So what do you do when you are an unsigned, independent band and the economy is in the toilet, the music industry has more or less gone to the wall, you haven’t played a show outside the local bar for over 12 months and the rest of the band are pulling full time jobs just to make ends meet?

Well, that all depends on your drive and belief in what you do. Some bands fold or settle down into being hobby musicians, others like our friends in Army of Freshmen merely book an overseas tour, put themselves into debt to get here and set out to kick some serious arse including rocking a stage at Sonisphere festival.

After an 18 month absence from these shores, Ventura’s favourite 6 piece returned to the UK, unsure of what sort of reaction they would get. With 4 club shows on the agenda, plus a slot on one of the lower stages at Sonisphere, it was always going to be a flying visit but could it revitalise a band that had been more or less dormant for over a year?

Nova was represented at the first and the final show and could bore you to death with tales of rock and beer, but this isn’t trying to be a review (far too biased for that), so we have managed to grab hold of Lead Singer Chris Jay to fill in the gaps on what this tour meant to the band

The first show was played after a gruelling 24 hour journey from Californian sunshine to typical Yorkshire drizzle in Leeds, but the welcome could not have been warmer; well, you know what they say about up north!

“It wasn’t hard to decide to come back to play in the UK, paying for it was the hard part! We’d be over every month if money wasn’t an issue.

We were bowled over by the reaction at the first show in Leeds. We truly didn’t know what to expect; to have so many people know the words almost made me a little teary eyed….hell, Aaron almost passed out onstage, supposedly from heat exhaustion but….we have our doubts.

It was great to see a lot of folks knew the new songs from the Close Encounter EP. We’re talking about a video for one of the tunes; we just don’t know what one, yet!

So all in all it was pretty damn punk rock. Those indie venues like the one in Leeds – it can get pretty insane!”

And after a raucous evening, topped off by karaoke enjoyed by all in the venue bar until the early hours, the guys set off on the drive south to Knebworth and the Sonisphere Festival.

Now the guys have played festivals before, Download here in the UK twice, Warped Tour in the US and just last year, 2 in China of all places; but Knebworth is the iconic venue of all things rock for the past 35 years: The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Oasis, Robbie Williams… over 100 major artists have played Knebworth festivals since their inception in 1974, in front of over two million fans.

So kind of a big deal really, but how does a relatively unknown non metal band from Cali get the gig?

“All props go to our agent and close friend, Ed Sellers. He really pushed to make it happen.

Festivals are always fun. This was different in that it was a metal festival all the way but that made the reaction [..we received] so much better in a way”

What it meant was going back to the old days of the Warped tour and having to walk the crowd handing out flyers before show time, to try and prise an audience away from The Cult no less. A daunting step?

Oh I like that. Great way to meet people. Keeps you humble. It’s cool when they actually show up- it’s like… I know you from the sausage stand!

Well all that time at the sausage stand seems to have paid off and the band defied expectation and filled out their tent for a raucous 30 minute set, which by all accounts has drawn in a good few new fans as well as 3K’s from Kerrang. And yes, there was still time to chill out and savour the full festival experience and catch a few legends whilst going about it.

Well Rammstein is something everyone needs to see once. Maiden, of course, out of principle. Was cool to see Madina Lake do their thing- didn’t catch as many [bands] as we’d like- too much to do at those things but some of the guys got their pic with Brian Posehn which they were stoked about. (American Comedian)

Flying high after Soni, but no time to rest on their laurels, the band had dates to play in Southampton and then London before heading up to Birmingham for the final stop on this mini trip around the UK.

Wandering into Academy 3 just 45 minutes after doors opened, there was already over 150 people in the venue, most of who seemed to be hitting the merch table with vengeance and a rapid turnover of shirts and cds was taking place.

And then Aaron, Chris, Dan, Kai, Mike and Owen hit the stage for their last show on UK soil and a great review can be found here:  http://the-music-review.tumblr.com/ (Review credit to Catie Martin)

But Chris’ reaction to the show, which, by request pulled some real old school tunes from the back catalogue, sums it up nicely:

Fuck yeah.

Yeah it’s always interesting to see what songs mean alot to people. Some we figured but there were some surprises for sure. “It Never Rains In Los Angeles” and “Some Happy Ending” took us by surprise.

