🎂 1 Year of All Hell
20% off at the merch store PLUS new live album incoming. Hear 'To Hell in a Handjob (Live at Troxy)' now!
One year ago, All Hell was released. Our whole experience with this record has been joyous. Time spent in the studio, teasing its existence, releasing each single to such an amazing reception, chart glory, our biggest ever live shows in the UK and US, festival performances and a million pints. None of it would have happened without this community, thank you for being part of it.
Last week Tom and I got on a call with music journalist Lisa Wright, to chat about it all. Here follows her wonderful recap.
On paper, it makes absolutely no sense. A proudly cult band approaching their 20th anniversary together, finally ditching any last cursory concessions to playing the industry game with an entirely self-funded, self-recorded, self-released seventh studio album. And then - here comes the punchline - somehow achieving their highest chart position by a country mile against the vast odds of not only their own headstrong decisions, but also a musical landscape defined by doom-mongering stories of how impossible it is to function as musicians (especially ones with guitars) in the 2020s. If you were to pitch it as a film plot, it would seem heartwarming but, to be honest, a little far-fetched.
And yet, with hindsight, of course this was the way that ‘All Hell’ would pan out. Of course, a band as firmly DIY-spirited, fan-centric and bloody-minded as Los Campesinos! would win by digging into all of those traits even further. Of course they’d play their biggest ever headline shows - a sold-out, 3,000-capacity Troxy to announce the album back on Valentine’s Day 2024, and two nights at the same venue a year later to round it off - in support of a record that looked out the window and despaired at the view. “For me, it’s been a vindication that it’s the right way to do it, and that’s typical of me that my highlight has been the vindication…” Gareth laughs of the last 12 months. Of course.
I was at both bookend shows, and manning the merch pop-up at The George Tavern for the second round (hello if we met and thanks for bearing with - that card machine was a fucking nightmare). And whilst there’s always a joy to seeing a beloved band return, announce new material, or give said material a well-earned victory lap, the vibe at all three shows was so much more than that. If, as the old saying goes, you get out of a situation what you put in, then both the band and their fans put a hell of a lot more in than most. It’s only fair then, that both sides get a whole lot back. Would you see Taylor Swift popping a tab behind the bar so fans queueing to buy shirts can have a cold one while they wait? I think not.
“When Los Camp! get a victory, it sincerely does feel like our fanbase feel like it’s a victory for them as well and so they should. The way people care about our band feels intense and devoted and big and that feels great,” Gareth says. We’re taking a trip through the whirlwind of the last year on a slightly rickety Zoom with Tom, who nods: “More and more, we’ve become aware of how special this is for us and for the people who are still into us. I think that’s been the defining thing of this album, that it feels like this real community. I still get nervous at gigs, but then I walked around the room at Troxy and it was just a party filled with the most lovely people, and it’s just a celebration of them and us.”
A Top 20 record; a sold-out UK tour in the biggest rooms they’ve played in each city; a long sought-after Primavera show and a Best New Music from Pitchfork - objectively, there’s been a lot to celebrate. Considering that the band started the record with the idea, says Tom, that “commercial success is not really something that’s attainable for us”, ‘All Hell’ brought Los Camp! closer than they’ve ever been but entirely on their own terms. It was the product of seven mates deciding, for the first time in seven years, to relocate their friendship from the pub to the studio, and in doing so make - in Pitchfork’s own sacred words - “unquestionably the ultimate Los Campesinos! album”. Gareth and Tom dig into the journey of it all…
You first announced ‘All Hell’ at the Troxy show in 2024 and debuted A Psychic Wound - was it nerve-wracking putting something new into the world for the first time in seven years?
Gareth - I think we were probably nervous about playing a new song for the first time cos we’ve gotten so used to all our songs being raucously received, so it feels unusual to play something where people won’t be singing along. We played the Brudenell in Leeds the day before as a warm up but we couldn’t play that song because otherwise it wouldn’t have been a surprise, so the one thing we could have done with practising we couldn’t, but I think we played it well!
Tom - I was surprised at the reaction because famously one of the worst things a band can say at a live show is ‘This is a new one’. But the reaction wasn’t just positive, it was probably the best reaction we got all night. It was really moving.
Having not made a record for so long, what made you finally bite the bullet?
T - We’d wanted to do it for a while, since a year or two after Covid.
G - It’s well-documented what a nightmare I am in terms of leaving lyrics until the very last, but I need that deadline and that sense of jeopardy. When the time came around to being in the studio, part of it felt unreal because it had been so long. There was never the idea that the band would end, but maybe we wondered if we’d ever get in the studio again.
T - And it turns out all you have to do is book the studio and work towards that date!
