Diggin’ Thru The Lockbox with Ant Harrison from Sombulance

Introduce yourself! Who are you and what do you do?

Hi, my name’s Anthony. I play guitar in Sombulance and I’m the founder of Portsmouth Punk Promotions.

What’s your favourite of the Lockjaw gigs you’ve played?

The gig Rob put on at Guildford’s Star Inn last November comes to mind. We played with Darko, Almeida and Revolution Summer that night and it’s always great playing with those bands. We go back a long way with Almeida. Their singer, Westy, has helped us out a bunch over the years when we’ve been in-between singers and we’re really fortunate to have their dummer, Marc, playing in our band. You can hear his chops on our latest EP, Lifer.

Anyway, The Star Inn is an ace venue. It looks like a small, quaint pub from the outside but has a big hall hidden away at the back which sounds great. The gig was on a Friday so there was a good turnout and vibe, and the highlight for me was seeing Darko closing the night with Karl on vocals, doing a killer rendition of Forgot About Dre.

What’s your favourite Lockjaw Records release?

That’s difficult because there are quite a few I like. The first and newest would be the new Fair Do’s record, Leopards, and a close second is the new Drones record, Exiled.

There are a bunch of bands on the label I like, whose music I appreciate, but I’ve already chosen more than one favourite so I’ll leave it there. 

What makes that record so special for you?

I think it’s clear that Leopards is a labour of love from the Fair Do’s lads. It’s solid, well considered and the performances are super tight but, most of all, I really like Danny’s vocals. I’m a sucker for melodies and think his delivery and tone provides a focus that sits perfectly above the ear candy of techy riffs. They seem to infuse all the elements I love about Strung Out, Belvedere and Death By Stereo and make it their own.

There are tons of stand out moments peppered throughout the record but it’s some of the more subtle things I enjoy, like the chorus of Lose My Touch and the groove of the palm muted triplets locked in with John’s bass drum preceding the last chorus. These guys are fantastic live and their tech wizardry is beyond me.

I’m really into the progression of Drones’ sound on Exiled. When I first saw them years ago I remember drawing comparisons to Anti Flag and I was so impressed that I booked them for a show the following month. Their songwriting has matured considerably since, with catchier hooks and big anthemic choruses in a similar vein to Rise Against, so it’s not hard to see why they have a great following. There are quite a few stand out tracks on Exiled but on the first listen I was particularly drawn to their song Anchors. It’s a dark sounding track with a great melody. The polished production complements the style of the songs and their new singer, Lois, has brought an outstanding voice to the line up. We had them in Portsmouth at the start of the year and their performance blew me away.