For a band that has always seemed to be having as much fun onstage as those in the crowd, this tour the ‘fun’ level seemed to have been ramped up another notch.

I think it was. I think we were just so happy to be over there again- the positive vibes were through the roof.

And so, despite financial stress and hassles in getting over here, a tour that could have been seen by cynics as a retrograde step – no tour bus, sleeping on floors, loading their own van appears to have been a resounding success.

We’ve never forgotten what it’s all about: Music, friends, family.

Judging by the reaction at the shows that Nova witnessed, Army of Freshmen will be more than welcome to revisit Blighty anytime soon and if the grins of the band, after the last show are anything to go by, they will be considering selling their own Grandparents to get back.

The band recently headlined The Punks Play for Autism gig that received the supported of notable punk acts such as Green Day, Frank Turner, Against Me and Billy Talent as well as the single receiving the backing of indie pop singer/songwriter Kate Nash.  Better Place to be released on the 3rd August 2010 …. Check out the video here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihia1EOFWSY

The Razorbax announce the release of their debut single ‘Better Place’ in support of Polly Tommey’s Autism Trust.  The four piece Modern Punk group from Wolverhampton have committed all proceeds from the sale of their debut single to The Autism Trust to help build centres of excellence for people who have Autism and their families. The band and their management are committed to raising Autism awareness and funds to help the 6 million people whose lives are affected by Autism in the UK alone, evidenced by the startling success of the recent Punks Play for Autism gig at London’s Premiere Live music venue The Luminaire Club, where fans came from the USA, Canada, Australia and across Europe to support the cause.  Band front-man Leigh Bucknall said that “the band we’re hoping that by releasing the single and getting local and national coverage they can help raise awareness about Autism and more importantly funds,  that will enable The Autism trust fulfil their commitment to aid the development of a network of consistently outstanding and innovative outreach centres for autism to provide help and support to individuals with autism but also to their families and those involved with their care, support, ongoing education and development.”

Punks Play for Autism – 3 months ago who would have thought the two terms Punk and Autism would be placed in a the same sentence, except when someone who was ill informed, described an Autistic child’s behaviour….

Well, Friday 18th June 2010 put paid to old stereotypes and preconceptions about both Autism and Punk Music. The evening had been a long time in the planning, but a team of committed individuals from Nova-Caine Music and The Autism Trust put on a show to rival the very best, with 3 acts that came together for a night of music to help raise funds and awareness about Autism.

From the introduction when the crowd was asked to gather round for the first act and listen to a speech delivered by Autism Trust representative Kate Barber, to the scenes at the end with many of the crowd on stage in a free for all sing-a-long with headline act The Razorbax and the other bands, the night was filled with the air of people committed to a cause that touches over 6 million people in the UK alone, and affects many people in the crowd that night either directly or indirectly.

Opening the night were The Write Off’s, an old school Punk act whose drummer suffers from Aspergers syndrome.What better way to start the evening than playing to a packed crowd.

The Write Offs got the crowd on their feet with their brand of Punk that evoked memories of nights at CBGBs and what it was to be a Punk back in the 70s but with a modern and relevant edge. The set may have been short but the impact was immediate and people knew they were in for a night of great music.

Balancing the need to raise funds and awareness is never easy, but the interludes between acts was used wisely and briefly to promote the cause, and remind people that raffle tickets were on sale for some excellent signed memorabilia donated by Warner Music, Atlantic Records, Frank Turner and of course Green Day. Sets were switched round in quick order with the night flipping between Punk Rock, To Acousta-Punk, back to Punk.

The second act was Sam Moloney, a rare talent known to Nova-Caine from a captivating cameo performance at the X109 Festival. Taking the stage with just an acoustic guitar and a bag full of amazing songs; he opened the night acapella , stomping his foot to a beat and blasting out a tune that once again left the audience spellbound and in no doubt that the next few songs were to be listened to, the crowd soon clapping along to the opening song in time with the beat of his foot. Sam is an all too rare talent in today’s music market place, a musician, singer/songwriter, and poet, his songs are both melodic, poignant and angry much in the Frank Turner or Billy Bragg mould but with his own distinctive style and take on his music and the world around him. Commanding the respect of his peers to such an extent that Leigh Bucknall, lead singer with The Razorbax insisted on introducing him, to a standing ovation. Sam’s set left an appreciative crowd wanting more; knowing that a headline act was to follow the question was could the music on the night get any better.

