Few bands have captured the imaginations of rock fans in 2018 quite like Turnstile. The Baltimore bunch’s second album ‘Time & Space’ was released earlier this year, and shredded the punk rulebook as soon as it dropped.
It’s live that bands like Turnstile truly thrive, though. Taking the chaotic energy of their live recordings and amping everything up, a hardcore show is like no other. As we noted last week, Turnstile’s return to these shores was a security guy’s worst nightmare – now, we’ve got the visual evidence to prove it.
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Read more: Turnstile are the new shape of punk to come
We caught up with Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates backstage, to talk all things live. “I like having interactions – I think that’s what makes the live environment special,” he explained. “It’s an interaction between people, and people playing music. Get some blood flow – that’s all you really need.”
It’s a statement that echoes the singer’s sentiments in an interview with NME earlier this year. “I remember I felt intimidated, but almost in a cool way,” recalled Brendan of his earliest exposure to hardcore. “You’d go to a show and people would be going crazy; throwing their bodies around. I think having [drummer Daniel Fang and Trapped Under Ice frontman and longtime friend Justice Tripp] to look out for me when I was younger made me want to be a part of it; going to shows, I didn’t feel like I was uncomfortable, because the older kids would make me feel comfortable. I could come over and write songs with them, and they’d invite me to hang out and stuff like that.” It’s that hand-me-down, level-playing-field social aspect that’s hardcore’s strongest asset. “That’s the one thing that sets hardcore and punk apart from rock music and other genres,” says Brendan, “that connection and interaction with the bands and crowd; the community.”
Taking to the skate ramps at House Of Vans ahead of the show, we caught Turnstile both backstage, on-stage and in the bowl. Check out our ‘Walk On Stage With’ video with Turnstile at House Of Vans London above.