Interview: Negative Frame (Written)
Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life bring you an interview with hardcore heavyweights and two-step pit nightmare, Negative Frame.
1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.
We’re Negative Frame from London formed in 2017! We mix hard groove riffs with violent breakdowns and anthemic ganged choruses. We just dropped the Mercy Killing EP on the Coming Strife / Death Farm Records and we rock with Avocado Booking. We became friends through skating and formed the band very quickly due to our huge passion for heavy-ass riffs. This band is all about the live show and having sick times.
2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?
We’re a part of the thriving UK Hardcore scene, fists are swung, people grab the mic and jump off the stage. It’s wild! We’re a fun but hard band mixing bouncy two-step riffs with dark thrash and beatdown. We formed based on our love for bands like Lamb of God, Acid Bath, and Disembodied.
3. What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.
We’ve just returned from our release tour with Street Soldier, 8 days around the UK and holy shit was it insane! We’re stoked to be returning to Portugal and Spain this Halloween for some more chaos. We have huge plans for next year including our biggest tour yet with an American band TBA!
4. What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?
Seeing people across the world resonate with what we’ve created is insane. We put our all into everything we do. Visiting new countries and having shows sell out is wicked, we’ve worked very hard for it. I love seeing people jump on stage and grab the mic, sometimes people sing an entire song un-planned and it’s so sick to see.
5. Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?
When COVID hit we were halfway through a quick tour – we had to cancel the last few dates. We also had a release tour planned at The Underworld which had to be cancelled, we wanted to play there since the band begun. However, last July we finally got to play there – a sold-out show with Kublai Khan, our best London show to date!
6. How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?
Yes, humanity is basically superhuman at this point. We all have unbelievable access to the world from our pockets, some people/artists feed off it non-stop… We however prefer to put out meaningful and good-looking updates to keep the quality tight and fun. We’re not posting every day, I can’t stand looking at my phone for too long – we’re all about being in the moment, for the music and getting up to rock the stage. We value social media for giving us a place online but we don’t abuse it. We play in UKHC punk bands that don’t use social media at all and frequently play in other countries. Lawful Killing and Churchgoers.
7. What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days?
Touring is very expensive nowadays, the fact that bigger venues take merch cut sales is ridiculous. Talking to international US bands we play with would tell us that they frequently lose money coming to Europe, even though they’re playing in front of 600 people per night. Things are tight!
8. Outside of the music, what do you do to relax?
We enjoy skating and smoking weed in the sun.
9. Where can people find you?
Our Instagram @Negativeframeldn is our base for all updates and tour announcements. You can find limited tour merch on Bandcamp and can check out our music on all platforms. The Mercy Killing EP is available now on The Coming Strife Records UK / Death Farm Records EU. Thanks for having us.
Merch/Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | Vinyl Preorder