With a brief interlude the sale of raffle tickets was brisk with people facing an impossible dilemma of whether to queue for the bar or the merchandise stall first.

The Razorbax were coming and the crowd were expectant, the background music was changing. The Ramones, and The Clash were doing their bit via the in-house audio system to build the anticipation with a crowd containing people from all over the UK, Europe, Australia and America the chant was starting ‘Razorbax’, ‘Razorbax’ …. It was too late, no time for introductions the crowd knew what they wanted and they wanted it now, bursting on stage came The Razorbax to cheers, squeals and applause. This may not have been an arena or stadium, but closing your eyes for a second and feeling the energy in the room could have left you believing you were in the pit at the MEN or NEC. The acoustics at The Luminaire club are good enough for you to believe it as the noise comes straight back down from the low ceilings, and the music comes straight off the stage and into your appreciative ears.

Blasting through their recent album release ‘Something to Believe In’ The Razorbax held the stage and the room was bouncing up until the final song …. Thank you and good night … The band left the stage. Was that it? Not on your life, Leigh returned to the stage for a much demanded encore, with just an acoustic guitar and introduced the official song for the evening ‘Better Place’, a single to be released soon with all proceeds donated to The Autism Trust.

Visibly moved that the song was so well known in the crowd as they sang along; Leigh delivered it with power and passion that had the room wiping away the odd tear; even amongst the hard core punks in the crowd. Was that it, no way this was a show, but The Razorbax were turning it into an event, delivering two more songs from the album the band left the stage to cheers and chants of ‘1 more song’, ‘1 more song’. A few discussions back stage ensued, and again they take the stage blasting out ‘Shooting Stars’, a brilliant tune that never made the final album; which goes someway to demonstrating how good the album actually is.

Then with a final blast of the guitar a nod, a bow and a thank you, goodnight they were gone……… but the crowd weren’t ready to go yet, the last trains were leaving the station and people still hadn’t had enough. With a few thank you’s to deliver at the end, Nova-Caine were wrapping up when a few people stormed the stage demanding one more song; coming back on the band delivered a few classic Green Day numbers finishing with Good Riddance with a stage full of people helping (or hindering but at that point who cared) deliver the final sounds of the night before the star raffle draw closed the night, with Greet Druyts from Beerse, Belgium winning the signed 21st Century Vinyl Book Set, the only copy in the world signed by the entire touring Green Day line-up.

In a round of cheers and hoarse thank yous, the evening came to a close and people drifted away with smiles on their faces, a ringing in their ears and knowing that they had contributed to a worthy cause what Better Place could there have been to spend an evening….

A Very Special Thank You from all the staff at Nova-Caine goes to:

Every single person that bought a ticket in advance or on the night, all those that have shown us support we thank you, thank you, thank you!

Polly Tommey, Kate Barber and Natasha at The Autism Trust, for helping us and supporting us with the event and single release

Kat Mitchell and Jess Chambers who worked the box office and merchandise stand on the night and helped set up during the day

Graham Mitchell, for helping on the day and doing the photography and videoing on the night

Tim Mallender for pitching in where and when needed and just been around to lend a hand.

Jon Hancock for recommending The Luminaire Club to Nova-Caine as a venue……

Frid Solheim at The Luminaire Club for putting up with Nova-Caine’s endless emails and stupid questions, we think the final stupid question count was 4,904,222…. Thanks Frid you made the night run a lot smoother than we could have hoped.

Andy Inglis and all the staff at the Luminaire Club.

Massive thank you to

Kerry Harris, Janette Clutton and Dorie Watts, you know what you did

The Write Offs, Sam Moloney and The Razorbax, whose music and passion made the night what it was.

Warner Music
Atlantic Records
Frank Turner

And of Course, Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool, Mike Dirnt, Jason White, Jason Freeze, Jeff Matika aka Green Day, Bill Schneider and Scott Pelkey from the Green Day family for an awesome and unexpected raffle prize x …..

The Razorbax will headline the Punks Play for Autism Gig

The Razorbax to Headline Punks Play for Autism Gig.

