London is a pretty awesome place to live. Especially when you can wake up one morning (albeit having planned to arrange it the night before) and decide you want to go and buy new headphones. So, off to Moorgate Sophie and I headed. Headed being the optimum word - we kinda missed the way we were supposed to go and walked in a generic direction in what we thought was the way we wanted to go until we actually ended up there. Once we got to HMV we then spent a further 15 minutes wondering around the store trying to find the section with Skull Candy headphones. Eventually we gave up and wondered over to the till to ask for help - only to find the headphones neatly tucked away in front of the till. After some decision making I finally chose a pair of Skull Candy Hesh headphones (in black and white). They were on sale, so it wasn't a bad little purchase. Had them in my bag and when I got home plugged them into my laptop to see if they were really worth the money.

Wowzer.

I could hear the seperate twangs from the bass guitar, and the little scratchy noises that the strings on the guitar make when you pluck them too fast. It would be an understatement to say my mind was blown. My ears were simply having orgasms.
Not bad for a day's shopping. Definetely one of the best purchases I have made in a while - my journeys on the bus to uni will now be that little bit more enjoyable. I am secure in the knowledge that whilst, I follow the cliche of, having some sweaty commuter's armpit in my face I will be able to eargasm.

Matt Chambers: ITAOL

Matt Chambers is a loud and proud metalhead, with long, dark hair floating down his back and an awesome tattoo on his hand that lights up under black light like to reveal the outline of his bones. Dressed all in black, wearing a Sikth hoody (one of his idolised bands), he is the frontman and guitarist for In The Absence Of Light – an underground metal band based in Swindon. It’s a picturesque market town, famed for its railway connections, underage pregnancy and general violence. It’s a perfectly logical, if not unusual, town to contain such a thriving metal community. And as pretty much everyone in the country knows, metalheads have a strong mind and temper, forcing Rage Against the Machine’s anthem Killing In the Name to gain Christmas number one (probably the first time a Christmas number one has been achieved with no input from the band or their record label). This was a big step for the alternative scene “I thought it was brilliant, it didn’t matter who did it or which song, but just the meaning of the public still having control and not being force fed commercial industry crap,” he says. That’s what it’s all about though isn’t it? Being able to make your own choices without society dictating them to you.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll dream is still big, and rock is still a huge genre. Despite all you hear about boybands being flung out of the putrid womb of the mass market, most of them don’t last for very long. In 20 years I seriously doubt anyone will remember JLS, but fuck, can you name anyone who hasn’t heard The Beatles? But, it takes hard work, even without the touring the world: “It does take a lot of my time, as my mind is constantly thinking of the band, how I can improve things, what needs to be done, new ideas and suggestions? It has been made especially difficult with the arrival of my daughter last February, juggling home life with my girlfriend feeling second place to the band, and still keeping my finger on the pulse in my music life.” Everyone makes sacrifices to do the things they love, and Matt is no exception.

He almost has the typical sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. He works, he plays guitar and writes music, he gigs and tours, looks after his daughter and creates peculiar hot drink concoctions. “One of them is a combination of both [tea and coffee],” he says. “I invented it. Add chocolate and you have a Chocochini.” Yep, Chocochini, it makes you wonder why Starbucks isn’t marketing it yet, it sounds so delicious.

Despite the size of Swindon the metal scene is great. Go down to The Furnace on a Friday night and you’ll get an idea. Despite all the spiky-fists and steel-toe-capped-kicks flying about in the moshpit it’s surprisingly friendly: “We've met many good friends over the years at gigs and such, the other bands who we adore playing with and having a laugh with are bands such as Senturia, Traitor Born, and Beyond Chaos.” ITAOL played Bristol o2 Academy recently, as part of a nationwide battle of the bands, and, for them, getting to play the same stage as many of their heroes, was an extraordinary experience.

Every band has a vision; ITOAL and Matt Chambers are no different: “To be known worldwide, to be touring in some of the most beautiful places in the world, and meeting the people who first influenced us.”

Bit late off the band wagon

At least I didn't get hurt falling off.