G - We were very seldom all seven together; there were probably three or four occasions where we were, because of childcare and work and other things. But it was really nice, we were in Frome which is really close to where myself, Kim and Jason live, so Kim and Jase would have the kids, most mornings they’d pop in with a coffee and the kids would come and play about on the drums. In the studio, it’s Tom who’s doing the labour, especially on this occasion where he was the sole producer, so I really enjoyed being on the sidelines watching that. Myself and Tom were there all day every day, but whereas Tom would be working hard, I’d be sitting in the kitchen watching the darts and popping my head in every hour to see what was happening.
Do you do anything to keep the lyric-writing muscle flexed in between records?
G - You’ve either got it or you haven’t! You know when you see Soccer Aid and Wayne Rooney’s been retired several seasons but when he goes out there to play he’s still Wayne Rooney? That’s me, but with the particular type of lyrics that I do. I don’t consider doing anything creative apart from once every few years when we do an album, and that’s how I intend to continue. People that write every day, fair play to them. But I feel like for every 20 songs you write, you could probably use those ideas to write one good one. Everything with me is about vindication and living up to the expectation that fans have for us, so I like not writing for ages and just every now and then, when I’ve had three pints, feeling something in my head tell me that I’m always gonna be able to write a good song. It’s not a very likeable character trait of mine, but it’s been useful!
Is there a song on the record you both feel most proud of?
G – I’m not sure about most proud, but the one that’s been the real surprise is Clown Blood, which people fucking love live.
T - It nearly didn’t make the cut for the album.
G - The demo was never able to do it justice because it’s so beefy and aggressive. When I was listening to it I didn’t imagine it as the song it was.
T - The other interesting thing about that song is, most times Gareth will present his vocal idea and I’ll feed back on it or I’ll have a guide melody that he’ll use or not. Whereas with Clown Blood there was none of that and, straight off the bat, I had no notes. Once he let himself run loose it was perfect, straight out of the box.
How do you remember those sessions?
T - I think we just relaxed into being ourselves and the band that we are; what we’re capable of and what our ambitions are. I’ve definitely had moments across other albums where I’ve thought, ‘Well do people want to hear a guitar band right now?’ Whereas this is the first record where I thought, I don’t care anymore and I like that we don’t necessarily fit into other places. I started seeing that as a strength, caring a lot less, and just doing whatever we wanted with the record musically.
‘All Hell’ felt like the most outward looking record you’ve made…
G - I think my life is, not less interesting because that would suggest it ever was interesting, but I’ve got a lot less to complain about than I may have done at other points. So you need to find things that are relevant to write about. One thing I've really loved in recent years is how our older fans have said that they’ve grown up with the band and what we’ve been singing about and how it’s reflected their life at the time. That’s a really powerful thing. I don’t think there are many lapsed Los Campesinos! fans. Probably 90% of people who were with us on ‘Romance Is Boring’ are still with us now, and I think that’s because we’ve always remained true to ourselves but also because they see themselves in the songs.
How do you think the vibe of an LC! gig has changed over the years?
G - It feels communal now, it feels bigger than the sum of its parts. Maybe 15 years ago it felt like we were there to perform a service of playing a dozen guitar songs for people who would applaud and maybe pogo a bit. Whereas now, I think to all of us, it feels a lot more meaningful and 100 times better.
And do you know what’s coming next? Will we have to wait another seven years for another record?
G - It feels important to make sure people know that we’re not just gonna go away again, because that’s not our intention. There’s a live album coming from the Troxy shows which will be a really great bookend to the ‘All Hell’ era, and then suddenly next year is the 20th anniversary of the band! May of 2026 will be 20 years since the first LC! gig, so it would be a shame not to mark that in some way. We’ll play some shows next year, but it won’t be a ‘Hold On Now, Youngster…’ playback and we won’t be dressed in bright colours or anything. We want to acknowledge milestones but it cannot be nostalgic in any way because we’re so focused on LC! existing now and continuing to exist for as long as we can get away with it. I would like to think that we’ll start working on new music again next year too. This last year has been the best year of the band’s life so why would we not want to keep that going?
🎧 ‘To Hell in a Handjob’ LIVE AT TROXY
That’s right, we did sneakily announce above that LIVE AT TROXY is happening. We recorded both nights of our Valentines 2 Night Stand back in February, and have brought the best of it together for a full-length live album.
You can listen to To Hell in a Handjob (Live at Troxy) right now, exclusively via this newsletter in the embed above. This rendition features our incredible friends Emma Johnson (saxophone), Viva Msimang (trombone) and Ewan Whyte (trumpet) and we’d like to think it captures a lot of the euphoria and fun we’ve shared with you all at these live shows over the past year.
The full album will be released once our festival season is over. Digital only, via Heart Swells, available on streaming and Bandcamp. A little something from us, to you, to say thanks for everything.
🛒 20% Off Merch This Weekend
Here’s a brand new limited edition shirt design to commemorate a year of All Hell. Advertise to all that YOU lived through All Hell with this fake tour shirt, listing every town and city we’ve played during what can loosely be defined as the All Hell Era.