Tickets ON-SALE NOW http://www.wegottickets.com/event/80163

PROMOTION T-SHIRTS AVAILABLE FROM : http://www.nova-caine.com/punks-play-for-autism-t-shirt.html

The Razorbax will headline The Punks Play for Autism Concert at the Luminaire Club, the UK’s best Live Music venue, in Kilburn High Road, London.    The concert is in support of  The Autism Trust and aims to highlight autism issues.  With thousands of punks descending on London on the weekend of the 18th June to attend the Wembley Stadium show that punk legends Green Day are headlining, Nova-Caine Music and The Razorbax, wanted to take the opportunity to raise autism awareness by throwing a benefit concert for The Autism Trust, an excellent organisation we feel exhibits a punk attitude to getting autism into the spotlight and lobbying the Government to take action to help those within the autistic spectrum  and their families.  The founder of The Autism Trust, Polly Tommey, has challenged the Governments’ thinking with some radical, innovative and dare we say punkish campaigns. That is why we at Nova-Caine Music and The Razorbax are delighted to support The Trust and their work.

A ‘Better Place’

In addition to the benefit concert The Razorbax, will be releasing their debut single Better Place with all proceeds going to The Autism Trust.  Release date is to be confirmed but the video for the song can now be seen below.

“We are delighted to be associated with The Autism Trust” said front-man Leigh Bucknall, “We have fans that are autistic and these same fans helped spread the word when our album was released on the 15th March, which drove it up the download charts on Amazon”. When asked to explain further Leigh added “In addition to some of our fans, our Management team have nephews that are autistic and when we sat and talked after a gig one night it became a no-brainer, and from there it sort of took on a life of its own”.

“Our Management team contacted The Autism Trust who expressed an interest in what we were trying to do, so once we had the charity support the team started looking for suitable venues and the support acts.”

“It’s an even bigger buzz knowing that The Write Offs have a member in the band who has Asperger Syndrome (part of the autistic spectrum) and that they’ll be sharing the stage with us, it’s sort of the cream on the top for us, and breaks down stereo-types and starts a conversation with a message that maybe we think we’re aware of autism but really we just know its name. Hopefully it will add to the interest and awareness surrounding autism and encourage young people to find out more.”

At Nova-Caine Music the job is a simple one, when you have great music and a great cause; all we have to do is join the dots and spread the message, autism isn’t just about the ‘Rain Man’ image of a high functioning ‘oddball’ or about a non-communicative child. It affects many different people in many different ways.

What we wanted to do with the aid of The Autism Trust is raise awareness that Autism is a highly variable disorder, and the effects on the individual and the families are equally varied.

The question may be – so why “Punks Play for Autism”? Well frankly, it was things like the common misconception that autistic children prefer being alone, when the reality is often very different; whilst making and maintaining friendships maybe difficult, it’s the quality not quantity of friends that dictate how lonely they feel.  Not to trivialise autism in any way we could see similarities when a lack of information and awareness lead to  the situation of front-man Leigh Bucknall being told at the Job Centre, that ‘his’ sort (punks) don’t make friends or mix well with others, which of course couldn’t be further from reality.

We think this lack of understanding and awareness is something that will resonate with a lot of the fans of The Razorbax and of punk music. We have the feeling that if we can educate and inform the up and coming generation then maybe like we’ve seen with The Autism Trust, those young and aware voters will also force the issue of Autism support and care up the political agenda.

Other bands sharing the stage with The Razorbax are

Sam Moloney

The Write Offs

SH!ftY SaRaH

Tickets ON-SALE NOW http://www.wegottickets.com/event/80163/

£6.00 in advance, £8.00 on the door.

Chris Jay - Photo by Rachel Clare

So with the latest onslaught of snow, rain & wind battering the UK, Nova took advantage of a bit of California sunshine and chatted with Chris Jay, lead singer with our good friends Army of Freshmen……….

Nova: Hey Chris, so what’s the weather like in Cali today?

CJ: Gorgeous. I’m at a desk with massive windows staring at blue sky over the Pacific Ocean. Sometimes you forget why you live here and pay so much to do so but the weather is heaven.

Nova: Nice! I’m not in the least bit jealous, ha. Well, for the people in Nova-land that have been living under a rock for the past 10 years; give us a quick background to Army of Freshmen.

