HardLore - Leah Massey (Pest Control)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Subscribe to the all-new Hardlore Patreon now for early, ad-free access to every episode and an exclusive episode every month. In the time that I was going and I was inspired, like, I just felt that way watching guys do it. I was like, oh, they're doing that. Like, I didn't necessarily need to see women. Like, obviously, I am inspired by women doing it. But I felt like I, as soon as I got in and, like, got comfortable in hardcore, I was quite confident in taking up my space within the scenes, whether that be like wanting to book shows or wanting to just be involved in any way. Hello, welcome.

Starting point is 00:00:54 It's Hardlord Time. How are you, Bo? I'm doing very well. It's so early. This is the earliest. Maybe we've ever done an episode for a very important reason, though. Today, we're on GMT. That's what it's called, right?

Starting point is 00:01:12 We're on GMT. She's not. For a very important reason, very special reason. because we have a very special guest. She is the singer of what I can only describe as the UK's next big thing. The Brock Lesnar of new UK hardcore bands. She is also the Kerrang cover star this month. Oh, wow.

Starting point is 00:01:38 Please welcome. From pest control, the vocalist Leah Massey. Hello, thank you so much for having me. Thank you for being here. I was trying to think this morning, have we had anyone else from overseas before? Chubby and Jimmy. No, no, no, but I mean virtually. Zuma.

Starting point is 00:02:01 Zuma. That's right. Okay, yeah, that was another one. Which they're 50 hours ahead, so that's it all evened out. This is an interesting one for both. Bo and I both are still raving the crusts out of our eyes here. And Leah, I just want to apologize in advance. If I do the accent, it's pretty much involuntary.

Starting point is 00:02:22 Like, if I slip into British. Yeah, it's pure respect, though. It's pure love. It's 100% out of respect. It's a defense mechanism. It's not an offense mechanism. It's inequality on our part. Well, see, what's the flavor of British, though?

Starting point is 00:02:38 Would you go, like, London or northern? You're northern, you're northern, right? Yes. But usually, like, Americans go London or, like, citizens straight away. So I think I'm yet to hear Or a very embellished Combination of combination Of combination of the tone

Starting point is 00:02:53 You know But what's ruined What's ruined that ambiguity Is like Game of Thrones Because they're all fucking It's all northern And so that all You can't help to do these

Starting point is 00:03:04 Yeah So that's The scouse I think is my favorite Yes I cannot do a scouse To save my life But I do like it But I cannot do it

Starting point is 00:03:14 I can't do any accent To be honest You can't do American you can't do American there we go that was pretty good that was great it's funny that you said that

Starting point is 00:03:24 instead of hamburger and french fries like everybody else that does it hamburger and french fries if I'll call and response might go might go bit better that was good

Starting point is 00:03:34 yeah so again I apologize as if I become British at any point tell me about let's let's go right off the rip here you're on the cover of Kerang this month how cool is that as a Brit? Yeah, right.

Starting point is 00:03:51 Yeah. Yeah, kind of like unbelievable, but it was one of these things that when something gets mentioned, but it gets mentioned like weeks or sometimes months in advance and it's like an idea that's come about a few times, but it's not actually happened yet. And then sometimes when it comes around to it, you're like, oh, this actually did just happen then.

Starting point is 00:04:11 And it's a bit of a moment to like take it in and actually realize what happened because I was full on, like, kid like posters all over my bedroom. Awesome. So to be on it, yeah, he's massive achievement. And it's just like, feels a bit insane because we're like, we're on the front cover of Kerrang this week, but we practice above a garage in Armley,

Starting point is 00:04:32 which is like quite a not very nice part of leads where I'm from. So it's just like the contrast of like our day to day life in the band, but then also being on Kerrang is interesting. But yeah, love it. Really happy that I have. Did you do a photo shoot for the cover like weeks ago? And it just... We didn't do it weeks ago.

Starting point is 00:04:56 It came up. So the idea of us doing the cover shoot came up a couple of weeks ago. But the person who was trying to arrange it for us kept getting told that it would happen on X date and then it didn't happen. So we were kind of thinking about when we could possibly fit in because pest control are completely on different schedules all the time and trying to get like even an hour or two to take photos sometimes. It's like the hardest thing to plan.

Starting point is 00:05:23 Pests, pest don't rest. Yeah. So we were kind of waiting to hear on that. And then we managed to make it work in such an insane time scale where we had a Tuesday morning free. And that's all we had up until like about 1pm on a Tuesday morning. And it just so happened that the photographer that we went to go use

Starting point is 00:05:45 also just had that time of time free in like the next couple of weeks. So it all worked out really well. Yeah. So I was pleased with the results of it and everything. But it just was like, it's just one of those things because I feel like part of being a band is accepting that sometimes you're going to get things that come your way that don't necessarily happen. Constantly. All the time.

Starting point is 00:06:10 Yeah. So I feel like it was just maybe one of those things where I was just like, is this actually going to happen? And then the turn of it. was like, okay, we've taken the photos and now it's going to be on for next week. So it was like that push of a turnover. So it's quite a lot to digest. And then when it actually got put on their Instagram, they somehow got a version of the photo that wasn't high quality.

Starting point is 00:06:33 So I was like, I was trying to enjoy the moment that like, oh, yes, we're in Kerrang. Amazing. But then I was like stressing out because I was like the photo wasn't the right one. So I was like emailing people messaging Kerang and like trying to get it. trying to get it fixed and then they didn't reply to like six hours later and then deleted it and re-put it up and I was like oh that's brutal that intern just downloaded the wrong jpig yeah yeah but still I mean it's it's a huge accomplishment as any band not just a British band that's a that's a huge thing I don't think I've ever been mentioned in Kerrang so I congrats that's

Starting point is 00:07:07 huge metal hammer also called pest control the UK's most exciting band right now really So you guys are, you guys are doing it. I think the proof that pest control is doing well would be me being able to Google pest control leads and not having a bunch of exterminators come up as the top results. Like pest control leads, a ban comes up first. Somebody with rats is furious. What the fuck is it?

Starting point is 00:07:38 That was good. We get tagged in like loads of actual like exterminating rails on Instagram. like people like pest control solutions will tag us and I'm like why do you tag us like are they using a song or something like over but it's just like they tag loads of pest control companies so we do get that and we do actually get like random messages for Instagram for people asking genuinely for pest control I'm like have you took have you had one look at like our page you guys are tapped into the pest control the greater pest control community if the band doesn't work out which I think the band's going to work out but if it doesn't you got the Instagram you got to fall You know what's funny is, and I haven't thought about this, so Harb's Way, it's the same for us. Harm's Way is just a phrase that's used all the time. So if you search, especially on, like, Twitter,

Starting point is 00:08:25 if you don't search the tag, we just search Harmsway, you'll get like Bible shit and like all, like war shit, political stuff, whatever. Pest control is going to be the same, but I would imagine twitch and tongues and God's hate. No, the best one is dead fucking body. No, it's high school athletes tagging people that. that they've like tackled as dead fucking body. And they like, we repost every time.

Starting point is 00:08:51 So now there's this whole database of high school athletes that love tagging at dead fucking body. It'll be like. You should make that a like a highlight on the Instagram page so that they're all there. Dead fucking body. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. I always find that with like suicidal tendencies as well.

Starting point is 00:09:08 If you search that I will come up with literal helpline numbers. And it's like. Yeah. Every time. Yeah. That makes so much sense. Oh, yeah, if you, if you, something happened with Instagram, not to derail, but if you search harms, if you type in harm for harm's way and Instagram, it'll pop up with like, do you need help? Are you okay? Before you finish it. It's crazy.

Starting point is 00:09:28 Super helpful to bands trying to exist. So Leah, let's go back in time. Tell me about you, are you from Leeds originally? Yes, I am born and raised in Leeds. I am one of maybe a. couple of people in the whole of Leeds hardcore scene who's actually from Leeds. So your OG leads. I'm OG leads. Yeah. Same area of Leeds and everything. So yeah.

Starting point is 00:09:54 So tell me about growing up in Leeds, discovering hardcore and metal and like the bands and tours that kind of molded you and raised you and and made you feel like, yeah, this is, this is what I need to be doing. Mm-hmm. Um, I say like, as I said, I grew up like basically just, like an emo, like a Karang emo. So I was into like Fallout Boy, Paramour, like all these like bands who were like big on Kerrang at the time. And then, um, as I started going through school, I started getting a bit into like more metalcore. And I think this was like mainly influenced

Starting point is 00:10:32 through I had a friend who had an older sister who I thought was really cool and she was just going to like metalcore gigs all the time. So like anything that she was interested in, I was like, oh, maybe I'm also interested in this. And what are some bands from that world? that that clicked with you because that's kind of it's like four and debaubo and i so we love to learn but even even to me now like the bands that i went to go see at that time it would be i would see a band on a lineup for a gig and i would pay to go to this venue and these called the cockpit and i would go see the band but i might not actually know anything about that band prior to going into it that's okay um some of the ones i can remember like burry tomorrow which i are our uk band i believe

Starting point is 00:11:10 so you guys may not have any idea who they are, but like, not a clue. Not a clue. Huge. Huge in Chicago. Buried him. Shiborga. Very popular in Shiboygan. Apart from that, like, I kind of got more into, like, emo stuff as well.

Starting point is 00:11:29 Okay. I heard that you have a very expansive knowledge of Fall Out Boy lyrics and lyrics in general. Very expensive. I heard that you are a diehard lyric memorizer. That is true. I don't know how you heard that, but that is actually very true. Leah, prepare yourself for this. Colin, he's the spider.

Starting point is 00:11:54 He's the master of whispers. I'm all Game of Thrones, I guess, but he is like figured out this thing. So he knows some stuff. Okay. He said, I'm along for the right. The lyrics thing is like, I don't know. I've just got something in my brain. like any like even when I was younger lyrics would always just stick to me the most about anything

Starting point is 00:12:15 to do with music and it'd be the thing that I remember the most or which is kind of like a blessing and a curse because when you've just got like you wake up with a certain song in your head and you're singing like the lamest song that you could possibly imagine and you know it word for word it's like I don't I don't actually listen to this as often as it seems that I do um but I don't know why my brain just does work in that way um which really is it is it just like you'll hear a a complimentary set of phrases and be like, oh, that's fun. Or you're really, like, latching on to the meaning of what they're saying? A bit of both, I think.

Starting point is 00:12:48 Like, sometimes, like, it really depends, like, the context of the song and whether or not I think that there might be something a bit more behind the lyrics, I guess. Nice. Or if it's just a case of where, like, it's catchy and it's in my head. And my brain kind of can, like, especially if it's like a pop song, my brain just will know what's going to come next because obviously they've rhymed this. with this, basically. So it's kind of like a almost like guessing,

Starting point is 00:13:16 but then what's going to come next, but then having an idea because you've heard it before and it's stuck in your head. And is Fallow Boy a particular a specialty of yours? Polopoy is, I'm not sure I'd say like lyric-wise. I'd say, take this to your grave. Yes. I could do that lyric-wise.

Starting point is 00:13:38 I reckon, yeah. maybe actually. Maybe not give myself as much credit, but I could probably do a lot of fallout boy lyrics, yeah. Beautiful. We're fallout boy guys here on Hardlore, so we, no judgment here. We're all in.

Starting point is 00:13:52 Yes. So when does hardcore come into play here? Yeah, how do you go from metalcore to emo to? What's the band? What's like the singular band that gets you there? And who are the people in the community that guided you there? So I would say for me it would be probably, bands like title fight and basement because I think one of the earliest hardcore shows I went to would have been basement with a bank called breaking point from the UK.

Starting point is 00:14:20 Oh, breaking point? Yes. From, hold on, they were a straight edge band. Louis Saint, right? Yeah, I have a shirt somewhere. Yeah, I won. I saw them, so like seeing more, it was more so like seeing hardcore bands play with bands like basement title fight or like these emo bands that were like, hardcore adjacent and then getting into it from that.

