Now And Next: Stereoboard's Ones To Watch For 2023

A new year always brings with it the chance to find something fresh that says something about where you are in your life right now, or where you'd like to be a little way down the line. Here are Stereoboard's picks for the most exciting artists to keep an eye on as 2023 rolls on.

Written by: Maddy Howell and Emma Wilkes | Date: Wednesday, 11 January 2023

'It Has To Feel Like An Adventure': Ville Valo On Life After HIM And His Solo Debut 'Neon Noir'

Photo: Juha Mustonen All good things must come to an end. At Helsinki’s storied rock club Tavastia in 2017, Finnish love-metal pioneers HIM took their final bow at their traditional New Year’s Eve hometown show, sealing their fate with a bloody kiss as their fans celebrated a quarter of a century filled with peculiar shadows and majestic darkness.

Written by: Maddy Howell | Date: Tuesday, 10 January 2023

Release and Resilience: Circa Waves Pull Together With 'Never Going Under'

Photo: Lewis Vorne A new year might mean a fresh start, but let’s not kid ourselves. Without wanting to break your optimistic spell faster than most of us abandon those overly ambitious annual resolutions, all the world’s ills won’t be solved by a simple change of date.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 09 January 2023

The List: Stereoboard's Top Tickets Of 2022

td#right {display:none !important;} The impact of COVID-19 is still being felt throughout the music industry, but this year's numbers make it clear that the appetite for live events is as voracious as ever, with a gobsmacking 39, 128, 765 searches for tour dates over the past 12 months via Stereoboard, up from 16, 790, 678 in 2021. 

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 20 December 2022

It's All Connected: Volbeat's Rob Caggiano on Doing Something That Feels Important

The American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once claimed, “Music is the universal language of mankind.” If we take that aphorism as gospel, then New York native Rob Caggiano is a very fluent linguist indeed. Supremely accomplished in the fine art of rock ‘n’ roll guitar, and able to switch between genres with dexterous ease, his six-string work with Anthrax, The Damned Things and Volbeat has connected with audiences all over the globe.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 14 December 2022

The List: Stereoboard's Best Albums of 2022

td#right {display:none !important;} Welcome back, folks. It’s been another whirlwind year of tunes, tunes and more tunes, with the return to shows also looming large in our minds. Here you’ll find our favourite albums of the past 12 months, arranged in no particular order because ranking art is pointless and self-defeating. We hope you’ll find something new to love here, and we'll see you at the front soon.  

Written by: Stereoboard | Date: Tuesday, 13 December 2022

'You're going to be wowed!': Danny Beard Talks Winning RuPaul's Drag Race UK And Series Four Tour

“I’m literally sat here in a fur coat, no knickers and a crown. What a better way to sum it up,” Danny Beard says, perched on a chaise longue in a candle-lit room on the other end of a Zoom call. The Liverpool-born, Manchester-based drag queen, also known as Daniel Curtis, was recently crowned the winner of season four of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and Stereoboard caught up with them following the finale to discuss their time on the show.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 02 December 2022

The Journey of Our Lives: How Larkin Poe Paved The Way to 'Blood Harmony'

Photo: Jason Stoltzfus To listen to American roots duo Larkin Poe is to hear passion, authenticity, commitment and unity. All those qualities flow through the collective veins of siblings Rebecca and Megan Lovell, resulting in forward-thinking anthems built on a deep reverence for both their cultural lineage and the musical pioneers who’ve inspired their life’s work.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 15 November 2022

Here to Entertain: Within Temptation Talk Worlds Collide Tour With Evanescence

Photo: Tim Tronckoe After three long years, having been rescheduled four times due to the pandemic, the highly anticipated co-headline tour between Dutch symphonic metal titans Within Temptation and superstar American rockers Evanescence is finally about to land on UK shores. If good things come to those who wait, both bands should deliver enough of a spectacle to reward fans who’ve been patiently anticipating such a mouth-watering bill. 

