda suck at the guitar…

twitter.com/catherineem

Chris Wright

Writing about yourself is harder than finding something nice to say about Justin Bieber. This is what I came up with. It was between this and “Chris Wright lives in Toronto and hates writing biographies” :

Reared on a steady diet of Black Sabbath, The Stooges and HP Lovecraft (later Bathory, alcohol and coffee), Chris Wright is a freelance music writer from Toronto, Canada with a soft-spot for psychedelic music, kittens and black metal. Unable to commit to one genre of music, Chris writes for a variety of web publications, including Resonancity.com, ThisIsNotAScene, and really lets himself go on his own blog, The Black Vox.

In addition to his music writing, Chris works as a digital promotions and marketing intern at Toronto’s Audio Blood Media, and has discovered how to turn an education in Classical Civilization and Philosophy into a somewhat successful (though oft-unpaid) writing career. You can catch him wandering the streets of Toronto playing air guitar, or with his face buried in a book.

Please note: Chris’ frequent (and vivid) calls for the annihilation of the human race are made with tongue firmly in cheek. You people should enjoy yourselves more.

You can follow him in the Twitterverse at @variantmule. He loves to chat with anyone about anything.

Chris Ball

Chris Ball was born in Essex and has been living it down ever since.
Chris Ball is a man, of that I’m convinced.
Chris Ball is a mod and a rocker.
Chris Ball has been a grunger and a hip hopper.
Chris Ball is a tattooed football geezer.
Chris Ball loves birds and flowers and furry creatures.
Chris Ball fought down the front during the thrash metal wars.
Chris Ball kicked and flicked on Northern Soul floors.
Chris Ball’s life was shaped and changed by The Small Faces, Queen and The Who.
Chris Ball loves The Drive By Truckers and The National too.
Chris Ball has opinions, he wants to share with them you.

Marcus Jervis

My journey into the world of rock and metal began way back in 1981 when I stumbled across Iron Maiden entirely by accident. I was hooked within seconds and by the time I attended my first live gig a year later, I knew I was in for life. The band was Budgie by the way.

Following my initiation, I caught the tail end of the NWOBHM; watched Venom and Metallica emerge as the most extreme bands there ever was or ever would be; lived my own small town version of the Hollywood hair metal dream; chuckled nervously as Glen Benton scorched an inverted cross into his head and trembled as a gang of notorious Norwegians did their best to burn their homeland to the ground. I saw the rise and fall of both grunge and nu-metal and learned to love it all, drinking in every experience…..and a fair few beers.

During the eighties and nineties, I toured and recorded with a couple of bands, not with a huge level of success but if you’re really interested, those recordings are still doing the rounds in cyberspace. I also dabbled in DJ’ing, promotion and band management – all of which I’m now revisiting with the launch of my website www.marcola.co.uk. Please take a look.

I’ve always written and have been lucky enough in recent years to contribute to www.about.com and Powerplay magazine, having some incredible experiences and meeting some of the most amazing people along the way. I am chuffed to be on board with ThisIsNotAScene and hope you enjoy what I have to offer.

I come from an era before hard rock and metal was split into three million unnecessary and irrelevant sub-genres. If I’ve learned one thing in my thirty-odd years as a fan, it’s that genres, styles and labels matter much less than how a piece of music communicates and touches the heart. There are no barriers bar the ones we build. Enjoy the ride.

Bee

The first artist I remember understanding how to talk to me through their music me was Alice Cooper. I was 4 years old, and it was then that I knew that music wasn’t just another thing… It was life. 26 years later and little has changed. Alice Cooper remains the enduring constant in my life with his fundamental lessons leading me down a path of rock, punk, metal, thrash, doom and noise…

These days I find myself firmly ingrained in the Brisbane punk scene fronting my band “The Unpretttier”. In my spare time I photograph local bands such as The Jon Experiment, Hack, Eat City, Totally Unicorn, Whiskey & Speed and SpitFireLiar. These are the bands that are playing week in, week out in crappy venues for nothing because they love it. For me thats what real music is about. Any chump can be given a bucket of cash & auto-tune their way into being the next boy band. But it takes a real musician to play one hick venue after another, sometimes to an unappreciative crowd because they want to play.

Miss Evil

Grew up listening to a wild blend of music from Led Zepplin (thanks Mom you were very cool) to Big Band music and Frank Sinatra (yeah Dad you were hip too).

Once I heard Iron Maiden,and KISS in the 70s I was hooked. Once the 80s hit and I got to listen to Slayer and Anthrax my metal future was settled. I firmly believe in a wild range of music and try to cram as much in as I can. As much as I don’t get to do the live scene anymore, I still have not lost my love of music. You have not experienced music until your Tattoo artist actually keeps time to Rob Zombie and Type O… (Thank you Maribelle you freaking rock)

Music is the universal language its the same wherever you go. Live it love it be one with it. Im looking forward to sharing my sarcastic and hopefully knowledgable taste in music. Sundays you will find me with my 2nd passion spinning tunes on http://www.worldrockradio.com where my little metal head comes out. One of my favorite things is to play a new band that rocks and sharing that sound.

Welcome to the world of Miss Evil \m/

Matt Seddon

By day metal obsessed student, by night metal obsessed amateur journo – Matt Seddon began his writing career at the age of 13, schooled by some of the UK’s finest music journalists – namely Dom Lawson (Metal Hammer Magazine) and Andy McDonald (Rock Sound/Terrorizer Magazine) on an online metal forum.

Now, with several years of experience behind him and an article published in Metal Hammer Magazine, Matt is a proud member of the ThisIsNotAScene team and will be delivering frequent album/live reviews and the odd interview thrown in there to spice things up a bit. When not doing his homework and writing for us, Matt spends most of his time gigging and generally rocking out with his band TimeBomb – A female fronted hard/punk rock band he founded in 2012.

Since getting his first Whitesnake and Iron Maiden records at the age of 8 at his Dad’s work’s Christmas party, Matt knew that rock music would be a big part of his life and that he wanted to be involved in the music industry when he was older.

Matt’s favourite bands include: Sabaton, Marilyn Manson, Alestorm, Chthonic, Sonata Arctica, Soil, Freedom Call, Power Quest, Slipknot, KISS, Iron Maiden, Disturbed, Parkway Drive, Trivium and As I Lay Dying… Oh and Jedward!