Starting point is 00:14:42 So like remember seeing Tidal Fight in either 2012 or 2013 and they were touring with Dead and Paff at the time. And that was, so these kind of shows. And then I got more into like I would say the more accessible hardcore bands at that time. So like Turnstile, Backtrack, Core World. And they were all playing Outbreak that like, second like the year after basically so i went to go up to outbreak saw like loads of other bands

Starting point is 00:15:14 realized that there was like a big uk scene within this as well and wow so outbreak made that kind of click for you i would say so yeah so between it was a toss-up really between like outbreak and the venue temple of boom at the time which uh great name yeah well i was just gonna i was going to ask about that i was almost sure it was going to come up but how are you i just heard that they're officially closing. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it is like a massive loss. Like, if Boom hadn't been there for the past couple of years,

Starting point is 00:15:48 I don't know what hardcore in Leeds would look like without that venue. So although it's kind of positive because apparently they're looking at somewhere new and it's a decent venue and they can take, but it's like all the memories. So when I first started going to Boom, it was literally insulated with flannel shirts in the roof. Like it was so like, so far away from like pro venues. And that's what I loved like. Um,

Starting point is 00:16:13 just went there and instantly felt like this was like a space for me. And I was quite happy again, like similar to what I did, um, going to like a different venue in these, which also closed down the cockpit. We've all got one that tragically leaves us too early and that like, the horrible aspects of it are we hold so near and dear to our,

Starting point is 00:16:34 like the Colbult Cafe here that closed. Yeah. The walls. were carpeted and would sweat. There was moisture locked in in a way where if moisture reactivated, the whole room sweated. Yeah, the acoustics at the fireside,

Starting point is 00:16:53 which is a bowling alley, weren't great, and the bathroom, like the smell in the... Everything that happened. And then the bathroom, the smell in the bathroom was crazy. We played a really early outbreak when it was still in Leeds and breaking point played and Dead Empath also played Interesting

Starting point is 00:17:14 It might have been around that time They were on the tour with We were on tour with brutality will prevail Dead Empath and PATH And us was the Euro tour that we were on Okay So it's 2011 I think Okay

Starting point is 00:17:27 Yeah I think that might have been like a year earlier Than when I first went to outbreak So just just missed her Just missed So I do think your trajectory Leah is a is like a testament to mixed bills totally we got to keep mixing these bills because you she goes to see any metal core band and title fights there she goes to see basements there and dead end path is there keep this keep we got to keep this going y'all that we're changing lives here well a testament

Starting point is 00:17:57 another testament to that is the tour that she and i have coming up with basement and knocked loose and our man's. Yeah, that's insane. That's a pretty, is that full circle for you, touring with basement? Are you, like, friends with them, or is this? I'm not, I'm not particularly friends with, I don't know any of them, really, apart from James, the drummer, because he drums in dynamite as well, like straight-edge band from London. Are they straight-edge? There might not be straight-edge. I think I'm just making it. I mean, if they're British, I wouldn't think so, but I can only, I can only hope so, you know? Hopefully, we They still got one.

Starting point is 00:18:36 I honestly, I'm sorry to tell you, I don't think they are. I think they're youth crew. And so in my head, I'm like, you've crew, straight edge, but no, they're not straight. Oh, it's that as cultural. Youth crew that isn't straight edge is cultural appropriation. Theory. Fuck. So around this time when you're young and discovering hardcore in Leeds, is this around the

Starting point is 00:18:57 time when your grandma Helen would ride around in a tank around town? How do you know this? Yeah. No, I was, I wish. That would have been way cooler if I was like old enough to actually understand what was going on. By the time I was like, I was in primary school. Grandma Helen's going to be absolutely buzzing. She's had a shout out on this podcast. So thank you. Helen's down. Is she down with with the core? She's down with the core. Yeah. She watches my stats. She watches like everything that I do on YouTube. She always spells YouTube like you, the letter you tube separately as well. So that's

Starting point is 00:19:34 So you, U-C-H-U-B. Tell her, after this is done, that at about 20 minutes in is when she comes up. Now, describe this tank to me. Tell me what are we talking here?

Starting point is 00:19:48 Which war? The tank, all I remember is I didn't have a door on it. Like, it had no door. It was straight open. Yeah, it's a hatch. My grandma was riding around streets in Kersel where I, I've lived and I still kind of lived near that now.

Starting point is 00:20:06 And I went to school and I told people that this had happened and not a soul believed me. Like no one was like, no, that is absolutely not true. I kind of don't. I took, I've got photos. I do have photos. And the act took a photo and I was like, check this out. And that's the truth. And that was it.

Starting point is 00:20:26 The real tank girl. The real tank girl, yeah. I wish. Beautiful. How did Grandma Helen, like, get a tank. You guys have to have licenses for your TV. She can just get a tank.

Starting point is 00:20:40 She could just get a tank. Yeah, she, her husband, I don't know. He was a very strange man and he was just really into like army and military. So you know, you'd go around and they have like toys that you click a button

Starting point is 00:20:57 on and it's like an army marching toy and things like that. So yeah. That's fun. That's incredible. All right, sorry. Sorry to derail with the tank. So hardcore in Leeds,

Starting point is 00:21:11 how is it compare now to when you were young? I was actually reflected on this the other day and just the demographic of people who go to shows in Leeds is so different. When I started going to hardcore shows, you could probably count the amount of women on like one hand. And now you're, You can see so many people who are non-male just like at gigs and taking up space and being there and playing in bands a lot more frequently.

Starting point is 00:21:41 So that's a main change that I've noticed in terms of like the crowds and like a lot of I'm going to say a lot of younger people are coming now. But I guess at the time I was the younger person. So. Yeah, but that you might have been in the minority as a younger person. Whereas now like like there was a there was a period in hardcore where the like average age of a new showgoer was like 25. those are the dark times to me i i think it's always going to be for the youth so when it starts

Starting point is 00:22:11 to skew younger is when things are going well but what's interesting is is there and meaning no offense by this it's just the nature of how stuff goes they're always like a few years behind over there the uk yeah well it just on the other europe and the uk well europe especially the UK is a little closer to behind just what the status quo or the norm or just what we're used to as we're seeing drain and tsunami play or basically arenas

Starting point is 00:22:44 but then at the same time you have outbreak that is doing 10,000 and now this year 30,000 people in London but what I'm saying is to a vast amount of young people at those shows I was at outbreak this most recent year, last year, or earlier in this year, Jesus Christ, time. And there were young people, but it wasn't like young, young people.

Starting point is 00:23:10 Yeah, but there's a difference between outbreak and the local scene. This is exactly my point is seeing how there's going to be, my prediction, Bo Stradamus' prediction is that in the UK in the next couple of years, I would be interested to see if we're not seeing really young people coming around, you know, as it was 20 years ago for us. It's just like, it's an interesting, an interesting thing. With what you said about America, like, I was being a bit behind. Like, that is true because I remember at the time when I was looking to more like women in bands, there was a lot more women in America doing bands and playing hardcore shows

Starting point is 00:23:58 and there were in the UK and it took a while for that to kind of catch up in the UK and there'd be more women doing shows and stuff and it felt like maybe it was like inspired by the amount of girls doing it in America and I'm not too sure or they just sometimes it just takes something to see and be like

Starting point is 00:24:16 oh I can do that too I didn't realize at first but actually I can do this as much as this person can so it might be like how that works people just see stuff but I guess especially more with like obviously back then like Instagram I don't know if it was I can't remember if it will have been a thing but it wouldn't have been as big in terms of like sorry sharing and things like that but now you're constantly like tuned in to everyone else's scene like if you meet people from all across the world and you follow them or you know of people like you see everything a lot more now which I think is interesting and I don't know if that will have an effect on things happening a bit quicker because you can see it 100% earlier on it's it's a it's a there's a There's a pro, the pros and cons to all that of just, you know, people recreating what they're seeing, but also it's inspiration. It's beautiful. I had a question if there were any particular, were there any particular women in general who you had noticed that stand out to you as like, oh, she can do that? Yeah. Did you have that moment essentially that you're describing of like, oh, she can do it, I can do it too?

Starting point is 00:25:18 I didn't really like in the time that I was going and I was in spite. Like, I just felt that way watching guys do it. I was like, oh, they're doing that. that like I didn't necessarily like need to see a women. Like obviously I am inspired by women doing it. But I felt like I, as soon as I got in and like got comfortable in hardcore, I was quite confident in taking up my space within the scenes, whether that be like wanting to book shows or wanting to just be involved in any way.

Starting point is 00:25:44 So I was like, I remember when I kind of was like toying with the idea of like wanting to start a band. So me and I think four other girls was like, oh yeah, we can start a band. We started writing lyrics, but I don't think anyone could play an instrument. Like, no one could play an instrument. And we had a name. I was going to call it Crossfire, like Marauder song.

Starting point is 00:26:06 And we was like, we can do this. And like we had literally everything else, but the like means to be able to play anything or do anything or record anything. But we had the vibes and we wanted to make it happen. That's the most punk thing ever. I mean, now Crossfire seems possible. Yeah. Your world is opening up. We'll sign it.

Starting point is 00:26:27 You got five singers. Ready to go. Yeah, we got it. So does, uh, since Crossfire didn't pan out, what was there a band before pest control that you sang for or played in? I did two bands before pest control. Um, so I started doing a band in 2017 called Cheap Surgery. Um, that band was by that time.

Starting point is 00:26:51 So I, I was still into alcohol, but I was really like in, like, in like, the punk scene a bit more at that specific time. And that was mainly because there was actually a lot more women playing in bands. And I know you see that how calm, and you see it as like one scene. But in the UK, there was quite like different scenes in different venues. You should go to see like bands and things like that.

Starting point is 00:27:16 So, and it got to a point where like in how car there was, you know, still like shitty things happening with guys or like the way that they were treating me or like some of the things, comments and things that got made and I just like got a bit sick of it and I was like moved over. Like again, it was still interconnected. I saw within this scene, but I moved over more to that

Starting point is 00:27:38 because I was like there's way more like women and like in this scene that I feel like I can be more comfortable. So the band Cheap surgery kind of came on the back of that and it is hung kind of like in the like a bit like exit order with loads of like delay vocal vibe. Cool. And I listen back and I absolutely cringe and I hate it now. Well, that's natural.

Starting point is 00:28:01 That's only natural. That's what we do. Now, let me ask you something about the men or people in the community that were kind of down on you in that time or made you feel like you needed to find another community. Have they ever been on the cover of Craig? No. They're not. Okay. much to think about.

Starting point is 00:28:24 So cheap surgery, what was the other band? The other band was a band called Implement, like, weapon, tour, like, yeah. And that was kind of like metal punk. So that was going more towards the direction that was three out of four of us went on to do pest control after that.

Starting point is 00:28:43 Oh, okay. Pest control thrash, as the tag is, right? So that's right. I was wondering where it originated, so this is all tying together. then. Yeah, so it kind of like got more into the, we didn't start implement with the idea that it would be like a metal punk band. It was just mainly going to be like a how core punk band. But it ended up having some bits that were a bit more metallic. And Joe Kerry, who's, um, our guitarist, he was playing bass at the time because he randomly had like a chapter of his life where he was like, I'm no longer playing guitar. And he just kind of like hung it up and was like, that's been done. And I'm only playing bass now. I mean, I get it.

Starting point is 00:29:25 It's the best. But I've heard this man's riffs and that would be a crime if we never got there. Yeah. I don't know. Like, I'm not actually, I probably have spoke to him about this, but my memory is like goldfish memory. I like go straight away. So I probably have spoke to him.

Starting point is 00:29:42 I know the reason. And I don't know whether it was like a perfectionist thing because Joe with guitar is very like, he loves guitar. It is his world. He is a guitar tech. He's a guitar. teacher, he plays guitar in a band, he does everything guitar related. So I don't know if it was like a, like he felt that way about guitars and it was getting

Starting point is 00:30:02 too much and he felt like he was putting too much pressure. So he was like bass. And if I'm completely getting this wrong and he listens to his back, he's going to be like, fuck you, Leah. I mean, I like your version, if anything. It's really funny. It's funnier than the truth, probably. So we're going to go with that.