CJ: Hard to do a short version but… boy from NJ goes to CA, makes friends, starts band, works hard, tours, makes records, works harder, tours internationally, has great time, music industry eats shit, struggles, still works hard, happy story for the most part.

Nova: Good to hear it’s mostly happy, so after a hectic couple of years with 2 album releases, something like 10 tours in the US & UK and a visit to China, all has been quiet in freshman-land recently, apart from a few local shows, how have you guys been spending your downtime?
CJ: Well… we’re all working various jobs paying bills etc… but in the meantime we’ve done some producing of other artists, Kai and I acted in a small movie coming out this year, we’ve got songs in a few movies coming out, Aaron and I have developed a cartoon show and we’ve been writing some new AOF songs which the world will hear sooner than later.

Nova: Ooooh, any clues on when how soon we can expect to get our grubby little hands on the recordings you have been working on?

CJ: You’re not supposed to know about that. In fact I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m gonna need to see some identification… is that you Owen?!?

Nova: *Coughs & blushes*. Moving swiftly on; now that the majority of the band could be considered mature students rather than freshmen, do you still find it easy to connect with the majority of your fans, most of whom are not old enough to drink?

CJ: Sure. I mean some things are universal and have no age attached. Love, loss, dreams, hope, happiness, that always means something to any age but of course when you meet someone and their big problem is getting an F on a test and getting grounded and your big problem is not paying the rent and getting evicted well… there is a separation there but hey perception is reality.

Nova: On the subject of connecting with fans, is Myspace dead?

CJ: Certainly feels that way and I love it but it’s gotten confused and covered in spam. Not nearly as fun as it used to be checking the inbox.

Nova: Everyone has moved to the darkside with Facebook & Twitter, I suppose
Army of Freshmen can be found on both: Facebook & Twitter
Nova: Ever been tempted to call it a day & hit the 9-5 grind?

CJ: NEVER! It’s all I’ve known doing and working in some form of music from working at music management companies to promoting shows to writing about music. It’s kind of all I know. Couldn’t see me sitting in a cubicle selling widgets.

Nova: Great to hear, although I’m partial to a nice widget myself, so any room on your next tour for Novas’ favourite UK band – The Razorbax?

CJ: I’ll check um out. Love finding good new music.

Nova: And you all should too, dear readers!! Which leads on nicely to my next question: . As you know, Nova-Caine is trying to make it easier for unsigned and independent bands to reach out and achieve their dreams; do you guys have any advice for bands just starting out on their journey?

CJ: Just spoke about this with Aaron at a conference. Lots of advice but it depends on what you want out of it- the days of superstardom are long gone. Do it because you love it. Work harder than the next guy. Work with your friends. Have fun and things will happen. Write songs and play live – practice makes perfect. While you need to spend a lot of time online promoting there’s more to it than that.

Nova: Yes, unlike what NME & The X factor would have us believe, it’s not all about image, so your image….. Any embarrassing hairstyles over the years? (Nova has photos)

CJ: Yes. In one of our first press photos- I had a Prince Valiant cut. Didn’t really stand the test of time. Jeez- we’ve all had bad ones.

Nova: Indeed, a picture of that hairstyle could be made available to a lucky fan for the right price ;>) Ha ha.

Nova: talking of fans…. Most popular fan question – Will we see AOF on tour this year? Both in the US & UK?

CJ: Yes. Maybe not as much as we have in the past- nobody really is out as much as they were when the economy was better but we’ll be doing some shows for sure. Keep checking the sites!

Nova: So that will be Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,  Army of Freshmen & of course Nova-Caine for all your AOF needs & news

Nova: Now a question that will be familiar to UK fans of Soccer AM: Who is the longest in the shower?

CJ: Well Kai takes a LONG shower but Mike’s been known to spend some time in there as well primping. : > )

Nova: . Talking of showers, who abandoned their black socks in a hotel bathroom in Leeds on your last tour?

CJ: Not me cause I don’t wear black socks but I always ditch old socks on the road- keeping them around can only lead to bad things.

Nova: Hmmm, so detective Nova will have to keep digging on that question….Kai & Owen are prime suspects now. Right, quick fire round: 10 questions…..go!

Cat or Dog? Dog. Wasn’t till recently but once I got hooked there was no turning back. The best.

