Interview: Ashestoangels

Ashestoangels are riding the crest of a wave – hitting festival line-ups and support slots left, right and centre, there’s no putting down these new horror punk heroes. Bursting onto the Download Festival Dogtooth stage is one of their many commitments and a clear indicator of a band that’s about to shatter the glass ceiling any moment now.

Frontman Adam Crilly tells Already Heard how he feels about Download Festival, fronting the “new grave” movement and what My Chemical Romance means to him.

AH: First time at Download, how’s it feeling?
Adam: Scary! I don’t really get nervous but there are so many things that are out of my control at Download, I think that might be it. I’m used to being in charge! Camden Rocks the other week was the first time I played with no sound check and I wasn’t relaxed from the get-go, normally the worry eats into the first five minutes but I had such a great time because it was such a great day!

AH: You’ve been camping here since Thursday, how’s the weather treated you?
Crilly: Thursday was glorious and Friday morning was glorious and then I don’t know what the fuck happened, did we anger the sky gods?!

AH: Going out to brave the weather for Maiden later?
Crilly: Of course! I’ve seen NOFX so that was my favourite must-see this year. There’s a ten-minute window where we’re the only band playing at the entire festival.

AH: You said on social media earlier you’d have to cancel your set because you broke your nail… have you recovered from that trauma yet?
Crilly: It was purple a minute ago, but we’re gonna be alright… I think.

AH: You’re based in Bristol these days, great for venues – favourite Bristol venue?
Crilly: It used to be The Croft but now it’s gone so I do love the Fleece especially when it’s full.

AH: So how have you guys been since we last saw you with Aiden?
Crilly: Things are fine now! Our boy Chris Kiddier has joined us again, he used to play with us and we’ve known him forever so it’s a pleasure to have him back. Everyone’s just been keeping it warm for him.

AH: You’ve got such a dedicated fanbase out there, you could easily crowdfund the next album and you’d be well in!
Crilly: We tried that on the album before the last one and it made us feel like the creative process was more of a commodity. I really like the idea of getting everyone involved but it got to the point where it felt like we were running a music store and it wasn’t our band so I’d rather people being able to be as involved or as uninvolved as they like. Sometimes it can feel like you’re giving it away while people contribute with their pocket. We write these songs so that people can sing along, not to give us £27 off Spotify!

AH: You’re becoming frontrunners for this “new grave” movement these days.
Crilly: Yeah we were given that ball and we just started running with it! It’s quite fun, I like how ambiguous it is, it’s just been a really cool but crazy couple of months where we’re just everywhere doing that thing. You always want to be at the end of a movement like that and be just like My Chemical Romance…

AH: Speaking of which, favourite MCR era?
Crilly: Well ‘Three Cheers’ was the first record I got, then ‘Black Parade’ is the last album I got excited about when it came out. It was just as good as I was hoping – maybe I’ve grown a lot older and more cynical since then but everything since ‘Black Parade’ by any band hasn’t lived up to it! That’s a really sweeping statement that’s probably not true. It’s so good but I went back to ‘Danger Days’ and I like it more now than I did at first, but the bar was set so high. Being the goth kid with the makeup, ‘Black Parade’ and ‘Three Cheers’ really spoke to me, but now we’re moving onto a post-apocalyptic wasteland… like what? I don’t feel like I’m wearing a costume I can put on and off to fit concepts, this is just me.

’How to Bleed’ by Ashestoangels is out now on Horror Cult Inc.

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