Starting point is 00:30:17 Yeah, we're going to go with that. I just got too close to guitar. I needed some space. I needed space. Some base space. That's how it goes down in my head. I like that. Before we get into pest control,

Starting point is 00:30:31 Leah, I know you are an avid watcher of reality TV. Are there any shows in particular that you like? Oh, yes. Yeah, this is my topic of conversation. I have just finished Married at First Site in the UK version. Sounds insane.

Starting point is 00:30:48 It is. It is. It is. Brueal. So it's exactly what it sounds like, I'm assuming. Exactly what it sounds like. They meet on their wedding day. They get married.

Starting point is 00:30:59 They see the person for the first time on their wedding day. Then they go on a honeymoon. Then they live together for like six weeks. And then they decide whether they actually fully want to get married to this person. Now, are these like cultural marriages or is this like, hey, we're going on this UK reality show to get married at first sight and see if it works. Yeah. It's probably just people who've like maybe applied for any other reality TV show or any of chance of fame and this is like the last option for them.

Starting point is 00:31:31 So they're like, yeah, I'll marry somebody so I can get on TV for a bit of time. But what you doing? What you're doing? Are there any marriage first sites that have worked out? Yeah. Yeah. I think I don't know. I can't think of a single one where I'm like, I don't, I don't follow.

Starting point is 00:31:47 I don't like follow it up after it happened. Like it happens. I'm there and I watch it, but I'm never like that. Like maybe for like a day or two after I'll be like, oh, I wonder what's going on. Because sometimes they can't like share anything online until like the reunion shows happen. Yeah. Already had like loads of changes or whatever. Right.

Starting point is 00:32:06 But yeah, so I've just finished that and also Big Brother. Do you guys know Big Brother? Oh, okay. So I worked for Big Brother U.S. for like five seasons, six seasons. I had no idea that existed. Big Brother, Y, yeah. Oh, yeah. Canada is apparently the best one from what I've heard. Like Big Brother Canada, I guess, is the goat. But I know Big Brother UK is much more popular than U.S. That's a great show. I could say off of the air, I can tell you. I can answer any question you got. The only British reality show I have any idea about is the only way is Essex.

Starting point is 00:32:43 Which is like, is that like a classic one? Or is that like old? Is that old hat? that's old for me because I only used to watch it when I was in like high school maybe but now it's still running at the moment because I saw it when I was flicking through finding my reality TV show of choice the other day but it's still it's still going have you ever seen any of that Colin no I'm kidding you haven't seen naked attraction is that me to me oh me oh I know you have no I don't I don't watch I detest reality TV naked attraction is probably the craziest thing that's I've ever seen. Explain it to. Because you're scrolling through network TV and then you see balls, butt, shaft, boob, everything.

Starting point is 00:33:29 Full nudity? Full everything, dude. They're sick over there. They show it all. They're sick. I'm eating me fish and chips. Straight up, dude. I'm having a mince pie.

Starting point is 00:33:42 Me mince. My favorite mince. A saucy on the side, maybe. and then this fucking ball comes up. No. Tell me about naked attraction. Is this a show you like?

Starting point is 00:33:54 It's not a show that I watch a lot, but I've always found the concept like absolutely wild. And it's insane. Yeah, it's perverted. It's on like big time like TV channels as well. I think it's on Channel 4. So it's like, and it's not even probably on at a time that like your kids have gone to bed.

Starting point is 00:34:09 Like the kids are probably, it is. No, it's on at 1530. These people are sick Yeah, that's really crazy But the only way is Essex Issa is basically Jersey Shore There

Starting point is 00:34:25 It's like kind of that Like club going Bottle popping crowd Nice And then But the funny thing about it though Is like Now let me

Starting point is 00:34:36 Let me ask you something Leah How do you feel About the idea That more of these Less of the like Game show type ones But more of ones

Starting point is 00:34:46 like the only way is Essex and stuff like that are like heavily scripted if not heavily outlined how does it sit with you I'm like on the side of if it's entertaining to me I don't really care about much very much. Hey we're wrestling fans so what can I say

Starting point is 00:35:04 I can give you some insight into that I worked in this world you worked on a but you worked on a more game show we want no but it's no no big brother is drama drama drama. I know, I know, I know, but it's based around, it's based around something that has, that it's based around something, whereas like real world, or the only way is Essex and

Starting point is 00:35:25 like all these older ones are, or like. So what happens is though they're, they're real, but it'll be a producer being like, and how did you feel about what she used to do? You know, and then they go, well, okay, well, how could you phrase that a little differently? What was the one where it was like, it was either the hills or Laguna? It was one of the ones where it, like, on the last episode, it was like, And cut. And it like...

Starting point is 00:35:47 I think that was the hills. The hills. And like it showed the crew and people... I remember, I was in high school. I remember people were like, what? And it's like, yeah, dude, it's fucking... It's all great stuff. It's entertainment, you know?

Starting point is 00:36:03 Yeah. Yeah. Big fan. Okay, let's talk about pest control now. So how did, yeah, how did, hold on, implement, lead to pest control? So Implement just kind of like fizzled out at the pandemic. We had like a Euro tour book and I remember like the group chat was like up until like all these cases were getting announced and like in Europe it was in Italy mostly where it got like the quarantine and everything happened first and that was the first place we were meant to go on the tour. I was in a group chat with obviously like a bunch of guys and I was.

Starting point is 00:36:42 I was like not to be this person, but it really doesn't look like this tour is happening. And everyone was like, no, it's fine. Like, we can just, we can just go and just see what the promoter says. And I was like, it doesn't work like that. I was like, obviously, like, I haven't done a pandemic either, but I can see that it's clearly not going to happen in the way that we can just rock up, get on the flight fine, and then just be like, oh, hey, like, what's happening with COVID here? I was like, the show will be cancelled.

Starting point is 00:37:07 And, like, loads of bands who are touring around that same time were having shows canceled. So it's, like, really obvious. So I just put that and then after that, it was kind of like the band was fizzling out anyway, just because we kind of had like different ideas. And me, Ben and Joe just really like the idea of doing like crossover thrush. And it was like, why not do this? So Joe got his guitar off his wall, wrote some ropes and ropes. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:37:34 Fucking Isildur's air went to the shards at Narsal. Yeah, it was like him looking at the bat, in the cave, putting it back on. Ironically, this tour that we're about to do with Knock Loose, you and I, is the makeup tour for the tour that got canceled with Knock Loose because of COVID. Wow. Okay. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:37:56 Beautiful. So Pest Control starts and puts out a demo in 2020 because your other band's tour was canceled because of COVID. Yeah. I mean, maybe not. Yeah. Not as simple, but that's the trajectory, whereas I thought, in my In my mind, I see pest control puts out a demo in 2020.

Starting point is 00:38:15 I'm like, ah, that sucks for them. But in reality, it was like kind of by design. Yeah, it was kind of like we had a lot of time. So at the time, I was living with Ben, the drummer of pest control and implement. And we just had obviously that loads of time to like, write and think about like maybe what we wanted to do. And Joe was the same. So Ben and Joe were just sending demos to each other of song ideas. And we obviously, we couldn't practice.

Starting point is 00:38:41 couldn't practice. We couldn't do anything. Um, so everything was recorded like separately. And yeah, yeah. Um, yeah. So obviously we couldn't do any shows? We put it out and was like, do people like this? We won't have any idea until we get to play a show really. Like, um, so yeah, that was pretty much how it all came about and just went, went from there. Yeah. I mean, I, and, you know, I'm glad you stuck with it because these things do take time. Mm-hmm. I feel like, I think we'll get into like the newest EP kind of, we'll go gradually throughout the discography, but I do think you've like, you've all figured it out now. Yeah. And like seeing Crum Suckers mentioned as an influence to me is like, whenever, when I see that, I take that with the biggest grain of salt you've ever seen.

Starting point is 00:39:32 Like the biggest salt ever. But I can hear it in pest control, which is like a miracle to me. I think even Crum Suckers would be like, how the fuck, how did you find us? Even though the word Crum Suckers sounds like Charles Dickens wrote it to be like a slur against poor people. Yes. I don't know that anybody I've ever even, or even the band Crum Suckers has heard Crum Suckers said in a British accent. So it's amazing that not only they made it there, but that you've successfully pulled off one of my favorites. favorite bands as an influence.

Starting point is 00:40:14 My first note when listening to the demo is that you don't sound like a local band if that makes sense. It's like, damn, this is straight up good right off the rip. And I love when I can feel that and listen to a new band and be like,

Starting point is 00:40:32 this is going to do well. Interesting. So how much time was spent on the demo and how conscious was the thought of the like crossover vibe because I know there's still a lot of like Boston hardcore type stuff in there too it's a really cool blend of a lot of things I like tell me about putting the demo together how long it took did you immediately start working with Ola and quality control um not immediately we did the demo self-released um and that was recorded by Ben um our drummer he records everything that we do he mixes and masters everything

Starting point is 00:41:08 that we do, apart from Don't Test the Pest, that was mastered by Alpha Risk, but everything else. The demo just came about quite quickly, I think, because we all knew what we kind of wanted to go for. Like, we knew we wanted, like, yeah, like, crumb suckers, musical waste, like, all these, and, like, the blending pot of bands that people in pest control like, like, works really well. So we've got some bits that are a bit more, like, punky, a bit more hardcore, some bits that are a bit more, like, thrash on the side of, like, Joe loves, like, test. and bands like that. So it was like,

Starting point is 00:41:42 and then, yeah, bands like Crumso because I love like Ludo Christ and like that kind of style of like crossover. So and then obviously at the time it was just the three of us. And then we've got Jack who joined us shortly after that. So Jack was, he's a good friend of ours.

Starting point is 00:42:00 He's always been a good friend. And he was in a death metal band with Ben and Joe at the same time come Mortary Spawn. And he was living in London at the time. But he moved. leads so it was like great you're you're the basis of pest control now I love it how jealous is Joe that he gets to play base these days I probably think he couldn't care less was that at the time did you say mortuary spawn mortuary spawns a sick ass name well it was mortuary spawn

Starting point is 00:42:29 and I was like I was like decoding what that was yeah it's a more interesting yeah I would love to via you jump into the brain of Joe on where he's getting some of these riffs some of these like especially later on in the discography some of the like tricks he's doing. Tags and stuff that I'm telling you, Bo, that's all crumb suckers. Well, but dude, no, there's, I know some crumb suckers and there's stuff that I know isn't crumb suckers where he's like

Starting point is 00:42:57 he's hitting a harmonic and tapping the trem bar and it's making a peep, piquet, crazy, like just stuff that's like, Like, well, I don't know. The only contemporary band doing things like that is New World Man. And Dead Body. I mean, truly. Yeah. So do you know?

Starting point is 00:43:16 It's a beautiful community. Do you have any idea where he's pulling some of his guitar influences from? Like direct riff. You mentioned Testament and more of the thrash stuff. But I'm wondering if there's anything else. Um, Ontario, Metallica. Like, he, Joe is like a genius music wise. like riff writing wise but also there's a lot of bits that other people do to condense what he writes

Starting point is 00:43:43 sometimes yeah yeah yeah sometimes like joe's like in google drive and he's like i've just uploaded 25 000 riffs to the drive and then like um ben's quite good at like putting bits of songs together and like thinking what might work from one song to another and like actually constructing a song where the producer he's the bob rock ben rock Yeah. So I think it's like a like it's a combination of everyone's efforts in terms of like putting together

Starting point is 00:44:13 the songs that work. But in terms of Joe's guitar, he's just insane on guitar. And I said, I've literally said to him from just watching Hardlaw that when you guys meet on this tour, I think you'll click. So yeah,

Starting point is 00:44:27 I'm excited to like literally watch him play because there's a lot of stuff he does that where I'm listening. It was like, the fuck is it. Yeah, I'm all in. I mean, that was, we, we were told about pest control while we were at outbreak last year. And I think you and I met and it was like, she sings in pest control.

