Signals. [Interview]
Long-time TMMP favourites Signals. are nothing if not ambitious, combining the best elements of math-rock and pop – two very different genres – into something vibrant, exciting, and fresh. A year ago, Signals. were sitting on one of my favourite EPs of the year; today, they’ve got a successful Kickstarter campaign, a new song (Sleep Talk), and a new record deal under their belts – and the heavily-anticipated party starts on October 19th with the commencement of Signals.’ quirkily-monikered ‘Sleep TourK’.
Read on to learn more about Signals., the joys of connection, and the intense demands of their most private creative ritual – exclusively revealed below. Read more…
Although I’ve already reviewed Simeon Baker’s EP, I wanted to come back to this brilliant piece of acoustic virtuoso mastery and bask in its rays for a bit. 
Wearing your influences on your sleeve can be a risky business. It’s a precarious tightrope walk between sound-alike copycat crap (let’s be honest – if you sound exactly like a famous band with a big discography, all you’re going to do is make your listeners head toward that band and forget you in the process), and diluted and directionless wishy-washiness. Few bands manage to keep their balance.
In an age of imagination-free and creatively void copycats, bands like Heel stand head and shoulders above the rest. 
Three minutes and thirty-five seconds ago, I was knackered. As in, ready to drop and not get up again for a good few weeks.
Turning a first name into a brand name can be a risky proposition. On the one hand, it’s great for solo artists as it’s more personal than hiding behind a pseudonym – but on the other, it makes it very difficult for people to search for you online. There are many Erikas in the world – especially on Spotify, where you can find Erikas playing everything from acoustic folk standards to dark, brooding electronica, lounge jazz, and even six albums worth of accordion music. Google “Erika music” and the top hits are for a dermatology consultant (Dr Erika N. Music – 
Scrappy. Rough around the edges. Grooves like a hard-rocking, JD-fuelled badass. Opening track Edge of the Bed is (and/or does) all of these things. Strike takes a more laid-back approach, grinding slinky soul and unforgiving backbeats into fine powder and exhaling it into a thick cloud of cigar smoke. Even my laptop’s on-the-hour spoken time updates want in on the action, dropping in in perfect time as if this digital stream were pressing a knife made of ones and zeroes into Apple-branded circuitry. 
First things first. Beneath Dead Waves are a great band. They clearly know their shit; their instrumental technique is borderline flawless; and any self-respecting metalhead will find something to love on Inertia. Personally, I felt as if this album had been written just for me, clearly influenced as it is by many of the bands that defined me as a metal fan. There’re moments that bring to mind Dream Theater, Tool, Mudvayne, SikTh, Slipknot, and Meshuggah – and it’s clear that Beneath Dead Waves love those bands as much as I do (if not more). For that reason, Inertia has earned a special place in my heart. 
The Easter weekend is always a good time to let your hair down, forget the workaday world, and just have some fun. You can drink, you can dance, and thank that guy with the crown of thorns and Men’s Health covershoot abs for giving you the opportunity. ![LH_RMX_1600[2][3][1]](http://themusicalmeltingpot.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/lh_rmx_1600231.jpg)