“The noise of us playing thrash metal upstairs was traumatising the children”: Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil claims the local council tried to shut down a studio he was recording in because of its proximity to a nursery
Although Biffy Clyro have made their mark on the world of alternative rock, they’re no strangers to heavier sounds. When frontman Simon Neil kickstarted his own heavy metal side-project back in 2023, Empire State Bastard was the perfect outlet of extreme thrash carnage. In fact, the project was so chaotic that it nearly got a recording studio shut down.
In a new interview, the raucous Scotsman reveals that Empire State Bastard’s debut, Rivers Of Heresy, had some rather loud recording sessions. So loud that the council had to get involved. “We spent eight days [in Todmorden’s Lapwing Studio] and it was hilarious,” Neil tells The Guardian. “Below the studio, there’s a nursery. The day we left, the council wrote to the studio asking them to close, because the noise of us playing thrash metal upstairs was traumatising the children.”
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The “traumatising” clash of sound was a combined effort from Neil, guitarist Mike Vennart and Slayer’s very own Dave Lombardo on drums. Just listen to pummelling war cry of Stutter or Tired, Aye? and it’s hardly a lullaby – you can hardly blame the council for being a tad concerned.
However, it seems the studio was able to avoid any long-term closure. Lapwing Studio is still open, and the team have even responded to Neil’s Guardian interview – and there’s absolutely no bad blood. “Nice little quote about the studio here from Simon!” the team write on Facebook. “Said complaint is framed here in all its glory.”
When they weren’t in the studio, Neil also made a point of education Slayer’s Lombardo on the joys of Todmorden, otherwise known as the “UFO sightings capital of Europe”, apparently. “We took Dave for a curry and a pint, and whenever anyone recognised him they were in disbelief,” Neil laughs.
Elsewhere, today marks the release of Biffy Clyro’s tenth studio album, Futique. As Neil explains, it’s a record about acceptance, growth and living in the here and now. “I realised that, by ignoring painful memories, I’d been denying part of myself,” he reflects. “I found joy in understanding that everything that happens makes you who you are. It pulled me out of a fog – so the album is about embracing whatever’s happening now.”
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