Starting point is 00:44:48 So I made sure I watched pest control. And the first thing, like the first thing that stands out is what this motherfucker's doing, riff-wise. It's beautiful stuff. Are you still a four-piece? Is he still the only guitar player? No, we've got a second guitar, which is. who is Joe Williams, who plays in Big Cheese as well. Okay, cool, awesome.

Starting point is 00:45:11 So that was like a really, like, interesting addition because it brought more of that hardcore side to it. So I think, like, the most, obviously, we'll go on to Year of the Pest, but with Year of the Pest, you can see how it's, like, the influences through having another guitarist on it has, like, fine-tuned it and, like, condensed it to, I think, more, like, what we actually want to go for and what we want to sound like. So there's a certain mashability that has been achieved now, which is important for live.

Starting point is 00:45:42 Think about it. Joe, Joe A can pet solo while Joe B is playing the pit rev. You know, so it really does. It does make sense. It's great stuff. You really did it. And now, when are you first touring? How far along into this journey? Our first tour was probably a Euro run that we did with a band call for scene who were like that. Yeah, yeah. I think they've played maybe like United Blood and I don't know if it was.

Starting point is 00:46:17 They've been here a few times. They like kind of cross over in a way that a lot of European bands don't. Where are they from? That does sound really funny. Helsinki, Finland. That's right, Finland. I think I think we've actually played with them. or in Finland.

Starting point is 00:46:32 Yeah. Awesome. Cool. How was that? Yeah, it's great. They took us out on our first Euro run. And I think we did like a couple of headline just DIY shows like in the midst of that. But the whole tour was obviously like DIY.

Starting point is 00:46:47 It was no like big shows were both like at the time. But like smaller bands that would just play like maybe like 200 capacity venues or whatever in Europe. But it's really fun like playing with those guys. They're great people. We're actually playing their 15th birthday party in January in Finland. Beautiful. Oh, awesome. Yeah, it's going to be absolutely freezing.

Starting point is 00:47:09 So that first tour with Four Seen is your, is that all your first experience as a, as a musician in mainland Europe? No. As in like with, the only band we've done it with with press control. Yeah. No, we're told, we've all been in like bands before and toured in Europe. up. So even with the first one that I did, cheap surgery, we went to Europe. So cheap surgery got around. It did get around. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:47:37 We did like. Pre-Brexit, dude. It was easy. They could go. Yeah. And then obviously, like, Ben was, had been in a grindcore band, called the Gubri's children. I would hope so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Because God, like, you know, we may have done. Harkor is maybe this uniquely American thing. Ryan Corp. Thank you. Thank you to the king and the queen, whatever,

Starting point is 00:48:07 whoever made this possible. It's Birmingham. It's whoever. Birmingham, thank you. The mayor of Birmingham for Ryan Corps. So on, so how do you like touring in the mainland

Starting point is 00:48:19 versus the UK and is it difficult for you now to leave behind your two cats, Echo and Luna? Yes. literally I was I was thinking this earlier I was like if it gets brought up about what I what is most difficult about going on tour being away it's being away from my cats echo and lunar so yeah do you have house housemates to take care of them I live with my partner so

Starting point is 00:48:45 sure but he sometimes is away at the same time because he plays in a band called stiff meds and he's sometimes away when I'm away so yeah I just feel a bit bad when I have to leave them in that case, but they do get looked after, so it's fine. But I just feel like, because like with anyone else that you're leaving at home or whatever, when you go away. And to be honest, I've not taught for like a massive duration of time. Like the longest I've been away for was three weeks. And that was in the UK. And so it's like, just because like, obviously like friends and things like that, if you miss them, you can just send them a text. But like your animals, you're like, what, what are they doing? What are they thinking? Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Can you imagine?

Starting point is 00:49:26 Imagine texting a pet. Yeah. Mine would just be like food, food, food, where's the food? But I would have no problem. I would get that and be like, that's so cute. He's starving. Well, the good thing is they don't. The cats, I also have two cats, so I have to leave and I have to have someone come

Starting point is 00:49:44 to take care of if my girlfriend doesn't take care of them. But they don't know. They never remember. Oh, you're back. Can we eat? They don't know. It's fine. But that's different for me, you know?

Starting point is 00:49:56 Yeah. But you They love me for real. I know they do, but they, yeah, I know. They don't know.

Starting point is 00:50:03 If I'm gone for five minutes, they think I'm dead. And it makes me feel bad as well. So are there any tales from those tours that come to mine or, or special memories or specific instances that have stuck with you? Yeah. Like one of my first, like obviously this was my first ever Euro tour that I did when it was with,

Starting point is 00:50:26 cheap surgery and we rocked up to the venue and it was like rural Slovenia and the venue was literally a shipping container in the middle of nowhere like literally and that's where you played that's where you slept there was no toilet there was literally no toilet so the next morning leaving that space was like gross to put it not explicitly oh my god yeah yes um so to put it explicitly poop everywhere. Poope everywhere. Human poop, literally everywhere. Holy shit, literally.

Starting point is 00:51:01 Just don't. Oh, my God. I don't get it. I don't get it. Everything about that show was just so strange. Like our driver and our friend Barron who was filling in with us at that time, he had somehow managed to steal a, from a service station, a bottle of wine that was shaped like an AK-47.

Starting point is 00:51:22 Oh, sure. Sure. Classic. So during the set, we was all like, oh, we can drink this massive, like, wine bottle shapes like a gun. And they had a tradition that whenever you go play, it was called a contentioner was the venue. Whenever you play there, they lift up everyone. Contestner. The contegner.

Starting point is 00:51:42 I think it's still going. I like the page of it on Facebook for some reason. And I see that they still have gigs going on. There was a Paris venue that was a boat for a while. Yeah, yeah. And it was called on a boat. We're playing on a boat. That reminds me that's got, that gives a big contentioner vibes.

Starting point is 00:52:01 Yeah. I wonder, uh, you think they got toilets? I wonder how much a porta potty is. Probably not that much. But these guys were like, I wonder if we can do it. I don't even know how people came to that show because it felt like we were like literally in like the woodland. Like there was nothing about.

Starting point is 00:52:18 We were like ages away from the town. And to be fair, it was a container. even if like 10 people came to the show, it was packed. It was weird. Yeah. Yeah. Ask, ask a punk. That's some ask a punk.

Starting point is 00:52:29 Ask a Slovenian punk. Jesus. Ask a fucking dock worker where the show is. So do you immediately start writing an LP after the demo? Because you had a couple singles that were like demos for the LP kind of or singles for the LP. Mm-hmm. Is are you, do you immediately go into it like, all right, we're going. LP1.

Starting point is 00:52:54 And then no, we didn't really have a plan. I think the thing about post control is we never have a plan. We don't do anything. And like, we don't really like think ahead of like, we're going to do this here and this is going to be the release date. We just go with what we're doing. And like if we're practicing and a song feels good, we're like, oh, maybe we should get that or this would work with this song.

Starting point is 00:53:14 So straight after the demo, we just did two of a songs like rat race and infestation, which I think was just because we were like just playing. in like local shows at a time. We just thought, let's get some more music out. And that was it. There was no more thought behind it. I love how hard you stick to the pest theme. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:53:34 You're so clever. Yeah, I literally, it gave me so many ideas of being able to write lyrics. And the song, the pest control was actually a song before it was the band name as well. Which was literally because me and Ben had fleas. in the house at the time. Oh, God. Get rid of them. Blumber.

Starting point is 00:53:56 Yeah. So, yeah, that's how the name, past control came about. And after the two songs we did, that's when we thought, right, okay, we can do an LP now. But even still, it wasn't planned. Like, we weren't like,

Starting point is 00:54:11 we'll do, like, a set amount of songs or we'll have it out by this day. Or, like, it wasn't that we was already working with, like, all or our quality control and being like, oh, we'll have it out. Interesting. We just started, writing songs and just kind of like worked on it.

Starting point is 00:54:25 And then it came up eventually with Ola to put out on quality control. And it was like, yeah, we can make that work. And similar to how this EP came about ready with Triple B. Triple B, right. It was just like, just like we was just kind of going with the flow, which we tend to do a lot of the time. It's like, we do like obviously now we do have a bit more on us that we have to plan and prepare and like actually think more about like if we're going to be.

Starting point is 00:54:50 You have a team and agents. Do you guys have a manager? Yes, we have a manager. Who's doing all your Spotify stuff, all the syncing and all the links and stuff? All your shows are there, your merch is there, I don't know how to do any of that. We do that. We just do that all ourselves. Well done.

Starting point is 00:55:08 It looks really very pro, very good. Sometimes I look at other people's and I'm like, this looks amazing and ours doesn't look as good. And I don't know how you've done this. And like, do you know, bands that have like members created playlists and things like that? I'm like, yeah, yeah. But, um, um, yeah. So like the planet, like, yeah, we do need to plan a bit more now because like next year is looking quite busy for us. And it's like if we don't start thinking about when we want to start writing, then LP2 may just not happen for a while.

Starting point is 00:55:42 But we obviously want to make it happen. So it's about balancing that without burning out or anything like that. And but making sure that it's still something I think that comes like naturally to us. I don't think anyone in the band is like people who like the idea of being forced into writing or doing anything music. It has to just be like you feel that way. So you're just going to do it and that's how it works out. Totally. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:56:08 And I mean, that's the way to do it is the best ideas come to you that you can't seek them. So three years into the band's career, you put out an LP. That summer you get asked to play Outbreak. was that your first did you play 2022 or it was 2023 your first time we played 22 on the oh that's awesome stage um so because we got a message from someone at outbreak basically asking if implement wanted to play like after during the during the like I think this might have been before or like at the time we saw working on it or I can't really remember what it was but we got a message asking if implement wanted to play outbreak and we were

Starting point is 00:56:51 I was like, oh, no, but we've got this new bound actually press control. Like I can send you the demo. It might actually go down a bit better than implement wood at outbreak. Right. Didn't hear anything back for a bit. Sent them demo. I was like, they absolutely hate this. That's great.

Starting point is 00:57:06 I were never going to play Outbreak now. And then they asked us to play. So we played on the second stage at Bowler's exhibition center. So the same place it was this year. This year. This year. And yeah, it. That was like one of the gigs where I was like,

Starting point is 00:57:23 holy shit, this is great. Like people have not even like being a band for that long and people seem to know and are responding well and people who maybe didn't even know the songs like enjoyed the set. So that was like quite a big moment for us to play that show and be like, oh, that was actually a lot better than I think we anticipated it in our head at the time, just thought that we'd go on and we'd just be like,

Starting point is 00:57:46 oh, like, no one really, no one's really bothered about watching us or no one knows us at this point. So I'm full of self-doubt all the time, obviously. So I think that about like any gig ever. Self-doubt's good. And then when things rock, you're like, I doubted that that was going to be good and it was really good. And it's nice and surprising.

Starting point is 00:58:04 Sure. So that's really, I feel like for somebody who grew up in Leeds and you went to outbreak and it kind of helped shape you as a musician and as a fan, that's a really special thing to get to do. That was where Bo and I, first heard you. So there's a lot of full circle stuff with Outbreak. And I do think lately, there haven't been a ton of British bands on the festival at all, which, which, you know,

Starting point is 00:58:31 that happens. Yeah, of course. So for you guys to be amongst that short list of British bands on there two years in a row. And then did you just play the like October mini version? and then to do that then is like they they outbreak as a unit seems to really believe in pest control which is which is huge for a growing band oh fuck yeah

Starting point is 00:58:56 what was that like playing the second year and then how was the thing last month um yeah so my first experience playing outbreak I played with tube surgery my first ever band but that was when it was at canal mills um in like 2018 as well.

Starting point is 00:59:13 So, but that's the one I played. Yeah, Twitch and Tunes played that one. Okay. That was awesome. Yeah, that was, so that was my first time playing it, but that went down like an absolute lead balloon because it just wasn't the band to be playing at Outbreak.

