Author: Logan Rocker

In 2014, despite fearing a backlash, Ne Obliviscaris launched a crowdfunding campaign that enabled them to finance a world tour – something no other band had achieved at the time. In 2023 Tim Charles and then-bandmate Marc ‘Xenoyr’ Campbell told Prog how it happened.

---

“There are plenty of people we know where we’re the most extreme band they listen to – but they got hooked by a section of a song that wasn’t metal,” Tim Charles says of his band Ne Obliviscaris. “Plus, you know, not all bands have a violinist.

“It’s intense in many different directions. It’s not quickly digested. If you listen to it once, you’re only going to get part of it. You’ve got to listen to it multiple times to appreciate everything that’s going on.”

“It’s music with beautiful extremes,” adds bandmate Marc ‘Xenoyr’ Campbell, who’s responsible for their harsh vocals and lyrics. Both he and clean vocalist/violinist agree their output is extreme progressive metal featuring elements of classical and even jazz.

The part-Australian, part-European band’s first decade were spent trying to establish themselves and lock down a line-up. It wasn’t until they released debut album Portal Of I in 2012 that things began to change – but even then, the members didn’t expect to be anything other than an underground band.

“I remember wondering how many people could really get into this progressive, extreme violin metal stuff,” Charles says. “Literally one week after Portal Of I came out, we were contacted by Season Of Mist, saying, ‘We want to offer you a record deal.’ We’d spent nine years trying to get anywhere and now we had a deal for three albums.”

He gives credit to the label’s international stature their next stage of development. “We were getting offers to do overseas tours when Citadel came out in 2014.” But they had no money to fund such adventures. That’s when they decided to do what no band had successfully done to date – they launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund their road trip.

It was set up with the intention of raising $40,000AUD (around £23,000 at the time) – and the goal was met within 38 hours of launch, and eventually brought in a total of $86,000AUD, allowing them to visit Asia, Europe, the UK and North America.

Ne Obliviscaris built on the experience by launching a Patreon account in 2016. Back then, using the platform to offer fans early access to music, tickets and exclusive merch was unusual. Their success was another first.

“We were the first band in the world to use that as a way of making a living,” Charles says, confirming they do well enough to pay each member a full-time wage, allowing them to focus on their music.

“We were expecting a bit of backlash for that,” Campbell admits, making the point that at no time is it mandatory for fans to contribute. “But if you care too much what people think, you’re never going to get anywhere.”

“Weirdly enough, it was the industry more so than the fans where the backlash came from,” Charles says. “With our fans the response was enormously positive. It’s been really pleasing and exciting to watch; with each record, more opportunities get offered to us. It’s been really gratifying after that first decade where we didn’t really get anywhere.”

Campell adds: “A lot of people that are new listeners to us only think that we’ve been around for 10 years because of that. They don’t realise we’d done 10 years of hard work before the first album.”

My name is Alan Niven. I am going to tell you some stories. Random rock’n’roll stories. Populated by an interesting cavalcade of characters. Among them are Guns N’ Roses.

I took them from the gutters of Sunset Boulevard to Wembley Stadium. I took Great White from the backwater clubs of Orange County to Wembley Arena. Along the way we all joined the parade of misfits and madmen that strut and fret their hour upon their stage.

Every story paints a picture. Of personality. Of an event. I hope that at least they will amuse. At best they might contain the germ of wisdom’s insight.

In the old Bradley building at LAX you used to be able to stand on a glass VIP mezzanine and watch all the international passengers below, scuttling for their planes.

I was watching for Axl. We were about to leave for the first Guns N’ Roses tour of Japan. He was, at this point, late. Phone calls back and forth had assured me he was on his way. Maybe he was repacking. I’ve seen him pack, unpack, repack, unpack, repack and unpack, every item meticulously folded, while sitting with him in a hotel room holding a relatively short conversation.

Izzy materialised next to me.

“Where’s Ax?” he asked. “Is he comin’ Niv?”

“I think he’s on his way.”

“Well, whatever. I don’t care. I’m set. I’ve got my stash.”

He held his small boom box up for me to view.

“What do you mean, ‘stash’?”

Dear God, please tell me he means his stash of preferred tunes.

“My gear,” he chuckled, fiddling with the casing. He undid the back of the player.

