Interview with The Late Yetis

Nol, front man and guitarist from The Late Yetis shares with me the secret of their mysterious band name, their influences, day time jobs and the bands love for retro anime.

Where did the band name come from?

The name of the band - inspired by music from the late 80's, rap, pop- we didn't want to be too obvious so named it on a cool magical, mysterious  yetis.

Frontman; Nol

So  do you believe in yetis?

We love mysticism, folklore so yes.

The new Ep (to me)gives resembles American music like Nickleback, NIRVANA - what are your influences?

Myself and Rob grew up in 90's and had Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Morrissey around us and the best of hip hop.  The other two members were brought up on Blink 182. Between us we like to mix it up and not conform to one formula.

Who are the band?

Nol is a musician, originally from Brunei and does martial arts, they write collectively. Nol makes the skeleton but they work together bringing the organ's and soul together.

Rhys Wiliams grew up in Libya, a synth player who directed and produced the last video and has suggested animating versions of the band and they have discussed making a Daft Punk esque video. 

David Bell is a huge Dragon Ball Z fan. Via word of mouth they get heard and offered gigs to preform at. Have followed the Camden circuit, east London, North West...

Jake the drummer also manages a music promotion company called Anivian and is currently organising the release of the EP show/twitter/ soundcloud/ bandcamp.

Rob the guitarist's forte apart from making music is a great cook, butcher by day and musician by night. He does pop up restaurants here and there. He's just great!

David Bell, originally from Malaysia is manager of a restaurant and the biggest DBZ fan and very family orientated.  

They want to build the music career together and ultimately play music for a living. They are prepared to work hard and make it to preforming full time.

Previously you released an album before Ep, shouldn't it be the other way around?

Super Saiyan Mode!

We had two different members back then. Our former drummer produced it and went to Brunei. Jake took over after.  The second attempt is a lot darker rather than pop-py. The first album like most was; fresh, excited, happy go lucky and then the ep had happened after a long journey. Some of the members were going through a rough time and music reflected it.

Musically started from Goku to Super Saiyan.

Wait you watch anime?

Brought up on retro classics like Fist of The North star and Vampire Hunter D and the elephant in the room Akira. I even subscribed to a computer video game magazine which sent me a Manga membership card.

Have you thought of doing Soundtracks for anime/ video games?

We would love to look into these sort of avenues as me and Dave Bell ( a huge Dragon Ball Z fan) childhood was filled with anime and we still play video games when we have the time. Also Rhys has toyed with the idea of making animated avatars for the band members.

Working on any future projects?

I will think of ideas, save them to my phone, and always brainstorm them with the boys. This is down to different influences from the band,we all listen to all genres of music alongside rock.

Looking at underground music becoming commercial like Muse, how do you feel about this stigma on bands?

I feel they got better, got more noticed, and then they progressed. 10-15 years ago you wrote stuff,  you would look back now and wonder 'why did i write that?' Matt Bellamy is a genius using classical music and rock with bits of electro, and very good at conducting it.

Any last thoughts?

Thank you to Andy from Steaming Kettle being an old friend from school, for supporting us.

For more news from The Late Yetis follow them on Facebook.

Buy their new Ep from itunes.

Watch The Late Yeti's latest video Blood Driven here below.

Review: Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F

It was a truely 'wow' moment when Manga Entertainment announced that on September the 30th they were screening Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F around the UK.

This is one of the first anime titles to be shown on cinema in the UK which is not Studio Ghibli related.

Being one of the most iconic anime's spanning over 325 chapters in manga form. One of the few anime's to be dubbed into several territories over the world and then into  games and animated movies.

I was fortunate to get tickets for the showing at Bluewater , whereas other Londoners went to the Prince Charles Cinema. Here I saw lots of enthusiasts talking of the series before and after the screening. You also got a free keyring after, sadly I didn't get Goku or Gohan but Freezer himself.

The Film is set after the Freezer sage, Cell Saga and Maijin Boo saga. In fact the beginning eludes you into thinking you were watching another film with happy animals dancing around din flowers where something is tied up in a tree. This is Freezer in his personal hell.

With a great opening scene such as this, the crowd laughed and onto the main story where Freezer's minions seek the Deragon Balls in order to summon Shenron to bring Freezer to life like the title indicates - Resurrection F.

We see all our favourite warriors older, including a Krillen with a head full of hair, Gohan donning a suit rathe than a Ghii and of course Goku and Vegeta still training. This time we see a lot more of Beerus and Whis since Goku and Vegeta literally turn up unannounced to train and well with a little help of edible bribery.

Beerus and Whis feel like villains more than comrades but that adds to their charm and gluttony for Earth food. The animation on the food was divine - i think I wanted the banana split more than they did. With poignant uses of CGI at places the anime really looked crisp on the big screen.

Also the audio was dubbed and it was great to hear the likes of Sean Schemmel, Christopher R. Sabat, Monica Riel again. Also fans of XXXholic would have been pleased to hear Colleen Clinkenbeard and Todd Haberkorn and more much loved favourites who paved the way in anime for a high standard of voice acting.

Obviously hardcore fans of the manga would know the outcome of the movie but I was blown away by the jokes and chemistry between the characters I had not seen for a long time and to hear the audience laugh and gasp alongside the scenes was refreshing.

Also sad part was you didn't get to see Android 18 fuight nor any sign of Trunks or Gotenks. However you get to see a new Super Saiyan form  which is blue and Freezer got full on Gold. Also a rare tim e not seeing Yamcha dying but a lot of Master Roshi kicking butt and taking names. Some of the best one liners came out of Vegetas mouth, I love his hate for Goky, even when they are old and decrepit he will will never let Goku forget how stupid he is.

I dont have to tell you what happened in the movie, frankly I recommend you watch on cinema or buy on DVD. Hopefully Manag Entertainment bring out more titles to the big screen.

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Aisha Anime ^_^