Starting point is 00:59:29 And I knew it going into it, so I didn't expect anything. The show that we did last year at Outbreak, was it last year? Like, what year are we in? Yeah. So when we played like the main stage for the first, first time, that felt crazy because we opened it.

Starting point is 00:59:47 So we were playing at 1 PM. So we had to be there super early to like sound check and do everything else. And we started playing like and they're like obviously really struck with the time is outbreak that you need to start at one. But they have obviously that like gate for the mosh bit. Yeah. Yeah. We didn't like that.

Starting point is 01:00:05 But I get it now. So when we started playing the gates were so locked. And like we started playing like the intro from the intro that song Don't Test the Pest. And it was like the instrumental. And we weren't playing it. It was just like playing. Is that the opener on the album? Yeah, I think so.

Starting point is 01:00:23 Maybe it's not. With the like harmonized. Yes. Instrumental lead thing. Yeah, that shit's awesome. In my head, I was like, is it the opener? Is it halfway through? I really can't remember.

Starting point is 01:00:32 It might be halfway through. But. So that started playing. And we was like, oh my God. Like people are still trapped behind these gates. So, like, I think, I, people are going to be able to get in in time enough for, like when we start our set and everything like that.

Starting point is 01:00:46 And it was actually a really special moment because people like running to try to get to the front in time to be able to watch it. And like, again, with that set, we didn't really expect it to go down as well as it did. But it was great, especially being the first band on. We're like people who have literally just got here. It's, it's 1pm. So let's see.

Starting point is 01:01:05 Outbreak just gone, even better. Like, even better than that one, I would say. and we did it as like the year of the pest release show oh cool cool cool because we originally we weren't originally on the lineup for outbreak and we was going to do a release show so we was like looking in lees to do a release show but the venues that we wanted to use were just like full and it was a really busy time of year for like touring bands and everything like that so um i was like sent an email

Starting point is 01:01:35 just basically be like oh what about doing like year of the pest release show as outbreak pre-show in Manchester because obviously it was one day and it was on a Sunday this year so I was like maybe we could do that on Saturday and they were like oh do you want to just do it at the actual fest instead and was like yeah sure yeah so is is the one that they do the one that they just did in October is that like the same scale or is it like you said it's a one-day thing so is it the same size or is it smaller or how is it differ it's it was out Buller's exhibition centre is again. So it was like the same size and scale as the other ones.

Starting point is 01:02:14 But the one in summer that they just had recently was even bigger because they had the they had the stage set up outdoors. So they had that extra bit. So yeah, it was the same scale, like absolutely packed still. I don't think it was sold out, which I think the other one was maybe. But this, that one was way more like emo-y kind. of vibes that then like there's a few hardcore bands playing but it was definitely more like few and far between to like more slow and like softer emoy kind of like music um i used emo to

Starting point is 01:02:52 generalize like anything that's like slow so like like adjacent yeah so does my mom yeah so does my dad um but yeah it's great we played we played a bit later on on that one so we played like four pm and it was just yeah it was a great time play. That's the sweet spot right there. That's midday. Now everybody's not too tired. Nobody's tearing their ACLs yet. Everybody's still ready. Yeah. That's beautiful. So that rocked. Okay, awesome. I hope that you play next year. And I hope that somehow I get to be there and get to see you guys, which reminds me, do you have plans to tour the U.S. soon? Maybe. I'm not, I don't know how much chicken. Yes, yes, we do.

Starting point is 01:03:36 Say no more. I think you've said enough. I think you've said enough. Something you're really going to enjoy when touring the States is we have incredible chicken Caesar salads. I know that you love a chicken Caesar salad. Is that true? I absolutely love a chicken Caesar salad.

Starting point is 01:03:52 Yeah. So great. Music to my ears. Do you know where the Caesar salad was invented? No. I do think that rang a bell, though, because I remember it was actually like National Caesar Salad Day. semi recently. And I was looking at some facts. I was like trying to scam my brain. But, no, it was invented in Tijuana, Mexico. Really? Yeah, by a man named Caesar.

Starting point is 01:04:15 Dude, Mexico does everything. It was at a hotel. We stayed at the hotel where it was invented. Didn't get it. But that's beautiful. So you're going to love the American Caesars, Leah. They're great. How often are you eating a chicken Caesar salad? I get like hyper-fixated on food, so I will eat a lot of something in one go and then maybe not eat it again for a couple of mums and then eat it all in one go. But once I recently got like re-triggered for my my Caesar obsession because I saw it in like a burger form. Like chicken Caesar burger. There's a place called Giata here, an incredible sandwich shop that does a chicken Caesar rap.

Starting point is 01:04:59 Yeah, rap. that they are like now world famous for. So when you play LA finally, I'll take you, I'll take pest control to Giata. We'll get you the rap. You'll never be the same. Hell yeah.

Starting point is 01:05:11 I look forward to it. Good. Pardon this interruption. It is so important. We interrupt this amazing episode to tell you all about manscaped. Every single day I use a product from manscape, often multiple.

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Starting point is 01:05:53 these are all things we swear by. The scrubber. The body scrubber, the body wash. I use the beer trimmer all the time. Number three. No problem. Also, you go to Target, the tremor alone is like 100 bucks. You go to manscape.com, you use code hardlore. You wouldn't believe what you get with 100 bucks.

Starting point is 01:06:14 Christmas is literally around the corner. Now, to our British listeners, to, I know you love Christmas, more than we do, perhaps. We just did an edit, and Bo is still laughing, but we'll continue. I know that you guys love Christmas, And it's right around the corner and Manskeeps really good. So try to use our code, okay?

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Starting point is 01:06:44 Okay. So you use Code Hardlaw, get 20% off. This episode is also brought to you by Mad Vintage. I'm talking to everybody. I'm talking to each one of you out there. Yeah. My closet's getting full. I need you people out there buying for Mad Vintage.

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Starting point is 01:08:04 Tell me about, so we're big gamblers on the show. Oh. Tell me about your thousand quid win when you played bingo. Okay, yeah. Yeah, the only time I played bingo and I did absolutely nothing to deserve that win because not that you ever deserve to win bingo, but even worse. A couple senior citizens I know would beg to differ. Just be like, what the ff?

Starting point is 01:08:28 It's skill. It's skill. Oh, I deserve this bingo. G24. It was actually like, it was my first time playing it. You get screens, like iPads almost, and you don't even need to circle it. It does it for you. So that's what I mean about.

Starting point is 01:08:45 I didn't even dot the numbers. I was sat as like a moody, like 17, 18 year old with my mom and my grandma. That's a slot. That's a slot machine. Is this grandma Helen? Yeah. from my Helen, yeah. Dude, Helen.

Starting point is 01:08:58 From fucking rocks. She's awesome. She's taking my grandkid gambling. And yeah, they just called it up. In the tank. She's absolutely insane. She's like the craziest woman. But like in the most like, she's just so blunt and like straight to the point of

Starting point is 01:09:20 everything that it's just insane to be around because you don't meet many people who are like that really. And then when someone just says exactly what. Like someone's like slow in front of her at the supermarket. She's just like, what's she bloody doing and all this? And I'm like, oh, you're like, grandma, you can't say this. Yeah. And she like does that thing where someone like talks loud so people can hear that they're talking about them as well.

Starting point is 01:09:41 And I just like, I shrivel up and I'm like, please stop it. My wife's the same way talking. She wants the dickhead in front of her in the grocery store to hear all of her grievances. Now, tell me about the bingo win. Yeah, it was basically I was sat on my phone Like not even paying attention to whatever was getting called These numbers were getting circled on this iPad in front of me And then I was like, it just came up like full house

Starting point is 01:10:08 And I was like, okay Yeah And I was like okay like what does that mean for me thinking like I might get like 20 quid like maximum Yeah, right over and they literally just like handed me a thousand pound in cash And like, I've never seen so many older women look so jealous in my whole life. Like, literally, like, they knew that I'd only been there once. You could see it in their eyes.

Starting point is 01:10:33 Like, I know you don't deserve this. And you've got this. That's incredible. And Helen is sitting there like, yeah, that's my fucking granddaughter, bitch. Yeah. Hell yeah. That's awesome. Wow.

Starting point is 01:10:45 Congrats. See, that's the joys of gambling. You never know. It just takes one chance to win. Is that like, have you taken up gambling since then? Or is that, are you a one and done? I'm a one and done. I'm not going to push my look.

Starting point is 01:11:00 That was the good for you. I could be. So I did attempt to try to like play some bets on England in the World Cup recently by like literally there and then just asking what people were like, I don't know and things like that. But I went on the website and I had no idea how this is working. And just didn't do it. So, yeah.

Starting point is 01:11:22 Okay. So, well, it didn't come home. It didn't, yeah. But I bet on England. I thought it was coming home. I thought it was coming home. Yeah. We all thought it was coming home.

Starting point is 01:11:30 We were watching it. It's out of Fury. Yeah. It was on the back. Everyone was watching, yeah. So you're up a thousand. Lifetime. Lifetime.

Starting point is 01:11:39 Which is you're killing. You're killing. Yeah. Killing. Keep it. Keep it up. You're doing it. So we mentioned reality TV earlier.

Starting point is 01:11:47 Did your love for reality TV come from being in a children's game show? when you were young? I'm not sure if my love for reality TV show, but I think maybe that was started off my want to be like, center of attention, like on things. Like when I was a kid, I would always want to be in all like the plays and the musicals and like dances and things like that.

Starting point is 01:12:13 And I don't even know, I literally have no idea how cartoon net, because it was a kind of network program. And I have no idea why they came to my primary school in Kirtsel in Leeds to interview kids to be on this show. I didn't apply for it. They were just going around schools. They're looking for real fucking kids. Real fucking kids.

Starting point is 01:12:35 Like real, real experience, you know? Yes. Rugged raw. You were beating ass at the time. Riding tanks. Yeah. Leather jacket. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:12:46 Yeah. I was so strange that I think they had no option but to put me off. on because I was like, this kid's weird and she needs to be on the show. And I ended up going on with my best friend and she won. And I got gunked. I got, like, covered in, like, goo. You got slimed? Slimed.

Starting point is 01:13:05 They called it gunged there. Interesting. We're learning a lot. Cultures. Slimed gung. Which was quite interesting because, like, obviously you see it on the TV and you're like, oh, the ceiling's opening up and the slime and gunk is falling down. But really, it's just like people chucking it over you.

Starting point is 01:13:20 So, like, as a kid. kid, like having grown ass animals, like, just cover you in gunk and you just sat there. Like, not only have I lost, my best friend won, and I'm jealous and pissed off about that. And I'm now covered in gunk. So it was a terrible experience. That was maliciously poured on me by an adult. An adult person. What color was the gunk?

Starting point is 01:13:40 Green. Okay, perfect. Oh, so yeah, that's fine. You got two cultures divided by two languages. You know what I mean? That's all in it. I can't believe. See, here.

Starting point is 01:13:51 What you're not thinking about, Leah, is what an honor it is to be slime. Yeah, true. You're amongst greats, you know, such as John Cena, Katie Perry, et cetera. They've all been slime. Katie Perry was historic. Katie Perry's was absolutely fucking brutal. That, you want to talk malicious sliming. Yeah, that was a gunkin for sure.

Starting point is 01:14:17 What did it taste like? I was too busy, like probably crying. And it's in the moment where you crying? I was crying. I then had to, I was in a kid and I was covered in gunk. And then I had to like get a shower in this, this back room of the studio.

Starting point is 01:14:32 And I had no idea what was going on. Yeah. And my friend had won like, do you know, like the first iPods. Like that was a surprise at the time. That's a good prize. Damn. It's a great prize. It was exactly.

Starting point is 01:14:44 That's what made it even worse and made my tears even more, more apparently. I was like, no. Are you still friends? Yeah, she's so, yeah. That was a bit of make or break for us, but yeah. Yeah. To answer your question, it's made with like oatmeal and stuff. It's food coloring.

Starting point is 01:15:01 Oh, so it's like the Big Brother Slop. Do they have Slop in Big Brother UK? Not that I've seen. One of the punishments in Big Brother U.S. is you have to eat this thing called Slop, which I've had to personally prepare. What is it? And it's like a combination of like oats and different kind of. It will sustain you.

