Party Cannon's Chris Talks Of Partying, Music, and More!

Heavy, fun, and cool is all you need when it comes to party metalheads like Party Cannon! These guys know how to party and can do it right! They recently released "Partied In Half" an explosive amount of party hitting hits one after the next. Bassist Chris Prey Ryan talks about the release, and some of the best and worst party's these guys have experienced!


1. What type of band are you?

Chris: A shit one.

2. Tell us the brief history of your band.

Chris: Formed in the summer of 2010 while we were all on holiday from Uni, we spent a lot of time writing and jamming along to midi tracks in my bedroom. Recorded a promo track a few months later, found a drummer and played our first gig in April 2011. Since then we've recorded a three track promo, an EP, signed with Gore House as well as played all over the UK and Europe.

3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?

Chris: The band is originally based out of an unheard of place called Dunfermline, Scotland.However our current line-up has two members living in Glasgow. The metal/grind scene in Dunfermline is non-existant, we are literally the only band playing that kind of style from that area. The rest of Scotland has a pretty strong scene though, especially with bands like Laceration (NSE Records), Cancerous Womb (Rising Nemesis Records), Iniquitous Savagery (Grindethic Records) Scordatura, Exile The Traitor, Endless Swarm, The Colour Pink Is Gay, Sufferinfuck and Agonised Deformity all putting out amazing releases recently. Attendance at shows is always hit and miss, but I guess that's the same with any scene.

4. What is the story behind the name, Party Cannon, if there is one to tell?

Chris: The meaning behind the name is super pretentious; it represents non-conformity to the standard death metal image IE gore, Satan, darkness, or recently, space. An anti-image statement even. The music is the more important part of a band and it shouldn't have to be dressed up with certain themes or imagery. We feel the name is in the same vein as grind/power violence bands like ACXDC, Weekend Nachos, The Afternoon Gentlemen etc. We decided to use the name after our singer told us a dumb story about how he spent £15 on an industrial grade party cannon for his Dad's birthday that didn't even work. He pulled the string out of it and nothing happened.

5. Who are your musical influences?

Chris: We all have our own personal influences, but I think what comes through most in our
music would be Exhumed, Devourment, Dying Fetus, Gorgasm, Blasphemer, Gorevent and Maruta.

6. What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)

Chris: Our singer, Stony, writes all the lyrics. A lot of the themes are inspired by sci-fi comics and movie. Stuff like philosophy and post-apocolyptic life. The anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion is a big lyrical influence.

7. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)

Chris: Usually what will happen is that I'll open up Guitar Pro and mash a bunch of random numbers into it and program some super basic drums then send it to Martin. Martin will usually say "This is shit" and I'll say "Fuck you Martin your favourite band's Chimaira". This will repeat until eventually a song is finished. At some point someone will come up with a riff and I'll say "that sounds like Messhuggah; put it in the bin". Even if it does not sound like Messhuggah.

8. What can people expect from "Partied In Half"?

Chris: A lot of blast beats. As well as some slams.

9. If you had to pick one song off "Partied In Half" to show someone to introduce them to your music, which would you pick?

Chris: Personally I'd say "High Five Ghost". That song has a lot of brutal riffing while having a long slam section near the end that progresses into melodic leads. And that's just fine with me.

10. Why did you see having a party theme to be the perfect fit for Party Cannon?

Chris: I wouldn't quite say we purposely have a party theme. We just want to have fun while
making music we like and I guess that shows in a way. As long as people enjoy what we're doing
and have fun at our shows!

11. Which would you say was the best and worst party's you have thrown or attended and why?

Chris: We threw the best and worst Halloween party while I was at University in Stirling and living in a tiny flat. Around 60 people showed up which is way more than we expected. There were people throwing up everywhere, girls in terribly slutty costumes falling over tables that were full of drinks, a guy in a banana costume was getting crowd surfed against the ceiling, my flat mate kicked a door off it's hinges, someone spilled a drink into the subwoofer of our speaker system, pumpkins going out of windows, police being called, just a whole bunch of hilariously terrible shit. I ended up breaking our light fixtures with an American football, for some reason.

12. Since your theme is partying, do your showcases involve streamers, balloons, noise makers, etc.

Chris: We like to keep our shows fun and energetic, usually there's lots of running around and shit banter with the crowd. Nothing worse than watching a band stand still looking grim and serious for 25 minutes! There's been a few times we've released loads of balloons into the audience which is always cool, sometimes people turn up with random inflatable objects for the pit as well. When we played the Czech Republic, people were circle pitting with giant inflatable dicks and inflatable surf boards.

13. How did you guys get signed with Gore House Productions?

Chris: It was pretty simple; we announced we were going to put an album out on our Facebook page and Carlos from Gore House got in touch saying he'd be interested in putting it out. We'd been aware of Gore House for a while so knew they were a reputable label with a great back catalog of releases. We agreed on a deal and it's been nothing but clean sailing since.

14. What do you guys have planned for the unforeseen future?

Chris: On top of releasing an album we have a shit load of gigs lined up, so many gigs that I had to beg my boss at the library for extra time off! In the next year we're playing Grindfeast in Holland, doing a European tour in February with Kaasschaaf (Rotten Roll Rex), going to Switzerland soon after that, playing a short UK tour with Begging For Incest (Rising Nemesis Records), playing Bay Area Death Fest followed by a two week tour of the US as well as festival appearances in Italy,
Wales and Germany in the works.

15. Anything else you'd like to add or would want to say?

Chris: Big thanks to Nataliezworld.com for the questions! Be sure to check out the re-issue of "Partied In Half" on Gore House Productions and please keep bringing inflatable dicks into the pit.