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 11 November 2022

Fast, Loud, Live: Clutch On Returning to the Road With 'Sunrise On Slaughter Beach'

Photo: Dan Winters If Maryland rockers Clutch had a dollar for every time their latest release was hailed as the best of their career, their bank account would resemble the GDP of a small country and they could easily retire. But for a group who live to create immense studio records and unrivalled live shows, any notion of walking away would be, at best, unthinkable and, at worst, musical blasphemy.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 10 November 2022

The Shape of Post-Rock to Come: Brutus on the Crushing Beauty of 'Unison Life'

Photo: Eva Vlonk Ghent is a gorgeous place. A small Flemish city a 45 minute drive north-west of Brussels, its biggest draw is its wide open squares surrounded by 12th century architecture and cathedrals. It’s also a low-key hotbed for forward-thinking music.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Tuesday, 01 November 2022

'We're Not As Scary As We Look, Unless You Piss Us Off': Meet Witch Fever

Witch Fever aren’t always angry, they promise. “We’re actually all pretty fucking weird,” clarifies guitarist Alisha Yarwood. “We’re all weird in our own ways. Even when the music’s serious and the lyrics are serious, we do want to bring good vibes.”

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 27 October 2022

Life, Love and Loss: Taylor Momsen on the Rebirth of The Pretty Reckless

​ If it’s true that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, The Pretty Reckless vocalist Taylor Momsen could probably bench press a herd of elephants. Much like the band she’s fronted for the past 13 years, the former child actor turned rock ‘n’ roll force of nature has repeatedly shown how the resilience of the human spirit can triumph over all forms of adversity.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 25 October 2022

Parkway Drive's UK Tour Underlines Their Readiness as Festival Headliners

Many metalheads may think Iron Maiden and Metallica are what make our world go round, but the anthems and stage shows from the revered OGs have become aged, tired and bloated in recent times. In a scene where most of the commercial success is still being hoarded by older icons, is it time for festivals to listen to the clamour for a fresh new headliner to be elevated to the major leagues?

Written by: Jon Stickler | Date: Friday, 14 October 2022

'The New Move Was Less is More': Myles Kennedy on Alter Bridge's 'Pawns & Kings'

Photo: Chuck Brueckmann Many of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll groups were founded on a scintillating partnership between an iconic vocalist and the guitar god blazing away by their side. In recent times, that unwaveringly cool axis has been reimagined by Alter Bridge’s Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti, a refreshingly grounded duo whose combined magic is as spellbinding as ever on the band’s epic new record ‘Pawns & Kings’.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 12 October 2022

New Chapter: The Coronas Discuss Their Sonic Reinvention on 'Time Stopped'

It’s often said that a change is as good as a rest. In recent years Irish indie-rockers The Coronas more than proved the validity of the proverb, having come through an eventful period that saw them split with a key band member and temporarily lose the ability to tour. Using those situations to their advantage, both 2021’s ‘True Love Waits’ and this year’s ‘Time Stopped’ have seen the now three-piece outfit boldly leap into fresh pastures with excellent results.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 07 October 2022

The Next World: Krystal Versace Talks New Solo Show, RuPaul's Drag Race UK And Tour Life

Imagine reaching one of the biggest milestones of your career at 19. While many that age were navigating their first year of university, Krystal Versace, the drag queen created by Luke Fenn, was busy being crowned the winner of the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, making them the youngest competitor to snatch the crown in the show’s history.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 06 October 2022

Permanent and Infinite: Counting Crows' Adam Duritz on Making Music That Lasts

Photo: Mark Seliger The best songwriters refuse to compromise themselves for anyone or anything.  Such a strong,  unwavering commitment to artistic integrity, though, renders them immune to outside pressures—they are unmoved by those who don’t understand their process and unapologetic about the time it takes to craft their music. If ever a songsmith embodied those ideals, it’s Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 05 October 2022

Feel Something: A.A. Williams On Writing As Therapy and 'As The Moon Rests'

A.A Williams’ music is heavy. Not in a crushing, noisy sense, but in terms of the emotional currents that run through it. It’s heavy. Speaking a few days after her headline show at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, though, she’s decidedly warm and upbeat, and with good reason.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Tuesday, 04 October 2022

Good Grief: Titus Andronicus Frontman Patrick Stickles on Love, Loss and 'The Will To Live'

It doesn't take long sitting with Patrick Stickles, the black-clad, heavily bearded and wildly literate frontman of New Jersey's finest punk band, Titus Andronicus, to notice that a new found contentment and happiness appears to be radiating from him. And the reasons are made almost immediately clear. “I’m married and I take my medication,” he beams, flashing his wedding ring at the screen.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Wednesday, 28 September 2022