Starting point is 01:15:20 but it's flavorless gunk so that makes sense the matrix yeah exactly yeah okay okay it's just like that but I was gonna say at the what would you do filming

Starting point is 01:15:31 it was at least hidden and well it's a studio but it was you know like a trapdoor and the person got slammed yeah a guy named Dave yeah he was up there just fuck

Starting point is 01:15:42 yeah that's part of his day all right so we're at year of the pest now this came out on quality control in the UK and Europe and Triple B in the US first proper US release for pest control? Yes. Pretty cool.

Starting point is 01:15:59 And we didn't we didn't have a plan to do a release at all. I think Sam just hit up Joe Williams was like, do you have anything like even it's a song or a single or anything that you want to do on Triple B. And we hadn't been planning a release or anything. We're just like thinking maybe album two, not like an EP in between that. So it's like, yeah, sure, like we can get some bits together. We had some songs that we had been working on. So it's like, let's use that for this. And then Ola obviously started getting involved with it.

Starting point is 01:16:31 And that was about it, how it came about. Beautiful. Yeah. I know Sam still has copies available. So go over to the Triple B store, pick up some of those. I think these four songs, this is pest control. I agree. This is like, you guys have, you're dialed in.

Starting point is 01:16:50 You're locked in. You know who you are. The Crumb Suckers influence is screaming at me in a way that makes me respond. Yes. Thank you. I'll have some. Your voice has progressed into this monstrous locked in thing. I feel like everything is in place.

Starting point is 01:17:05 Do you feel the same? Yeah, I think sometimes it takes me to, like, reflect on the past and, like, previous releases to, like, realize how much different it does sound. And, like, obviously, it's not, like, different band or anything, like, sound. and it still sounds like pest control, but vocally, when we first did the demo, I didn't really know, like, what style of vocals I wanted to go for. I just knew that I was going to shout and see, like, how it sounded.

Starting point is 01:17:33 So, like, it's a lot more fine-tuned for me in terms of, like, what I want to do. Uh-oh. So I think, yeah, I agree. I think that it all was just, like, typically, like, it's just what we wanted to go for, and we managed to make it happen. So I'm hoping that album too will just be a continuation of that as well. You're in the best area for a band, in my opinion, where you're kind of like, we really like what we're doing. And it seems like people really like what we're doing.

Starting point is 01:18:01 And that can be the most inspiring, like the balls rolling. You got the momentum. You know, it's like a really exciting time. Question for you. What does the P and PMC stand for? Parasitic. thought so. I knew it was something yucky.

Starting point is 01:18:21 Yeah. That whole song is about something, yeah, literally called parasitic mind control, PMC, which is like when an insect dies, they can go like basically infect another, I don't know if it happens to all insects, but they can affect another insect's brain and make them feel insane.

Starting point is 01:18:41 So that's what that song's about. Your lyrical journey in pest control has turned you into a Batman villain. Yeah, you're half Batman villain and half Edgar from Men in Black. You're poison I being learning about, but you know, the average insect can live. It's really cool to be able to apply to thrash metal lyrics and like the I, like, you're talking about pest mind control, but it's like allegories about life that can apply to everything. This is next level stuff. Yeah. You know, for me, it was actually quite like a,

Starting point is 01:19:20 like it was a good thing that we named the band pest control and I had the ability to do this because looking back on previous bands like cheap surgery and implement, one thing that I regretted about like the vocals and the lyrics was having serious words that didn't really mean a lot to me. They just sounded cool to have down if that makes sense. Of course. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:19:42 So like lots of, about like, do you know, like sinning and things like that. And it was just like words that just sounded like good to write down and to like scream or whatever. So for this, it was really interesting to go from like the opposite perspective of writing about things that are more serious, but the lyrics sound really like joking and silly, but they're about like quite serious topics really. So the dynamic of switching between those really helped me when it came to like getting

Starting point is 01:20:11 out of what I didn't like about my previous bands that I've done. Gotcha. Yeah. So yeah. Love it. You're killing it. I mean, your voice has come into its own. Your lyrics have come into its own.

Starting point is 01:20:22 The band is coming to its own. These are your hardest songs yet, I would say, too. Which I think should always, for any, any, like, anything metallic. Yeah. You should, the goal to be, should be to get harder. You know, be, no pun intended. The harder you get than, like, the more. extreme you get, the more people will follow and be like, damn, they're not just out here for like

Starting point is 01:20:47 commercial gain or something. It's the Pantera, the Pantera. Exactly. The Pantera blueprint is just get more insane and the people will follow. And I think you've done that. Time Bomb certified spin-kickable masterpiece. I know it's an obvious thing, but the ticking in Time Bomb is awesome. Oh, that's fantastic.

Starting point is 01:21:10 Really cool. How do you do that? What does Ben do? I'm not too sure. Count it. Hold up a clock. I literally have no idea what he does live. I don't really pay attention to anything other than what I'm doing.

Starting point is 01:21:25 You're in your own bug world. You're bugging out. Yeah. Don't you say that in a lyric, don't you? I'm bugging out, yeah. So that became on the back of, I don't know if it's a sample or it's a bit of audio. before a war zone song where they're like, I can't take it, I'm bugging out. Like that is like, so that got brought up and I was like, imagine having that as a chorus,

Starting point is 01:21:50 but you're in a band called pest control like that. You can't beat that. And that's like one of the funniest songs that I really like doing bugging out for that reason because it's just so stupid. It's gone and catchy and I love it. Do you like- I look forward to whatever pest bug thing. you continue to come up with. They're fun for me,

Starting point is 01:22:14 ries, huh? Araknophobic nosebleed. There's all kinds of stuff. Do you like like bugs, Leah? Is that like a thing? Are you a bug person? No, I absolutely don't like. Literally with the song, PMC, I was on YouTube, like, looking at videos

Starting point is 01:22:29 on how it all works. Writing down research. I'm going to get sick. Yeah, I'm going to be sick. I don't like anything like that like rodents like fleas, bugs, anything like that I cannot stand so

Starting point is 01:22:48 well that's PTSD for you yeah totally so it's like it's really funny like giving it like the big guns on stage like about like eradicating the pest and doing this and then like a spider walks in front of me and I'm like holy fucking shit like you want eradicate it so that's real shit

Starting point is 01:23:05 you being scared of the spider shows that you're trying you've got to get rid of them Yeah, sure. I didn't think pests were a big problem in the UK for some reason. Are you kidding, dude? I guess, yeah, I guess the plague. Yeah. And that was the fleas.

Starting point is 01:23:20 So yeah, you're right to be scared of the fleas. It wasn't the rats. Well, it was the fleas on the rats. Yeah, but justice for the rats, man. They were just trying to get by. And then these fleas ruined the fucking world. A third. Rats can cook and we're giving them all this shit, you know?

Starting point is 01:23:37 I had a pet rat. I'm pro rat. I like rats. I'm pro rat, man. Leah? No. I worked in a pet shop one time and I had to deal with rats and it was most terrifying experience for my life.

Starting point is 01:23:49 Like pet rats? Even the friendly ones. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, they're so nice. Trust me. When you guys tour next, when you go to Paris, there's a restaurant I'm going to send you to.

Starting point is 01:23:59 And you're going to have an incredible meal and you're going to thank me later. Tell me about this tour you got with Harm's Way tour coming up. Are you excited for that? Yeah, I'm really excited. Huge. It's huge. And it's like the ideal kind of tour that I would want for pest control to do because we've done like outside of doing like, um,

Starting point is 01:24:18 tours with bands like our friends like for scene and high viz and things like that. Like the longest tour we did was the three week UK run that we did with a bittery. Um, so. Jesus. So that. I can't do. How was that? How was that?

Starting point is 01:24:33 How was that? How was that? Um, yeah, it was great. I was speaking to. Ben, I remember about it earlier. I was like, like, the obituary tour to me was a bit of a blur because it was three weeks in the UK and the UK is not

Starting point is 01:24:46 a massive place. So it was, we shared a bus with obituary and it was like, we're doing overnight drives, but the drives were only ever like three, four hours and then you're just outside the venue for like the foreseeable until you go again. And that was my first experience in like a bunk or staying anywhere

Starting point is 01:25:02 or like sharing that intensive space with like another band. And obviously they're all their crew. What are they like to tour to share a bus with? Are they awesome? They're awesome. They fit all the hair. They stayed up way later than me.

Starting point is 01:25:21 I didn't get to see like as much as like the party side and then being out and about because I was already, I was always like straight in my bunk. Eapy. Yeah. Yeah. I was working a lot because I work remotely. So I was working and trying to tour and doing everything. So I was just feeling quite burnt out during that run. And then my brain, so like literally what time bomb is about my brain can do anything

Starting point is 01:25:47 or like focus on just like enjoying something if I know I'm waiting around for something to happen, if that makes sense. So like being at the venue from like literally being packed outside of venue from 6am waking up there and not moving and just waiting to sound check and everything like that, it sends my brain into like overdrive. And I just spend. my days on like waiting mode which I think then leads me to end up feeling a bit more burnt out on tours because my brain's so like I'm the same I could I've never related anything more

Starting point is 01:26:18 I'm the same way this I barely slept last night because I knew this was the first thing I had to do today sure yes so if I seem insane there's a it's it's because of time bomb it's your fault yeah you know what and the worst of that is when it's when you are playing a fest and you play at like seven, but you're there at noon. You're there at 10 a.m. sometimes. You want to know what's interesting? Colin, I just looked it up. All of the UK, like put together is about the same size as Oregon. So imagine touring Oregon for three weeks.

Starting point is 01:26:58 I would have the best time. Yeah, but do. I would know every Taco Bell in the state. I'd be like, that one's good. You want to stay away from the beans at that one. What was the smallest city you played on that three-week UK tour? Probably. I don't know.

Starting point is 01:27:13 I'm not that, like, great at geography, but I think it was Stoke, which was really funny. Like, Stoke in general is not a nice place to be. Is this Stoke on Trent?

Starting point is 01:27:24 Stoke and Trent, yeah. They got to leave Trent alone. What did Trent do where he's a constantly being fucking stoke. No, they're stoked on him, dude. Oh,

Starting point is 01:27:31 okay. Okay. Trent. I've played there. I think we're like, no memory of it. trying to look up like a cafe to go eat breakfast or like somewhere nice to eat and the highest rated place was the Tesco cafe.

Starting point is 01:27:45 Yeah, see, dude, that's rough. And then you're there. The overnight drive was nothing so you're there all day. They got Gregs there? They did have Gregs, yeah. Okay. Well, you're fine. You're fine.

Starting point is 01:27:57 But that was like, that was the last day of the tour. So it was like, oh, you're like just finished his three week run. But now I'm in stoke and there's absolutely nothing to do. And I've bought up my brain. and it's like a Sunday night or like maybe a Monday night. I can't remember what I ended. And I have to go eat my lunch at Tesco Cafe because it's the highest rated food place. Our one stoke listener is like, I know that Tesco Cafe is just quite good.

Starting point is 01:28:23 That's a small, that's more Tesco. So I think we're sharing a bus on this tour coming up. I think that's how it's working. I think it's awesome. You, us in basement are on one bus. Oh, okay. I think, I don't know, I could be, it could change. You guys are your best friends.

Starting point is 01:28:45 You guys partiers? You stay up late? I know you don't, but how about the lads? Not really. Like, I probably like, I party, but not on tour. Like, I never really go out late or stay out. Like, I drink, I'll drink and, like, have a drink and be around. But I won't be like, I'm going out until, like, 2, 3 a.m.

Starting point is 01:29:05 and then coming back, I'm going to be on the bus and feel terrible. Do you do that at home? Yes, I do that at home. Not that often. The pub is like, that's culture. It's like, well, I've done my work. I've eaten my roast. I've got to hit the pub.

