Diggin’ Thru The Lockbox with Tom West from Almeida

We asked our friends to dig through the Lockjaw collection and select their favourite release. First on is Tom from Almeida with a rather exquisite choice.

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

I’m Tom and I sing and play a bit of synth in a band called Almeida.

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

Darko’s Bonsai Mammoth release show was a special one for me. It explored the notion of mixing up fast melodic punk bands with different styles - and we were pretty humbled that the boys had decided to open it despite being probably the biggest draw, ensuring that everyone else would play to as big a crowd as possible, even if they had an early slot.

I took notes on all this prior to booking my own crossover show, Cromstock, earlier this year, as I wanted to put on a show as good as that one.

What’s your favourite Lockjaw Records release?

It differs from time to time, but my favourite one at the moment is Vs, the Money Left to Burn split with The Affect Heuristic. It’s fantastic.

What makes that record so special for you?

With two bands being on it, my reasons will vary, but all of it is quite sentimental.

With Money Left to Burn, I’d seen and heard them grow over the years, and the quality of their writing and studio performance just gets better every time. I think they’re one of the most improved acts on the scene (not to say they sucked before, obviously), and would honestly fit on a bill with any of the big 90’s bands. I always love hearing new stuff from them as they’re some of the nicest people we’ve had the pleasure of meeting on tour - we even played our respective first shows outside of our home countries together, which was lovely.

As a fan of the techy side of metal, as well as skate punk, The Affect Heuristic is entirely my cup of tea, taste-wise. In fact, they’re a bit like if a robot had a root around in my brain and designed a band based on the bands I listen to most. Technical, progressive, but still retaining that melodic hardcore edge. Most importantly, there’s some really tasteful melodies in there, and the passion isn’t lost in all the bells and whistles. It’s really intelligent, difficult, but catchy stuff.

What’s your favourite thing about seeing this band live?

I’ve only seen The Affect Heuristic play live once - it was at the same gig I mentioned earlier, and hot damn, they didn’t disappoint. Being a world-class band on your first gig is something pretty impressive, I actually shed a tear at one point at how overwhelmingly good it was. I shamefully hadn’t seen Sean fronting a band since his brief run with Fair Do’s either, so that was super awesome to see he hadn’t lost a step. Go and see The Affect Heuristic if they play near you.