“See, here, it’s under the battery compartment. No one will ever find it there.”

Pleased with himself, he pointed at a lump of crumpled foil under the battery.

“Izz, you do realise that we still have to pass through security here and there will be real heavy security at Narita?”

“Really Niv?”

“Izz, they’ve got dogs and all kinds of electronic sniffing devices. The Japanese are way ahead with that kind of tech,” I said, intending to inspire maximum paranoia. “You can’t take that with you. You’ll get nailed for sure. Go flush it now. You’ll be able to score there.”

“Really? You sure?”

“Yeah Izzy, I am very sure. Go flush it.”

“Well that’s a fuckin’ waste of good smack.”

Let me make it clear, I had reiterated the rules of the road many, many times. I had often made it plain to all of the Gunners that the ultimate law of a tour is ‘Never buy, never carry and never cross an international boundary while holding.’ You have techs and local production people for the buying, and no one should ever attempt to import their stash into another country. Jail. Refusal of work visas. Arrest is a disaster.

Izz sidled off. He should’ve been excited to be going to Japan for the first time. He was, however, waiting on Axl. Again. Dope helps deal with that stress. Perhaps he also had the premonition that Axl would inspire yet another riot at the very first gig. Izz had been conditioned to have such intuition. Slash came out of the airline VIP lounge. He stood with me and watched the world chase its connections below us. Watched for a sign of Axl.

“Tell me you’re not carryin’,” I demanded.

“Why?” He was defensive. Maybe he was guilty and maybe, in those days, I spent half my conversations with Slash asking accusatory questions. I told Slash about the Stradlin boom box. I made sure he understood how much Izzy was in denial to think that airport security doesn’t look for that shit every moment of every day, in every nook and cranny you have. That they relish the prospect of nailing some fucked-up, longhaired musician.

“Money for nothing and chicks for free? Try these cuffs on for size, sucker.”

“Aw shit. Really?”

“Yes really, Slash. Whatever you’ve got, go get rid of it. Now.”

Slash wandered off in the direction of the bathrooms. Izz returned.

“Gone?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he mumbled reluctantly. He stood for a moment, wavering slightly, and then his knees buckled. Down he went. Izz had indeed gotten rid of his stash – he’d swallowed it. He was “out”.

Slash managed to make it to his seat on the 747 on his own feet, but only just. He too employed the ethic of waste not, want not. On arrival in Japan Izzy had to be loaded into a baggage cart to be wheeled through Customs and Immigration. He had been out of it for the entire flight. When he came to in his hotel room he had no idea of where he was. He called Steven on the hotel phone.

“Stevie, where the fuck are we?”

“Dude, we’re in Japan. Isn’t that fuckin’ great?” Stevie knew where he was and he couldn’t wait to get at the Asian girls.

“Nah. Really?”

“Go look out of your window,” enthused Adler. “That sure as hell ain’t America.”

Izzy, well-motivated, learned how to read the signs and ride the Tokyo metro. To find out where he could score.

Adjusted, he later came by my Roppongi room to show me a video of a group of Japanese girls tying another one up and leaving her – a fine example of shibari – as a tribute in his bathroom tub. He found his groove quickly.

It took me a day longer to get to Tokyo. Axl decided he couldn’t make the flight. Consequently, I had to have my bags pulled off the 747, which made me very popular with the airline. I had to reschedule for a flight alone with Axl the next day. On a different airline.

Copyright © Alan Niven, 2025. Published by ECW Press, republished with permission. Sound N’ Fury: Rock N’ Roll Stories will be published on July 24.

---

Last Week Tonight host John Oliver doesn’t have high hopes for the recently announced U.K. version of Saturday Night Live.

“It sounds like a terrible idea,” the England-born former The Daily Show reporter said during a Monday night appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. “We have had sketch comedy [in England] before, and it just feels like Saturday Night Live is a unique group…it’s a cult. I don’t know how you’re going to impose that cult onto the UK.”

Last month Sky TV announced that Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels would serve as executive producer on a British version of the long-running live late night sketch show, which is scheduled to premiere in 2026.

Read More: Rock’s 60 Biggest ‘Saturday Night Live’ Moments

Several international editions of Saturday Night Live have been launched over the years, but with the exception of a rather successful Korean edition, most have not lasted very long.

