After a few months of no live music, festivals or musical gatherings, I was starting to lose faith in the industry. Granted, there’s gonna be a massive surge of releases over the next few months and whilst I’m looking forward to that, I only hope that the content of these releases hasn’t been marred by the general feeling of despair driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
I needed a boost, a lift, a general kick up the backside to get me back into the swing of things and this came to me recently via a Scottish hardcore/metal/filth quartet called Razor Sharp Death Blizzard. They released their latest long player The World is Fucked and after hearing it, I wanted to chat to the guys and find out a bit more about what makes them tick. We got together and put all our cards on the table, we chatted to vocalist Jamie Clark about lockdown hobbies, touring Europe in a very small car and why he prefers regular gigs over festivals….
So, we’ve been in lockdown since mid-March, what have you been doing to stay sane?
I’ve been drinking coffee, watching Aussie Gold Hunters on DMAX, building a BBQ hut, trying to grow veg (my turnips went to shit) and started going out on my mountain bike again.
Have you picked up any interesting hobbies or pastimes during lockdown?
Probably getting out on my bike with some friends, and checking out different places we would find on maps, like a place I’ve driven past many times and it turns out it was all formed by the melt water from after the ice age. And drinking coffee and watching DMAX
Please tell us about your band, who’s in it, when/where did you form etc?
Razor Sharp Death Blizzard is made up of myself, Jamie Clark on Vocals, Daz McSwell on Guitars and backing vocals, Ross Corbett on Bass Guitar and Liam Roberts on Drums. We kind of formed in early 2011 but did nothing of note until 2014. We’ve had a revolving door of Bass and drummers but are now settled with everyone in the band, there are no pre madonnas or arseholes anymore, we’ll at least not all the time. We’re all in the Scottish Borders and have a rehearsal place in Selkirk.
How did you settle on your name? Did you have any other names in the mix prior to agreeing on this one?
We just saw a local newspaper headline that said our name and that was that, no hassle what so ever.
Tell me a fascinating fact about the band or a band member….
We did a European tour in a Citroen C3 a few years back.
Do you remember the band or artist that made you want to pick up and instrument and learn to play?
It was probably Iron Maiden
Do you remember the first gig you ever played? How did you feel? Did it all go according to plan?
Yes with my first band The Big Cat Banned at The Number 10 in Hawick my home town in the Scottish Borders. I felt great as we were all steaming and didn’t give a shit. Our drummer couldn’t play so we used a drum machine which went to shit as I kept playing the wrong drum tracks.
Have you ever met one of your ‘heroes’? Who was it and how did it go?
I met John Baizley of Baroness a couple of years back at Roadburn. Lovely lovely guy, I think if we could have, we’d still be chatting now.
What do you carry with you at all times that you CANNOT live without?
My wallet
Tell me about any new music that you have in the pipeline at the moment, where are you recording? Who is producing? What is the title of the new track/album? When can we expect to see it on the shelves?
We have a new album out (including on purple vinyl) called ‘The World Is Fucked’ It was recorded at Foel Studio in Wales with Chris Fielding recording, mixing and mastering. It’s a bleak, angry yet hopeful set of songs.
What do you prefer more, playing a regular gig or playing a festival?
I think I prefer regular gigs as they are more intimate and you get to meet more people into what you do. They’re less stressful too as festivals have tight schedules which to be fair is no problem to us as we’re pretty fine tuned to setting up and setting down quickly. We’ve had plenty practise. So I suppose I prefer regular gigs only fractionally more.
Tell me about the STRANGEST thing that ever happened to you when you’ve been on stage…..
I was handed an 99 ice cream cone once, which I ate lovingly as I love ice cream.
Let’s imagine that you’ve been washed up on a desert island and there’s a record player, an amp and some speakers but only enough space for 3 records, which 3 would you have in the box to keep you going until you’re rescued? Why these three?
Iron Maiden- Live After Death as this is probably the most influential album I have ever owned. Faith No More- The Real Thing as I never tire of any of the songs, love love love it. Bongripper - Satan Worshipping Doom as I saw them play it live and it was one of the most intense shows I’ve witnessed, lovely guys too.
Tell me about any forthcoming live streams / shows / festival bookings etc…..
Well thanks to Covid-19 things went to shit for all our shows in the UK, Ireland and Europe this year. There is one show still hanging in there on October 2nd in Edinburgh so we’ll keep our fingers crossed on that one. The first thing we’ll do is rebook our Irish shows when we know things are okay to do so and hopefully Siege Of Limerick will happen again soon as we were booked for the one in April past.
Name 3 bands or artists that our followers should be checking out….
Tooms, Somaethesia, Bleak Zero
Where can people keep up to date with you on social media (please list all relevant sites)
Lastly, there are MILLIONS of bands/acts/artists out there, why should people be spending the time to check you out?
If you want bleak, angry, no nonsense, sludgy, punky, hardcorey, metally, to the point music, look no further than Razor Sharp Death Blizzard
We’d like to thank Jamie for sparing the time to chat to us and wish the band every success going forward. Their latest long player The World is Fucked is available NOW.
Interview by Steve Muscutt