Fancy some cracking female-led rock, but find Halestorm a little too American? Welcome Beth Blade and the Beautiful Disasters, from somewhere a little more local. Unless you’re in the US in which case this bunch are British so you’ll like that about them. Titular front-woman Beth Blade answered our Band of the Day questions.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are based in Cardiff, with the boys being from Ely, Barry and Aberdare. I’m actually from Blackburn in Lancashire but I’m told I’m now an honorary Welsh person!
How did you meet?
I got talking to our old guitar player Jack at Fuel Rock Club and he said he and his friend Sam (drums) were looking to jam. I knew Nick from University where we frequently argued about Megadeth and KISS, I roped him into playing bass even though he was a lead guitarist. We had one rehearsal and then booked our first gig for 10 days later and the rest, as they say, is history.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We will be 2 years old on the 5th of April.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
It’s a tribute to Joan Jett And The Blackhearts. The Beautiful Disasters part comes from the Slash song “World On Fire”. A lot of people ask us about it and really it also comes down to that when there are so many generic names out there it really makes us unique. When you search for us we are the only thing that comes up.
What are your influences?
Man, can I write and essay on this?? Ok I’ll limit it to the core few. Guns N Roses, KISS, Black Stone Cherry, Foo Fighters and Halestorm.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Animal-blood boiling-fist pumping-headbanging-big riff-sing along feel good rock and roll. That was too many words! I think what makes us unique is that we are able to honour our old school hard rock roots and influences whilst adding a melodic and modern spin.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
I never really set out to write a particular lyric. I like to let it happen organically, sometimes you can have absolute nonsense that just sounds cool and other times you can literally be showing other people your soul. On this album there is everything from love, sex and partying to themes of depression and domestic violence.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We live to play live! It’s where we thrive. We always get comments on how we connect with the audience. A lot of times you are playing to a new audience who don’t know you so you have to break the ice and get them out of their shell. I really like to get everyone singing and having a good time. You can’t take yourself too seriously so we like to have fun, jump around and most importantly we give everything, 110% each time we perform whether it’s, 2, 200 or 2000. I think at the last count we’d done 103 shows but we are certainly hoping to increase that by a whole lot more this year!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
One of my friends’ bands actually set the roof on fire at a gig once so that was pretty crazy. As for me? If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me! It involves a bottle of Jamesons, fake blood and a cover of “Closer” by NIN!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Sam uses TAMA drums and Zildjian K Custom with Vic Firth Sticks. As far as the guitar section we are all Marshall. I use a really old 88’ Mosfet 100 Superlead, it sounds like a JCM800 but without the expense. My main guitar is my Ibanez PS120 Paul Stanley signature series, it gives the richness of tone that is similar to a Les Paul but has the flashy look. As far as lead guitars, on the record the main ones used were a Kramer Striker, ‘90 Les Paul and an 88’ Charvel. Nick our bass player adores Hartke and I think he’s using the LH500 right now with an Ibanez bass.
What are your plans for 2017?
We really just want to get this record out there and play and tour as much as possible. We’ve got some really cool festival appearances including Wildfire and Rockwich. We’re hoping to get over to do some shows in Europe too which would be amazing. We did two full UK tours last year so hopefully we can do the same on that front too, whether that is a small headline tour or as support to someone else is in the work right now. We also want to be back in the studio by the end of the year. There’s also the world domination plan but that’s quite a long explanation. Really we are just happy so long as we are playing and getting our music out there.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Well the band that we would be supporting would be KISS at Wembley Arena. I’ve had that dream since I was 5 so until that happens I’m not going to be happy. For the opener I would love to have the guys from Pilgrim come play with us. They are a bunch of great guys, with awesome songs and put on a fun live show.
Header image by Jo Gosling
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