At the very least, Oliver hopes the British Saturday Night Live doesn’t follow one of the American show’s more exhausting traditions. “What night is it you stay up all night, Tuesday?,” he asked Meyers, who was an SNL cast member from 2001 to 2014. “That’s ridiculous. I’m saying that’s the kind of thing a cult leader would make you do. It doesn’t have to be dictated to the day that you must not sleep on that day or the great leader will be irritated.”

The 50th season of the original Saturday Night Live is set to conclude May 17 with host Scarlett Johansson and musical guest Bad Bunny.

Watch John Oliver Discuss a British Version of ‘Saturday Night Live’

30 Best ‘Saturday Night Live’ Characters

Much of the show’s humor stems from impersonations, but ‘Saturday Night Live’ has also created a long list of memorable recurring characters. 

Gallery Credit: Corey Irwin

More From Ultimate Classic Rock

When Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal was six, he dreamed of being Gene Simmons. “I wanted to be a bassist and breathe fire and spit blood,” he says. That didn’t happen, but the path he did take – guitar hero, being a member of Guns N’ Roses, his own hot sauce brand – turned out pretty well.

After 10 years in various bands (Sons Of Apollo, Asia, Whom Gods Destroy), he’s back to being a solo artist, and has a new all-instrumental album Bumblefoot… Returns!, featuring guest spots from Brian May and Steve Vai.

This is your first solo album since 2015. Are you happy being your own boss again?

There’s something about being in a band that I love. Collaborating with people who bring in ideas that I don’t have. But doing solo music, I get to fully express every aspect of my being, which is something you don’t want to project on other people.

Plus you get to tell Steve Vai and Brian May what to play.

I would never want to do that. I could have done a poor imitation of Brian May, but I just figured it would be better to get the real thing.

It’s a diverse-sounding album. Where did the inspiration for the songs come from?

Every song is a snapshot of a place I’ve been, something I’ve experienced, something that was happening in my life. It’s a scrapbook. For example Funeral March came from just being surrounded by so many losses during the pandemic. It does have the same name as the Chopin piece, but then I’m constantly in a world of Chopin.

You spent eight years in Guns N’ Roses.What did you get from that?

Much needed performance experience, for sure. And it was good to be a hired hand rather than the one doing the hiring. But there was also a disconnection I wasn’t always comfortable with. We’d play these huge arenas, and a lot of times I’d run to the backstage door and step outside and hang with the people there, talking to them and signing things. For me, if I didn’t do that, it didn’t feel real, it felt unnatural in a way.

What’s the current status of your prog-metal supergroup Sons Of Apollo?

Sons Of Apollo is on indefinite hiatus because our drummer is kind of busy right now [Mike Portnoy rejoined Dream Theater in 2023]. Derek [Sherinian, keyboard player] and I started writing music for a third album, but we saw what was going to happen, so Derek and I formed a new band, Whom Gods Destroy, which was great. The problem is when you form a band during the pandemic, but once that’s over, everyone’s back on their own hamster wheel and it’s hard to make time again.

You’ve got a range of hot sauces. How did you get into that business?

I was always into spicy food. I’d carry vials of the hottest capsicum oil on tour, just to add a kick to meals. And this wonderful company took me under their wing and we got in the kitchen together and came up with some ideas.

Several celebrities, including Joe Perry and Zakk Wylde, have a hot sauce brand. Do you look at those guys and go: “Mine’s hotter than theirs”?

There is no competition. We’re all in this together. There’s a lot of hot sauce to go round.

Bumblefoot… Returns! is out now via Bumblefoot Music LLC.

If there’s anything that characterises the multi-faceted work of the remarkable Steven Wilson – musical auteur, Porcupine Tree founder, remix king, solo artist, serial collaborator – it’s his restless curiosity. So what better destination for his latest project than the outer reaches of space.

The Overview, his eighth solo album, tackles the big existential questions as it journeys through a richly nuanced soundscape of Earthly disquiet and cosmic reverence across its two lengthy tracks, informed partly by cinematic visions such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar and Solaris. Guests include guitarist Randy McStine, XTC’s Andy Partridge and Wilson’s wife Rotem.

The album’s arrival was previewed with a series of immersive playbacks, for which director and regular collaborator Miles Skarin created a 40-minute accompanying film emphasising The Overview’s vast scale.

