Introducing... Start Today


The tail end of 2011, a year that saw Adele dominate the charts, Calvin Harris managed to get Rihanna naked in a field, and UK punk and hardcore broke out from the underground scene.

With this breakthrough a lot of hardcore bands started popping up, whether they had been playing for years and getting their chance or simply influenced by the movement that was gaining pace, and in December 2011 one band to pop up were Start Today.

Taking influences from the likes of Dead Swans and Your Demise, Start Today began as 4 friends playing in a band because they "thought it [would] be fun." It didn't take them long to find a vocalist in the form of Adam Robertson and begin recording with Grader guitarist Louis Craighead. With added help in the form of vocals from Grader's John Phillip and Liam Manson and Hounds' Dan Vegas, Start Today's debut EP - Gaining Ground - was definitely going to get noticed in the Aberdeen hardcore scene.

And it did, as with only one support slot under their belts, they have a firm following and are still supported heavily by Grader. With a few things brewing in the Start Today HQ, including August shows and another record currently being written, the rest of 2012 will have a lot more to celebrate than their one year anniversary.

Hardcore punk is a genre in which things can become generic really fast, but Start Today keep things fresh whilst managing to still be firmly rooted in the hardcore scene. That said, the quintet's guitarist Ross told me that they "just write what we think sounds good and is fun to play." And in my opinion, not only do Start Today have firm support and a strong debut, but they have a refreshing attitude that will keep them from becoming confined to the rules of the genre.

Gaining Ground is available now through bandcamp and Start Today can be seen playing the Wake The Deen festival in August.

JL

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