Thomas Turner, vocalist for Glen Lyon hardcore band Death Grip, wasn’t sure what to expect last year when he played Yardstock. It was his band’s first experience at the free field festival, and it seems they weren’t let down.
“It’s a really cool thing,” said Turner, a 22-year-old Wilkes-Barre resident. “You can come out and camp, there are activities, games, things like that, and it’s just really diverse.”
Turner said one of the most impressive aspects of the event was its non-stop music on two alternating stages, which facilitates a shared space for the indie, hardcore, metal and punk bands of the area. That community is partly why they’re returning to the festival’s 740 Ridge Rd., Orangeville location for Yardstock IV — that, and the filming of a music video for their new song “Slave to Life.”
“The song is pretty much just people who have trouble with anxiety, depression, addiction, things like that, and you end up becoming a slave to every day and the only thing to really do is just keep pushing forward and moving on for things to get better.”
Turner and his band mates Jeff Levandowski (guitar), Francis Kirschner (bass) and Cody Dilly (drums) will start their Yardstock IV set 6 p.m. Sunday, July 10. Their half hour timeslot will include the video shoot for “Slave to Life” from the band’s new three-song EP “Atonement,” along with entries from the bands’s first EP “Forever in Doubt” and 2014 full-length “Purgatory.”
“Atonement” was released June 21 through New York label To The Point Records. The release’s tracks are done in the band’s Madball-influenced style of hardcore — in your face, catchy sing-a-longs that are equal parts hate and heart. The songs, along with Death Grip’s other tracks, are available via Spotify (search Deathgrip) or DeathGripHC.Bandcamp.com.