How did The Overview come about?

Fundamental to my whole career is this idea of not wanting to repeat myself. So I thought it might be a challenge to do some kind of collaboration with a visual artist or film project or installation.

I sat down with Alex Milas [former editor-in-chief of Metal Hammer], who runs this organisation called Space Rocks, dedicated to bringing together the worlds of astronomy and science and music. I thought it would be really interesting to maybe create a bespoke piece of music for something that Alex would be doing.

At one point he asked me: “Have you heard about this phenomenon known as the overview effect?” He explained that it’s this profound cognitive shift that astronauts have when they first look back at the Earth from space. And it’s not always a positive reaction, because a lot of them perceive just how insignificant and meaningless human existence really is, ultimately. That was a lightbulb moment. It immediately suggested a conceptual album.

And how did you go about realising that?

I knew this wasn’t going to work as ten separate songs. It needed to be something in the long form, analogous with a movie or novel. And it needed to take the listener on this incredible journey from Earth to the other side of the universe.

For all its sense of wonder, The Overview is a journey into the void, which I’m guessing is very liberating for an artist.

There’s literally nowhere you can’t go. It’s the beauty of emptiness, the beauty of complete non-existence. I could have easily called the album Perspective, because I think that’s really what it’s about. In some ways this album is a continuation of what I’ve always written about, dealing with deep existential questions: What are we here for? What is the purpose of our life? The album starts with this scene where the alien essentially says: “Did you forget to look around at this beautiful place that you live in?”

Did you always think of involving Andy Partridge in this project? Not from the beginning, but I developed this notion of a section that would contrast huge cosmic phenomena – black holes imploding, stars dying, nebulas diving – with the minutiae of everyday human existence. So it’s a husband cheating on his wife, a nurse working in a care home, a young kid getting his first telescope.

As soon as I had that idea, I thought: “Who writes about little England better than anyone else?” So I called Andy up: “I’ve got a challenge for you!” He did a beautiful job, bringing a little slice of Swindonian soap opera.

You’re uneasy about the idea of being a progressive rocker, yet you describe The Overview as prog. How do you reconcile the two?

For many people, prog is simply a label for something that sounds like Genesis in 1972. But nothing could be further from me in terms of what I want to achieve and what The Overview is. The fact that the two tracks are long, that they go through scenes and have a sense of development which has got nothing to do with the conventional pop form, is what a lot of people would consider to be progressive. Including myself, by the way. But The Overview touches on electronic music, ambient music, singer-songwriter sensibilities, metal, big riffs, krautrock, progressive rock, it’s all in there. It’s simply an attempt to create something that sounds like a Steven Wilson record.

You begin touring in May, including four nights at London Palladium.

The second half of the show will be a performance of The Overview, with the film. So it’s going to be quite big. In terms of the rest, I’ve got quite a substantial back catalogue now, to say the least. One thing I don’t have is hits, which means I can just put together a show that feels like a very satisfying journey. With four nights at the Palladium, I’ll be looking to change it up a little, hopefully with some special guests.

You always appear to have so much going on. Is Porcupine Tree still on the agenda?

We came back a couple of years ago with a new record [2022’s Closure/Continuation] and had a great time touring. In the past I was writing the majority of material, so the key for me was bringing back Porcupine Tree as something much more collaborative. It’s definitely on the table that we’ll continue to make music together.

Having spent the previous decade establishing your solo career – and talking of perspective – did you have a different approach when you returned to Porcupine Tree?

Yeah, very much. I’ve always said that part of me wasn’t really meant to be in a band, because I’m too much of a control freak. I’m very clear on what I want to do, which can be really annoying for other people. I can be honest about it now, but back in the day that was the source of some friction.

Having my solo career means that if I’m going back into a band situation, I feel more comfortable with the idea of being part of a democratic unit where I don’t always get my way. So I’m enjoying that sense of compromise in the best possible sense of the word.

The Overview is out now via Fiction Records.

Deftones singer Chino Moreno has remixed The Cure’s track Warsong.

The reimagination comes from Remixes Of A Lost World, a project featuring new takes on songs from the pioneering UK goth band’s 2024 album Songs Of A Lost World. Listen to Moreno’s Warsong below.

