‘Feedback’ is the latest album by Thee Alcoholics, the brainchild of Rhys Llewellyn.

His musical journey spans the bass-heavy realms of electronic music and the ear-splitting world of amplified guitars. Beyond his drumming contributions to renowned acts in the Rocket discography like Hey Colossus and The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers, he has explored brain-bending electronic sounds under aliases like Drmcnt and Acidliner. However, Thee Alcoholics arose from Rhys’s desire to explore the abrasive sounds echoing in his mind during lockdown, blending all his musical influences into one.

“Our band wasn’t born from a vision, but rather from a sound I had in my head”

How did the band originally get together?

Rhys Llewellyn: The band was put together after recording and releasing the first tape on Wrong Speed Records. I had recorded the first tape in a rehearsal studio in Peckham during lockdown. I recorded the music with no intention of putting a band together, but I did want to make music that would translate live. Cosmic Carnage asked if we would play one of their awesome all-dayers at The Windmill in Brixton, and from there I put the first incarnation of Thee Alcoholics live band together. That was initially a three-piece, with Tony Mountford on bass synth, me on guitar and Vox, and JP Lathem on drums. We must have been through four or five different lineups since then.

What would you say is the overall vision of the band?

The band and music weren’t necessarily made with a vision per se. It’s a sound that was in my head. Music I wanted to hear being made. I wasn’t hearing anyone making repetition with swagger and grit to a point where it hurts your brain. It had to be fun, challenging, and warm a room up with the hum of noise and layers of sound.

You have a brand new album coming out via Rocket; would love it if you could share some words about it?

The new record is our first for Rocket Recordings, and it’s the first LP we have put out. It’s probably the most accessible sound we have made on record so far. It was recorded in our Peckham Studio and is the most “live” sounding record we have put together. It’s a calling card for modern-day shitty life in London, taking on narcissistic ego-driven masculinity, obsessive-compulsive disorder, love & self-loathing, drug & alcohol addiction, and the salaryman we are encouraged to be. We are super proud of it and super happy to have it released by our good friends at Rocket Recordings.

How much time and effort went into it?

100% blood, sweat, and tears for a couple of months. We wrote most of the record between February and April 2023, with some overdubs and mixing done during the summer. We tend to work pretty intensely when putting music together, rehearsing, and recording…

Rhys, as an ex-Hey Colossus member, do you feel you opened a new chapter in your life?

I feel like I have picked a scab that is now bleeding profusely down my leg.

How would you compare your upcoming album with your latest one?

It’s a more complete (proper) album, I think. The last tape we put out (‘Tape II’ on Wrong Speed Record) was more like a mixtape of experimental recordings. ‘Feedback,’ the forthcoming record, is a snapshot of the band at its most live and accessible, but it still feels like it’s coming off the rail tracks.

<a href="https://thee-alcoholics.bandcamp.com/album/feedback">Feedback by Thee Alcoholics</a>

Are any of you involved in any other bands, or do you have any active side-projects going on at this point?

Most of us are involved in other musical projects. I do a couple of electronic projects called DRMCNT and Acidliner. Jess (bass synth) does a drone noise project called Yiskah, and Tony (keys / guitar) plays in the synth-rock band Chum.

What are some future plans?

We were off on tour for most of February and likely will be playing other shows throughout the rest of the year and finishing off the next record which is in the works. Maybe move to the countryside and live off the land.

Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

The group shares a mutual passion for new music and discovering new things musically. Recently, Paul in the group turned me on to Taqbir, a North African punk band who encourages and empowers women to be themselves and lifts them up in a society that often suppresses. Powerplant is another great band we discovered in our rehearsal studio recently led by Ukrainian Theo Zhykharyev and delivers punk and synth horror music at its best. Louse is amazing! Hardcore sludge from Newcastle featuring members of The Shits. Obey Cobra is another great psychedelic post-punk band from Wales which we love.

Thank you. Last word is yours.

An alcoholic is someone you don’t like who drinks as much as you do.

Klemen Breznikar

Headline photo: Suzi Corker

Thee Alcoholics Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
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