Starting point is 01:29:22 Yeah, that's how I spend every single day. I'm like, do my work, have my roast, go to the pub. Honest question, because I truly don't know how often, how often does the average Brit go to the pub? I would say like... On average. Once a week, I would say the average... Oh, okay.

Starting point is 01:29:41 Oh, that's not bad at all. That's nothing. No, it's not bad. Well, we're in a cost of living crisis. People just can't afford to go to the pub any more than that. That's fucked out. They need an AMC Stubbs type subscription for the pub. Yeah, that is called mass alcoholism.

Starting point is 01:29:59 Well, I think they are already dealing with that. So maybe this cost of living crisis has one great purpose. Wow. Anyway. Do you eat at the pub a lot? Or do you eat at home, generally? I don't really go. I won't say I go to the pub that often.

Starting point is 01:30:18 Like in summer, maybe a bit more because it's just like, even if people don't drink in the UK, like you could be out with people who are like straight edge, but they'll go to the pub because it's like the place where everyone meets up. Yeah. And they break edge in a couple years. Everybody in the UK that I know. Yes.

Starting point is 01:30:33 It's great. Do you have a favorite tour that pest control was done yet? Um, I would say the high-vis one that we did because that, I think that came up after, just after the obituary run. I think it was either before or after, but I'm pretty sure that it was after. Um, but it was just nice to just, we've done quite a big, a few like metal things in the like recent years. So we did like a short run with like, create a municipal waste. Jesus gross He did some like

Starting point is 01:31:06 Metal Fest So it was just nice to like Because Hyvis are another band Who've like come from hardcore They're all like Oh yeah But they don't play hardcore anymore So even though where I'm playing

Starting point is 01:31:17 Like we're playing crossover thrash Highvis are playing like post punk Almost with like other like influences in there And it's like well But we all come from the same scene So like people who maybe were like High Viz fans But not into hardcore

Starting point is 01:31:31 We'd probably be like Why why is this band playing with high viz? Like it makes no sense, but to the people who got it, it just made loads of sense. Right here, it makes sense. Well, that's what we say all the time.

Starting point is 01:31:41 That's the beauty of this genre of music, is that exactly what you just described can happen. And I mean, the tour we're about to do. It's the same thing. Yeah, sure. It's very much the same thing, even though it's going to be probably one of the, it's going to be the biggest Euro tour we ever do.

Starting point is 01:31:57 Right. You know, for sure. Did you get on with Martin from high viz, well? With who, sorry? Martin McNamara. Oh, yes. Yeah, Marty, yeah. He's the best.

Starting point is 01:32:09 Yeah, they all, like, one of the things that was so nice about that, at all, like, not even it being about us was just so great to see how well they were doing. Like, we played the first show in Belgium, I think. And, like, I fully went into it thinking that it would be like, maybe like 200 capacity venues, kind of DIY shows. Like, I didn't, I didn't realize the scale that high Viz had grown in Europe at that time. So like going out and I think the first venue was like 1500 capacity and it was sold out and it was packed and this it was like massive stage catering like amazing food like I just didn't expect that going into it. Like I just thought that it was just going to be like standard kind of like hardcore.

Starting point is 01:32:50 Yeah. So yeah, it's just really nice. We got along with them guys really well. We had like one of our best friends Barron driving us. So he came along to it and it was great. but then I got COVID at the end of it. So, yeah. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:33:06 It comes for us all. I just missed that high-vis tour that was here, like, by a couple days every week. They, they crisscross with our tour the whole time. You guys were on the same tour at the same time. They were in Chicago two days after us, L.A., the same night as us, like, the whole fucking time. But I love that record. I love that band. Let me ask you a question.

Starting point is 01:33:29 How many people. named Sam, do you know? How many people named Sam? Name them. Think of them. Sam Leacock? One. One.

Starting point is 01:33:44 I'm going to have like all the sums in my life now are going to be like, Leah. Are you? You forgot about us? The reason I asked is because you mentioned someone named Barron and I was like, I've never met anyone in my life named Barron, but every British

Starting point is 01:33:55 guy I've ever met in my entire life. I don't know one baron is a huge piece of shit. Jesus. I was just going to say, Every British guy I've ever met my life is named Sam. All of them. Every single one. Even Graham from Hivez.

Starting point is 01:34:07 His name is Sam. It's unbelievable. True. Actually, if you think about it like that, yeah, I can get on board of the site. Everyone being called Sam. Our friend Barron is actually called Tony, like Anthony. So I'm not too sure why he gets called Baron, but I don't know where that is like a common. He's the Baron.

Starting point is 01:34:25 It's a great name. You know, you said, you didn't know what to expect without Hives tour and it ended up being. this huge, amazing thing. What are the expectations and plans for pest control? You said you've been going with the flow. And I think that the longer you do that, the more successful you will be. It's like to just never get ahead of yourself

Starting point is 01:34:50 and always just be like, we just rock. Yeah. And we've got to kill these pests. Yes. And then we're good to go. Is that the plan? Yeah. I think the plan this year has to be like a bit more structured because I said we do have like a busy year coming up like the not lose tour goes straight into another huge like five five and a bit week tour like we're two week break and then we're straight doing that and it's not in the UK or Europe so it's going to be different time zones and everything like that so I see.

Starting point is 01:35:27 Yes. So I'm feeling a bit like apprehensive because I don't know what is. it's going to be like, and obviously the first experience of going out of Europe and the UK is a long as time to be going for as well. But I'm just going to take it as it comes. Five weeks of incredible chicken Caesar salads. Yeah, yeah. Five weeks in a place, I can only imagine where you could tour for five weeks.

Starting point is 01:35:53 South America. You're finally coming to Brazil, baby. One thing I can assure you is the five weeks in a place that I can't imagine that you'll spend, you'll have just the greatest food amenities. And you've got us for... Availability. Yeah, references. Yes, yes.

Starting point is 01:36:11 We've both been to Brazil, so we know what to expect. Let me... Let's get into some of the kind of like stock hard lore questions here. And you can take your time with this one. That's a big question. What are your four favorite hardcore records of all times? I would definitely say

Starting point is 01:36:36 Life of Dreams Crumsockers If Are we casting a crumsockers as Crossover or can we just say Crossover is a hardcore Is hardcore and trashmills 100%

Starting point is 01:36:46 Yeah Life of Dreams Whole World Ice Grills Probably one of my favorites They just played their 15 year, 20 year Yeah 20 year in that record

Starting point is 01:36:59 I had no idea Like that record record's got two names and I have no idea why like it's no I make no Omega but then also I scrolls no Omega was a compilation LP that had uh it was like a collection of everything you're right okay that makes sense pre the first LP okay because when I look at those songs that's the most songs from it so when I on Spotify they don't have ice scrolls but it's got the artwork from it so anyway yeah so too doing great Master Killer.

Starting point is 01:37:37 Classic. Yeah. Master Killia. I saw that in me. He was like, nah, she's cool. Um, the fourth I would probably go with,

Starting point is 01:37:53 oh, the last slot, I don't know. Big Kiss, good night, trapped under ice. Wow. Yep. Listen.

Starting point is 01:38:01 Just classic. They're, the greatest British hardcore band of all time. So I totally understand. Great answers. Yeah, that was great. Fantastic stuff.

Starting point is 01:38:12 And it all kind of fits. Like with what I hear in pest control, that all fits. I hear a lot of justice in your voice. Yes. There's little, there's vocal inflections that you do. And even cadence. Yeah. It's cool.

Starting point is 01:38:30 I mean that completely compliment. Yeah, totally. Yeah. I'll take it. So the UK, pretty scary place in terms of supernatural history, you know, a lot of old stuff, a lot of, you know, Shakespeare, Hamlet. Jack the Ripper. Jack, who we don't, who we think was multiple guys. We have our own theory about it.

Starting point is 01:38:50 But have you or do you believe in the existence of ghosts? Yes. And I have had experiences that I feel like. have made me more believing ghosts. Can you share? Talk to me. Yeah, can you share? Talk to me.

Starting point is 01:39:11 Don't talk to Bo. Talk to Bo. Talk to me. Talk to Bill. Talk to Colin. So I live in Kurtzol where there is a big Abbey from Henry the 8th, Kurtzl Abbey. And there's lots of ghost stories around like the Kurtzabie in general. And my friend lived in a house like opposite there.

Starting point is 01:39:28 Now for the listeners at home and for one of the hosts of the show, what is an Abby? it's not a big big gal I and abbey is like I don't know it's just where monks kind of went to hang out and I don't remember just a chill chill relaxing place

Starting point is 01:39:45 it's it's like seminary a monastery it's it's yeah yeah I did I don't think I've touched on anything to do with like abbees or that side of history since being in like high school so that my knowledge of that is so like I got you don't worry about it um

Starting point is 01:40:01 so she lived in some houses opposite there that had been there for a long time because they were built around like around the same time and we were sat in the living room and we'd already thought that there was something kind of strange about the house that she was in there was a basement which is straight away you don't want a dark basement near the abbey terrible and we already felt like we were both like young and we already felt like there was something strange about this house um so we used to do little tests and one of them one time we had a fork that we were using for our lunch at the time and we put it in the middle of the room and we put in the middle of the room and then went downstairs and was like if anything, if there's anyone here then move this fork. Went downstairs like did whatever, came back up and I shit you not the fork was under the bed like fully under the bed and no one else was in the house apart from us too and she was me with me the whole time, so I know that it wasn't her and it wasn't me.

Starting point is 01:41:03 I believe. Well, a question for you. Question for you. Irrefutable proof, Bo. There's no question you can ask. Had that fork ever been used to consume food? Yes. Okay.

Starting point is 01:41:18 What does that have to do? Yeah. A rat grabbed it and dragged it under the bed to fucking lick it out. There's no rats in the UK. We've talked about that. They're in Paris cooking meals. Okay. That's great.

Starting point is 01:41:30 So the fork moves. Did you run and scream for your life or did you conduct more tests? What was the moment of finding it under the bed? The moment of finding it was just like, I don't think we fully believed what had happened. So we just kind of like went about, stay downstairs for most of the night. And then just kind of forgot about it. I didn't sleep a wink at night. I was saying over at my friend's house and I was like laid like this,

Starting point is 01:41:54 thinking, oh my God, this is the end for me. But it was that, funny enough, that wasn't the moment that made us run and scream out of that house. There was another moment in this house that made us running through about the house. So it's a terraced house in the UK. So you've got a house either side and house at the back. And the stairs are always the same. They're usually like three floors and it stairs all the way up to the top room. And that's a lot of like how a lot of the layout is in the UK and in Leeds. And you can never be sure where you're hearing sounds from basically like people running up and down the stairs.

Starting point is 01:42:30 So we were sat in the living room at one point and from the top room, which is where the fork incident happened. So that's important to remember as well. So from the top room, it sounded instantly like someone absolutely just like running down the stairs. And you're having that moment of being like, it sounds like someone is running down the stairs, but I know this is probably either house or whatever. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:42:55 But at the bottom of the stairs, it's a door. And that just absolutely post. pushed open and the running stopped. So it did sound like someone running open, running down, like kicking the door down. And I screamed, ran through the scary basement and then refused to go back in the house. And I was like, I'm done there. And that was it.

Starting point is 01:43:13 That was it. Unless it was like daytime and like all my friend's family was in at the same time. But when you're just two like younger girls and you're like not a chance for I spend in any time. I'm not going. I'm not a younger girl. I'm not going in there. I'm with you. I'll go in.

Starting point is 01:43:29 Now, was there, now to play devil's advocate here, I have a very fat cat, huge. When she walks down the stairs, I'm positive, it's human until she turns to corner. And these are, are they, no, they're not carpeted, but yeah, you can hear her coming down. It is insane. Yeah. She's, that's a whole other thing. Is there a cat in the building? Who knows how to open doors?

Starting point is 01:43:54 No, no big cat. No, nothing, nothing at all. just terrified me all right it's haunted it goes surreal this abbey needs to go

Starting point is 01:44:04 we need to get rid of it listen it would make sense out of all the places on earth for the UK to be among the most or exor so much conquering the most haunted

Starting point is 01:44:14 and strife tea spilled what do you think about Jack the Ripper Leah you have any opinions on on that fellow are you against what he did

Starting point is 01:44:27 like, yeah, yeah. I would like to make it apparent on hard law right now. I am against Jack the river. Question, do you think Jack was multiple people or one guy? One guy.