From now, through until 3pm GMT on Monday there’s 20% off at our merch store (including on this new tee). Discount is applied automatically at the checkout on everything except non-All Hell LPs. We’ve reduced some tees to as low as £15 (even before discount!) and the vast majority of these shirt designs won’t be coming back once they’re sold out, so grab yourself a bargain while you can.
🥰 Some of our Favourite All Hell Memories
Please do share your All Hell memories in the comments, here are some of ours…
Tom - “There were obviously a lot of high points during the making of this record, but the moment that still sticks out to me is the Bandcamp listening party we held online. I don’t think we’ve ever done anything like that before, and the idea of watching people react to these new songs of ours for the first time, in real-time, felt like a great way to puncture any bubbles of excitement I had about the record finally being out. But it was the total opposite, people lost their minds! People typed out reactions to every new song and sound they heard, words whizzing up the screen too fast to read, let alone respond to. People were buzzing about every track, even though they were hearing them for the first time, and I guess having spent a good few years working on something like that, the stress of getting it done and the pressure you put on yourself, the fear of anyone connecting with our music having not released something for so long, all of that washed away with these waves of elated text. I cry at everything these days, but i definitely cried at that, it just turned out to be this really lovely moment for us”
Jason - “Being designated driver for our in-store dates, and being able to take our dog, Blink, on the road with us. Especially as she's an old girl now, it’s a special memory. Having her ride in the back of the van with everyone, being part of the team was a great time, and getting to enjoy the acoustic shows as a fan in the crowd was very enjoyable”
Matt - “One of my favourite things about recording and touring is sharing music as a group - talking about reference points for a new album, or just catching up with what everyone's been listening to lately. During the recording of All Hell, Gareth introduced me to two classics for the first time: The KLF's Chill Out, and Hiroshi Yoshimura's Surround. I'd end up listening to both every day after recording to wind down after long studio sessions, alongside claire rousay's incredible sentiment. Those three albums are all indelibly tied to All Hell for me, and will always remind me of the time we spent making the record whenever I stick them on”
Kim - “I really loved our trip to Dublin. We were all very pumped about playing a show in Ireland and it was the perfect weekend away- a Japanese feast, cocktails, pints and a pub crawl. It felt like we were on a stag do in the best possible way”
Gareth - “I’d stopped venturing into the crowd during gigs but in recent months I’ve felt compelled to do it again. Very unbecoming for a 39 year old man. At Primavera I jumped off the huge stage and made a leap over the barrier to sing among the crowd. I faced the same direction as the audience, surrounded by people screaming along and dancing, I watched my friends onstage, my family, performing, having the time of their lives, and was totally overcome with love, overawed by this thing we’ve made”
Neil - “Playing All Hell in full at Troxy in February was a lot of fun. I’ve loved touring the record across cities and continents and seeing crowds go wild for the bangers as we emerge as the UK’s first and only hardcore band”
📝 Notes
In April we declined an offer of $60,000 to license a song of ours to an Airbnb commercial. Airbnb continues to make money from stolen Palestinian land and contributes to the housing crisis worldwide. We do not wish to promote or profit from this. We’re sharing this because we have found similar acts of solidarity and protest by our peers to be inspiring. Every time an artist takes a principled stance it makes it easier for the next artist to do the same. Free Palestine. Eat the Rich.
While we were at Primavera Barcelona, Gareth had a sit-down with Stereogum, to address some Hot Topics. Check the full interview here.
We’re not the only band with a new live release. Empty Country (you know how much I love them) recorded their performance opening for us in Brooklyn, and you can get it from Bandcamp now. If you’ve not listened yet, this is a great intro to them!
Our last two gigs of the Summer are fast approaching. In just two weeks we play at OFF Festival in Katowice, Poland (day tickets for this are still available), and then two weeks after that we play a huge show at Green Man Festival in Wales.
See you in the comments,
LC! x
Honestly my favourite moment was seeing that first Substack notification announcing “All Hell: the new Los Campesinos! album” after waking up randomly at 4am here in Australia, as though Feast of Tongues was calling for me!
Runner-up goes to the listening party. Can’t wait for the live album YOU GUYS ROCK SO MUCH!!
i don't know why i love live recordings so much but i just do. now with the possibility of to tundra live, you'll need those fingers for crossing live, hung empty live, etc, i can't wait. i know that it's supposed to be digital only, but i'm sure that if there was a vinyl drop it would sell out immediately. i want one.
my favorite all hell memory was probably the listening party. it was so cool to be hearing the album at the exact same time as so many other fans. an awesome feeling. driving 9 hours to see LC! twice in Philadelphia and then DC last year was also amazing, especially with the fact i met jason and managed to convince him to play miserabilia the next day in DC.