Boxers or briefs? Boxers. Holding out. I think boxer briefs make you look like an out of shape cage fighter but I’m the last AOF member standing on that.

Plain or plaid? Plaid. I like plaid. Bring it back. Bosstones style!

Coffee or tea? Tea. I have never had a cup of coffee in my life. That always freaks people out. I’m addicted to ice tea though.

Milk or dark (chocolate)? Milk. Dark’s a little too much.

Cd or vinyl? Vinyl. Big ass covers- keeping um in plastic bags. The best to collect but CDs are easier- they’re both dead now though.

Pepsi or coke? Pepsi but Coke in a bottle is great.

Sun or snow? Snow but not too much of it. The east coast is still digging out.

Clubs or festivals? To play- festivals! To go to see a show- clubs.

Movie or book? Both. : > )

Nova: So the one word answer concept is yet to hit California, I see.
Well, after all that excitement, all I can say is thanks very much for taking time out to do this for us, Chris and we look forward to seeing and hearing what comes out of the Freshmen locker very soon, we hope.

I need a coffee now, where are the Nova minions??

Official Band Web Site : http://www.armyoffreshmen.com/

23rd March 2010 – If you were there then mark it in your diary, if you weren’t then what the hell was more important than watching four lads from Wolverhampton storm the stage at the O2 Academy 2 Islington…

From the sound-check to the final chords of Couldn’t Wait,  The Razorbax laid seige to the intimate surroundings  of this iconic venue.    Watching the lads take the stage for sound check with a quiet assurance that comes from just knowing your so damn good at what you do, the sound engineer politely asked if the boys wouldn’t mind checking the levels for their loudest song, 2 bars in and the engineer had whipped off his ear phones and was waving furiously for the boys to stop while he regained what was left of his hearing, again politely enquiring if  Louis the drummer could possibly hit the drums a little lighter, the immediate response was, “well can’t you just turn everybody else up”, and so there it was the scene had been set, The Razorbax were coming for your ears and they weren’t going to be ignored…..

And so with sound check complete the boys were ready to do business with the London public, bringing along a following in excess of all the other bands playing that night they were ready…

Welcoming the London crowd and then bursting into Wake Up, they seized the crowds attention and those that had never heard them play before were about to never forget their first time in the company of The Razorbax, delivered with precision, passion and great ease the crowd stood captivated, and dare I say those unfamiliar with the boys work were soon tapping their feet along and nodding their heads in appreciation as the boys slipped effortlessly from one track to the next, the set linked up neatly with some witty banter, between the band and the crowd, lead singer Leigh Bucknall even pausing as the band were about to strike up into Stupid Boy to ask if anybody knew the score in the West Ham v Wolves game, that level of interaction and ease with the crowd is often only ever seen with bands that have filled stadiums and arena’s who have honed their act over years of touring.  The Razorbax are so at home on stage that you start to wonder how much better they’re going to get and how long it will be before they’re filling those stadiums and arena’s.

With a set list comprising of  Wake Up, Something to Believe in, Maggie, To have and to have not, Stupid Boy, Don’t, Picture on my Wall, Shot Down, and Couldn’t Wait, to say they were supposed to be onstage for 20mins it was closer to the 40 and from the reaction of the crowd you could have wagered that they’d liked to have seen another 40.  With the set complete you could see the crowd, turn and search out the merchandise stall, with the crowd taken I think  The Razorbax will once more get a calling from London…..

If you weren’t there then we’ve only one thing to say STUPID BOY! (or Girl)

If there was any doubt of The Razorbax global reaching and growing international fan base then we have included this email received at the Nova-Caine Offices following the gig in London….. Sent in by J’Net Newton a fan from Oklahoma en-route to see the American Idiot Musical in New York….

“I was talking to some random young college guy on one of my planes yesterday, and he asked me why I was going to NY. I told him a bit about the show and some of my Green Day activities. Then we started talking about other music, and I mentioned the Razorbax. He said, “Oh yeah, I just heard of them just the other day – my friend in India knows some people in Europe and he told me about them. Aren’t they from England?”

Just wish you could have seen the look on my face :LOL:! Gobsmacked doesn’t even start to describe it!!!

Just thought y’all might like to hear about this… ? .”

Check Out the X109 Festival! I’m Going!!! Click Here