Starting point is 01:44:41 One guy. You think one guy was just, he's just on a tear. Yeah. Because it was like, it happened right before, like, there was like CCTV or anything like that. I... Yeah, way before. Way before. And I just feel like anything like that,

Starting point is 01:44:56 like when you're when I just I thought there's so many people who got away with so much in that era and they could just go around we agree and that's why yeah when we were doing our own research yeah we kind of feel like it's multiple guys oh I probably not as well researched on it as you guys are I just kind of like it's obviously something that people talk about I've seen like the old like channel four documentary on yeah but nothing like in depth about jack the rip if If you look up the separate crimes and methods methodology, each one was a little different. Yeah, there's a lost, there's a lost hauntler episode of Colin and I investigating Jack the Ripper that maybe someday will. Maybe someday.

Starting point is 01:45:39 There's also a theory that Jack left the UK and came to Chicago and his H.H. Holmes is the same, literally the same guy because the time frame lines up and the murder house lines up and all the shit. It's interesting. It's interesting. So go surreal and we believe them. That's a fact. Even Bo. So touring in the UK versus the mainland, how do you find those experiences differ?

Starting point is 01:46:05 And how do you find the culinary differences differ? Differ. Like the UK, I get bored in a lot easier because as you know the places, a lot of the places that you go to play in the UK are going to be like shopping towns. Like there's not much to see or do. like it's just like shops and cafes which yeah but then you can go to like you can go to like Venice and see like oh yeah so it's like true of course a lot more to see so because I've lived in the same place and obviously not moved out or not even being away from the UK for like

Starting point is 01:46:43 a duration of my life like um I prefer just the options to see and do and experience more cool new stuff in Europe because the option there for like even when I was like bored as hell like on the last day of that I bitritory tour I was like there's a water park like 20 minute Uber ride away I can go to this indoor water side and I was like do I really want to go to like a water park in Stoke just because I'm bored like I don't want to do that but um so talk about haunted yeah it's fucking brutal there um so yeah the option like of course the UK is nice and like especially on those shows because we could get um our friends in to come and watch obituary and like they didn't want to care about watching us.

Starting point is 01:47:26 I just wanted to watch a bitry so that's fine. But it was like it was a nice thing to be able to have friends at some shows. But like the same goes for Europe. Like we know enough people now in Europe that you go and you all bump into like friends and friends will come to shows. So I would say a couple of days in my ideal tour would be kind of like that not loose tour where it's like a couple of days in the UK mainly Europe because I don't want to like completely avoid the UK.

Starting point is 01:47:51 And I think that it's good for... But you can't overdo it, you know? But you can't overdo it, yeah. Three weeks is... That's a lot. Three weeks is fucked. My only beef with the Knocked Loose Tour is how short it actually is. It's only like 10 shows.

Starting point is 01:48:07 It's not very long at all. Interesting. Now, when you're eating on these tours, when you're eating on the road, do you prefer your home eats or the mainland eats? I get it really depends where I'm in the mainland because we recently did like a couple of shows in Spain and all literally all I could eat at that time was like ham sandwiches that's all they had like jam bomb sandwiches and we all became like obsessed with eating these jambole like the sandwiches and like it was was driving back from like Valencia to Barcelona and it was the only like stops in the way so something like that like I would for the UK just because give me like a Tesco in Stoke. Oh, I see what you're saying. I see what you're saying.

Starting point is 01:48:56 Okay. I got you. Yeah. But then somewhere like Italy. Okay, sure. Ooh. Yes. What about a little play, a little tiny economic country called Germany?

Starting point is 01:49:06 Mm. Yeah. That's all you need to say. That was funny. Kababs. Kabats. Come, man. Yeah, but not for weeks at a time, dude.

Starting point is 01:49:17 Yeah, not when it's the only thing open. after the show for the rest of your life. Let me ask you this. Here's a question. If you were to hypothetically spend like five in some change weeks in the U.S., is there any place in particular you are looking forward to trying? Not trying, but to have, again, because I've been to L.A. before. Chick-fil-A.

Starting point is 01:49:40 I absolutely love Chick-fil-A. God's chicken. But that's also one of the ones that we can't get in the UK. Like a lot of, a few, like, American chains are moving over. so it would be anything like Chick-fil-A in an Out Burger you can't get. So things like that. Yeah. You guys got, we could not believe that you guys have Wingstock now.

Starting point is 01:50:02 Oh, yeah, and it was good too. It was good. You don't, these new bands touring, like American bands going there, don't know how good they have it. Colin and I spent, how long were we in Manchester? Five days. Five days. and one of the first nights we went to Wingstop, and it was like, we were at pretty good, brought a tear.

Starting point is 01:50:22 Yeah, we were at home. It was great. I've never had it. I'm yet to try it, but I got instantly put off of it because I saw like something get shared online where some guy somewhere in the UK was working at Wingstop,

Starting point is 01:50:34 and he was making the food, but he had no shoes and socks on. Well, so I don't know how that different in Manchester. We guys have different rules and regulations than us, You know, we get to put all the fat fuck. Oh, yeah.

Starting point is 01:50:50 Yeah, bullshit. Stuff in ours that makes you huge and it's delicious. And makes you addicted, which keeps the money coming in, which means... You guys, they have the shoe thing, and that's fine. We'll get there. What is pest controls number one fast food of choice? Anywhere in the world. Just where would you guys like to stop?

Starting point is 01:51:12 It's going to have to be like where we actually do stop often, like most times. and it's going to be McDonald's. Yeah. It makes sense over there because... Over there, it's like... You don't have Taco Bell. It will save your life. You don't have Chipotle everywhere, you know?

Starting point is 01:51:26 Yeah. Very true. But mostly like, admittedly, like on the way to places where like meal deal, like supermarket kind of people will get like food for the van and stuff. But if we're finished the show,

Starting point is 01:51:41 it's usually almost always head into McDonald's and then feeling... horrible all through the night and in the morning after. That's really interesting. Need that idis. The last time we were in Europe, this most recent time, tour manager, extraordinary Nikki Kilroy, from Leeds, actually. She had us go to, like, Aldi and stuff often to get groceries.

Starting point is 01:52:05 We'd never done that before in Europe. But she was very much like, uh, kind of. It was, it was nice to just like have my stuff. But it's like, it was summer. shit, it's hot. I don't want this fucking bread right now. Yeah, exactly.

Starting point is 01:52:21 Leah, so you can take your time with this one too. I would love for you to tell me one big pet peeve you have. Oh, I like this new question, Colin. This is good. I like it. Snorred. Okay, Leah, here's the thing.

Starting point is 01:52:38 If we share a bus, you and I, you, me and Casey, our base player, are going to be just complete opposite ends. We'll just make sure that happens. And then you'll be fine. Harm's way is a symphonic collection or snarl. It's tyrannical. Oh, really? This is what, so we have constructed in pest control

Starting point is 01:53:00 a snore zone and a no snore zone. So we're going to do it. Yeah, and there's people in the snore zone that are unhappy that they're in the snore zone, but then like, where else are you going to go? Because you can't go in the no snow zone. Yeah, it doesn't work. That's how it is with us, too.

Starting point is 01:53:14 So it's me and Ben. the non-snorers and the rest of pest control have the most insane snoring that you will hear. Like, Jack, the bassist is like really high pitch. Like, ooh, like snoring. Oh, wow. But then joke, joke. So he's more of a me, me, me, me, and the rest are kind of more of a honk shoe. Hong shoe, yeah.

Starting point is 01:53:33 Yeah, exactly that. Sometimes we've like a kind of like lip roll as well. Like that kind of snoring. Yeah. Just like get a hold of yourself, man. You're telling me that Joe the Ripper, Joe the Ripper, he likes Metallica and snores? He does, yes. You guys are going to be.

Starting point is 01:53:56 I can't wait to be this man. I cannot wait. Best friends. Wow. Great answer. You really, you really live there. And I'm sorry. One last question before we get to the closing remarks here.

Starting point is 01:54:06 The question we ask is, who do you do? And it's about while you're on stage performing the kind of, the musician. that you consciously or subconsciously emulate and take with you, even if it's just their moves or their rhythms or their patterns or something, who are the few people that you found yourself being like, oh, I'm kind of a combination of these people. Yeah. I would say, for me, personally, like, one of the biggest, like, vocal inspirations for pest control

Starting point is 01:54:40 based on, like, the fastness and the lyric content is probably Tony Ferrest. from useful ways because it's just similar delivery. I love that band. I love that they don't take themselves too seriously or they seem that way on stage and that's how it comes across. So that's something that I also like to get through. Have you met Tony? Yeah, we played, they played,

Starting point is 01:55:04 they were like on a run, a bigger tour runner and they wanted to do like a kind of DIY show in Bristol. So they did a show. And we played that. And then Tony Fressor actually helped get us on that crater, um, municipal waste run. Um,

Starting point is 01:55:22 so he was like making it happen behind the scenes. So he's fucking incredible. He's the man. Yeah. Always been cool forever. Yeah. Well, I love that answer. Yeah, good answer.

Starting point is 01:55:32 Um, so yeah, I can't, I can't say anybody else apart from him really because when I came around to like, okay, we're going to do like a crossover thrash band. Like, who am I going to listen to the most to inspire me to do this?

Starting point is 01:55:43 It's going to be like, like lyrically and delivery-wise, it's going to be musical ways because why would it not be? I love it. I love that answer. What about like stage presence? You think you you see yourself doing Tony as well? Stage presence for me, like, I don't really have anyone that I like, I know it's boring and it's not the answer. But really, when I'm on stage, like, I don't have anyone who I look at and I'm like,

Starting point is 01:56:07 because I think the most interesting thing about people being vocalists and especially vocalists recently is like people are becoming more characters than maybe before like obviously there's like a whole load of characters from focus but like in hardcore now it seems like a lot of front people are really putting that effort into like make their own movements and whatever within hardcore so yeah it's not that I'd ever want to take that away from someone I do it so when I'm on stage it's more so I just like to think when I was like in school and I was doing these plays and I wanted to be like center of attention as a kid like do it for that that girl there and like forget all my adult anxieties really like forget like I'm a grown ass woman now and I'm more shy and

Starting point is 01:56:53 probably a bit more reserved than I was when I'm a carefree kid and I just kind of like yeah basically try to channel that and remember that yeah um and that's just try to try to do her justice I love that that's a great answer that's a great answer anybody can play a show, but not everybody can perform. And that's what makes the difference of like, yeah, I'm going to go see this band. Or seeing that band and going, I got

Starting point is 01:57:21 to see them again. Yeah, or I got to do that. It's giving them something, a little something that somebody else isn't doing. It's beautiful. Fantastic answer all around. Well done. Leah, this was such a treat, such a pleasure to have you. Had such a great time. I know the listeners

Starting point is 01:57:37 are going to love this one. Are there any kind of closing remarks you would like to leave the hard lore world with. Hardlaw world. Anyone in the UK who only goes to shows that American bands come over and play, go to local shows, do what you can to support your scene and you see it working when people put the time and effort into their scene in the UK. It grows and it grows and it's important that happens.

Starting point is 01:58:04 So do that. And that's all I've got to say. Beautiful. Beautiful. Another fantastic answer. don't miss. Listen to pest control. Year of the Pest is out now via quality control and triple B. So you can get it literally anywhere. They're going to be on tour soon for so many weeks in so many places. And you're going to need to see them. Trust me. This band rocks. We are pleased to have

Starting point is 01:58:30 them on. Leah, thank you so much for coming on. We're so happy for your success and we are invested in the future and we hope nothing but the best thank you guys thank you for having me it's been a pleasure of course absolutely anytime thank you lea for for being here thank you all for watching and listening we will see you next week bye

HardLore - Leah Massey (Pest Control)

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