Devil's Gate Music
Related Articles
Exciting times lie ahead for emerging English five piece Piston. An appearance on the New Wave Of Classic Rock influenced Rising Stage at this weekend’s Ramblin’ Man Fair for starters, followed by the Rock and Blues Custom Show Festival the following weekend. Then there is the small matter of the release of their rather nifty debut album and the subsequent live dates to go with it, including the Planet Rock sponsored ‘Roadstars’ tour in October. If all that wasn’t enough, then how about guitarist Jack Edwards receiving an endorsement from Gretsch Guitars? Plenty to talk about with Jack then..
First of all, congratulations on the Gretsch Guitars endorsement. How did that come about, what’s involved and finally, how fucking cool does that guitar look!?
Thank you David. I am honoured to be associated with the company. I emailed Gretsch and explained the story behind my White Falcon — they really loved it and offered me the endorsement. I sat for about ten minutes re-reading the email to make sure I wasn’t seeing things! I absolutely love the guitar — I call it the show stopper.
The “show stopper” is a very apt name! It is a gorgeous guitar. To me, personally, Billy Duffy is a guitar god, and not just because he’s a City fan. Perhaps having the enigmatic Ian Astbury alongside him has meant that his playing is often overshadowed, what was it about Duffy that made such an impression on you?
Ha… I know that he loves his football. Well, the first gig that I ever went to was The Cult at the Carling Academy in Birmingham, England. Duffy left me completely speechless after seeing someone rip on a guitar that big — he had a giant wall of amps behind him and he was shredding all night. The crowd were loving it and the whole place was bouncing! After The Cult had finished their set one of their crew came out and said “Billy wants you to have these” and handed me two of Billy’s Herco guitar picks that he had just used. It was a special night for 11 year old me — I had just watched one of my favourite bands live and Duffy had just gave me his guitar picks — it was pretty emotional.
Very cool story! I’m assuming that you will be catching The Cult on the ‘Sonic Temple’ anniversary tour?
Absolutely. I have tickets for London! ‘Sonic Temple’ is my favourite album by The Cult.
It is a fantastic album for sure, the anniversary edition looks stunning. Onto the current day, it’s a very busy time for Piston. Ramblin’ Man Fair this weekend, performing on The Rising Stage, as good as that is, it must mean much more to you that the band won a public vote to play the festival?
Yes, of course! We have always wanted to play Ramblin Man Fair. I couldn’t think of a better way to be invited to play the festival. Sunday’s show will be very special — it will be for the fans. We are going to play our hearts out and give them everything. The love that we have received this year has truly blown us away and we are so appreciative of every person that supports us. It feels great to be back!
Ramblin’ Man has a stunning line-up this year, who are you looking forward to catching? Any “classic” band in particular? What about new blood, who catches your eye?
We are all looking forward to seeing Airbourne — we absolutely love that band. I mean, you cant go wrong with Aussie-Rock and I think that every new band should aspire to follow Airbourne’s live show!
Airbourne’s Joel O’Keeffe certainly does take some beating! It’s vitally important that these types of festivals don’t simply rely on “classic” acts, and introduce acts like Piston to a core audience which can be a little reluctant at times to move on. As the band’s manager do you get frustrated sometimes when some rock fans can’t see past the big acts like Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Aerosmith etc?
I find it frustrating that nobody is prepared to take a risk with rock n’ roll music today. I completely see their logic as well, record labels are struggling to recoup their investments now so they have to be careful. I think that is why we are seeing bands like Greta Van Fleet coming through — the labels know that there is little risk involved with their signing. The band is completely marketable, I mean who doesn’t want to hear a young Led Zeppelin? The problem with all of this, is that if the industry continues to work in this way the chances of us seeing a new change in rock n’ roll music is very slim. I think that if the major rock festivals got involved we could start to see a change — but they would have to bypass all of the labels on their payroll and employ an active team of young individuals to scout for the best in unsigned and emerging talent — book any artist that is young, dangerous and ready to take on the world.
The live dates ramp up a notch or two from September, first of all a run of dates with Collateral, then October on the Roadstars Tour with Hannah Wicklund and Manchester’s finest; Gorilla Riot. How hard will it be having to get through August?!
We have plenty to be getting on with in August that’s for sure! Our album release is completely self managed so we will be working around the clock to ensure that the campaign is running smoothly. We are so excited for the upcoming shows and we have so many new ideas that we will be trying out in the live set.
Since we’re on the subject of the debut Piston album, excited much?! Plus, how hard was it scrapping what you had recorded and starting again?
I think excited is an understatement. We have waited so long to put this record out and the date is getting closer! Do you remember the countdown to Christmas as a kid? The uncontrollable amount of excitement inside you? — that is exactly how we feel right now! We recorded that first album about two years ago. We decided that the songs were just not right so we took a gamble and scrapped all of it and started from the bottom again. It was a ballsy decision both financially and creatively but we are confident that it has paid off. Dan Swift produced the album and he was amazing to work with.
There is a great deal of cost involved in self-releasing an album, and keeping a band on the road. What’s the best way someone out there, who has seen Piston mentioned in Classic Rock or on Planet Rock, can help?
Great question… by simply buying a ticket to one of our shows and coming out to hang! Money isn’t everything though and we appreciate every ounce of support shown to us on our social media platforms. We have tons of great merchandise on our website as well if anybody wants to pick something up, all the money goes straight back into the band.
You heard him folks, check out the swag on offer right here. Now, what’s the best way for a band like Piston to stand out in what is a very crowded marketplace? How do you get someone to spend their hard-earned money on Piston rather than another band?
It’s about delivering value to the audience. We keep our ticket prices low, we invite local acts out to play with us and we deliver one hell of a rock n’ roll show. The new record is a rock n’ roll roller-coaster in itself, it will have you wanting more and it wont break the bank! Everyone should be confident that they will get their money’s worth.
Trust me, everyone will get their money’s worth! Lastly, I wouldn’t like to spill Piston vocalist Rob Angelico’s pint! Or is he really just a big softie on the inside!
Ha! Well just like any lead guitarist and singer in a band we have had our differences over the years but we are in a really good place right now! Rob is a huge softie and I am sure he will buy you a drink when he sees you!
I look forward to it! All the best for Ramblin’ Man, and what comes after, looking forward to everyone’s response when they hear the album, cheers Jack!
Thank you David, I will see you on the road, all the best!
Catch Piston at 13.25 on The Rising Stage at Ramblin’ Man Fair on Sunday 21st, check out all other live dates here.
Band images – Rob Blackham