As well as the Deftones frontman, Remixes… will feature contributions from Mogwai, 65daysofstatic, Shanti Celeste, Orbital, Daniel Avery and many others. A version of I Can Never Say Goodbye by Paul Oakenfold and Simon Finley was previously released as a single, as was a remix of Alone by Four Tet.

Moreno is a known Cure fan. Deftones covered If Only Tonight We Could Sleep for the MTV special Icon: The Cure in 2004 and frontman/founder Robert Smith appeared on the song Girls Float † Boys Cry by Moreno’s side-project Crosses in 2023.

The Cure released Songs…, their first studio album since 2008’s 4:13 Dream, on November 1 to critical acclaim. Classic Rock gave it a near-perfect four-and-a-half-star review.

Journalist Alex Burrows wrote: “A sombre treatise on disaffection and alienation grown old, Songs From A Lost World starkly expresses the post-punk generation’s hallmark traits of malaise and anxiety. Art reflects its era and that’s exactly what this album conveys.”

According to Robert Smith, Songs… is one of a trilogy of albums The Cure are primed to release.

He explained in October (via NME): “We recorded about 25 or 26 songs in 2019. We recorded three albums in 2019; that’s always been the problem. I’ve tried to get three albums completed. After waiting this long, I was like, ‘Let’s just throw out Cure albums every few months!’ Everything with hindsight, you think, ‘Really? I could have done that a lot better.’

“It will work out this time. Having finished this one, the second one is virtually finished as well. The third one is a bit more difficult because, well if we get that far… Talking about the third album, you see what I mean? I just can’t help myself.”

The Cure played a release show for Songs… at the intimate Troxy club in East London. Louder attended the show and awarded it a flawless five stars.

“The Cure aren’t calling it a day – at least if their leader is to be believed about what’s on the horizon,” the site wrote. “But if they were, this would have been the perfect bow out: an inventive reminder of both their gloomiest and happiest highlights, played to the loyalest of loyalists, just up the road from where the band formed in West Sussex.”

Moreno will tour extensively with Deftones this year. The nu metal band will play across Europe during the summer, including a headliner at Crystal Palace Park in London, before playing several North American shows and festivals from August to October. The dates include two stadium co-headliners with System Of A Down.

See all of Deftones’ upcoming live plans via their website.

As well as touring, the band have a new album in the works. Moreno told Billboard Español in February that new music is “getting very close to being ready”.

Green Day was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, a celebration that felt a little strange for the punk trio.

Actor Ryan Reynolds, producer Rob Cavallo, former MTV host Matt Pinfield and rapper Flavor Flav were among the celebrities on hand to recognize the band. “This is crazy,” frontman Billie Joe Armstrong declared to the throngs of fans who came out to see the group receive their star. “[It’s] kind of like being at your own funeral.”

“This is for my mom,” the singer added. “This is like my mom’s Super Bowl right now.” Pictures from the event can be seen below.

In an interview with Variety, Armstrong poked a little fun at the honor.

“Now we’re in a time where us kids are getting our day,” the singer smirked. “As people walk and have those dreams and look down at the stars, we can look down and say, ‘Hey, I’m stepping on my face right now!’ Pretty cool.”

Green Day’s ‘Do or Die’ Moment

Elsewhere in his conversation with Variety, Armstrong reflected upon Green Day’s career. The punk group has come a long way from their early club days to their Grammy-winning multi-platinum triumphs. The singer noted that the biggest challenge came when they made the jump to a major label.

“It was a really scary time because it was definitely do or die,” Armstrong explained. “But we practiced every single day, we just wanted to make the best record we possibly could, which ended up being Dookie.”

Released in 1994, Dookie launched the band to superstardom. Green Day has since sold more than 75 million albums and earned enshrinement in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

“The key is always to write good songs,” Armstrong explained while pondering their longevity.
“I think we’ve accomplished that. When someone picks up a record like Dookie, it’s a record that sounds like a bunch of guys made it together at a studio last week. For some people, they would never know that record was made 30 years ago. So we’ve been able to accomplish that in the same way as when you listen to something like ‘You Really Got Me’ by the Kinks. That song still resonates for me and it doesn’t sound dated.”

Green Day Get Their Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

More From Ultimate Classic Rock