An Interview With Loose Ends W.M.B.D

 An Interview With Loose Ends W.M.B.D

Having spent days during the first, second and now third lockdown listening to hours and hours of music, trying to uncover new bands to fill the void, I came across a rarity among the forever expanding genre that is hardcore. Loose Ends W.M.B.D offer a really brash, yet well-produced heaviness with a punk ethos from the midlands. However, the band doesn't lose their beatdown sound, as heavy guitars, paired with naturally raw vocals create a unique hardcore experience. I was so intrigued about this band that on YouTube I found their live recordings, trying to put faces to the sound. I felt obliged to share my experience and with so much spare time on my hands, during lockdown I thought I could create something. So, I picked up my laptop, noted down a few ideas and came up with the idea of interacting with bands, offering a platform to connect with listeners.

So, I messaged Loose Ends W.M.B.D. and spoke to Jonny to ask a few questions regarding the band. We talked about a few subjects, from the meaning of 'Blood On Your Hands' to who they'd like to collaborate with. But firstly, we had to open up with a few simple questions...

Q1: Who are Loose Ends W.M.B.D. and where does the name come from?

"Loose Ends is a beatdown hardcore band from the West Midlands, consisting currently of Chris Guest (Vocals), Jonny Price (Guitar), Matt Benson (Guitar) and Fin Elwell-Jones (Drums). Unfortunately, I don't have a cool name behind the story of the name. It was just something I came up with years ago and saved it in my phone because I thought it would be a cool name for a hardcore band, so when we started this I was like "Don't worry boys, I've got the name covered!".

Q2: Your first EP - 'Bleak' was uploaded to Spotify in May 2020, during lockdown. Has the lockdown experience worked well for the band by allowing you to spend more time focusing on pieces, or has it delayed progress to any projects?

"I think in someways it's helped and hindered progress. It was great for allowing us to get people's attention and share our EP with them because people were stuck at home, so it was a great release cycle for the first EP. It also meant I've had lots of time to work on new song ideas on my own. However, it's obviously since stopped us all from meeting up and writing, now it looks like it's going to force us to postpone recording plans for the next EP, so it has put up roadblocks in that way."

Q3: The track 'Blood on Your Hands' is from that EP. The lyrics suggest the song is about the wealth divide and how the vulnerable youth have been let down by those in charge. Is this a reflection of the current climate in the West Midlands?

"Yeah, that's pretty much spot on. We basically see how the government has let the youth down in our area and in some of the worst cases has pushed them to quite dark places, so we felt it was right to speak about it."

Q4: Are there any artists you would love to pair up with in the near future?

"I'd love to do something with Drowning or Sanity Slip! Both of those bands are brilliant, although that's probably a bit of a reach for us right now. We're also working on putting something together with our pal Figure.09 soon, so that'll be cool!"

Q5: You get to cover 3 songs as part of a special release. What are you picking?

"Phwoar, tough choices but probably 'Dead Man's Chest' by Parkway Drive, 'Set It Off' by Madball and 'Within The Mind' by Death."

Those are some great choices, lads. I'd love to hear your version of that heavy Parkway Drive classic...

Q6: Loose Ends W.M.B.D. performed live at Lower Lane Studios, the footage is available on your YouTube page. You performed the 2nd song on your EP - 'Cabal'. The opening lyrics are...

 "The world is burning, the kids are dying and no one gives a fuck. While the government are protecting perverts 'cause they've got royal blood".

With such a hard-hitting start to the track, do you think it's important that such issues are confronted head-on as opposed to swept under the carpet and waved-away?

"Yeah, absolutely. That's a massive part of what we try to do lyrically, we always think it's best that if you have a platform to reach any kind of audience, it's best to use it to talk about the pressing issues at hand. That lyric is just a blanket statement about western governments in general, [who are] corrupt and indifferent to the needs of others."

Q7: Finally - What can we expect from the band in the next year, assuming COVID-19 will finally dissipate?

"Definitely tour, we're dying to get out and play some new places! We've got a couple booked in and in the pipelines so fingers crossed they'll go ahead. We're also working on our next release so hopefully before the year is out that'll be available too."

It was great to speak to Jonny, regarding Loose Ends W.M.B.D. and their current situation. They are on Spotify, so check out their releases on there. Also, give them a follow on their social media accounts as you'll find all up-to-date news there. I'd also like to promote footage from their 'Live at Lower Lane Studios' recordings. There you'll get to see the band perform a few songs and really get into what they have to offer. I'm really excited to see this band develop and check out their future work!