Focus: Last Case Scenario

Who are you and where are you from?
We’re Last Case Scenario! (Ethan – Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar; Matt – Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals; Marvin – Drums and Ben – Bass)

We are all from Northumberland originally but live around the North East.

What is it you do?
(Ethan) Make noise!!

We write and perform our own original music, we do throw a couple of covers in our set list but they aren’t what you would expect… 

(Matt) I’m the man behind the strings (apart from Ethan and Ben, of course haha!) 

I love writing riffs, playing solos, singing backing harmonies and vocals and getting involved in the musical and structural layouts of all of our original material too! 

(Marvin) When me and the guys play a set for you, you’ll find me smiling and having the time of my life behind a lovely set of drums ! I put a lot of thought into my drumming and like to throw in little nods to my drumming heroes such as the Neil Peart (Rush) and Stewart Copeland (the police). If you enjoy my drumming feel free to talk to me about drums!

(Ben) I’m the guy that makes the ground rumble and your seats shake! You’ll find me in the office by day (boring I know) and on the stage in the evening! 

How long have you been doing it?
(Ethan) I was in a band in high school with Ben and I’ve played ever since. I wanted to get gigging again so when I had songs written and demos recorded I messaged Matty to see if he’d fancy a jam.. that was in 2019… Here we are now, one pandemic out the way and we’ve lost count of gigs! It’s been a very busy year for us so far but it’s been worth it so far and long may it continue! 

(Matt) I’ve been in multiple acts and projects in the past and I’ve been gigging ever since the age of 16! I also have known both Ethan and Ben since high school too, in the years above me in fact! And I’d already seen their old band We Found Nemo on a couple of occasions back in 2012 too, and remembered that I LOVED their sound! 

Then one day, in 2019, Ethan text me to my surprise asking if I wanted to meet up for a jam! And from knowing him previously from his band I of course said yes! Followed by us meeting up, having a jam, going through some of his old songs which I then wrote some new lead parts to, and then finally becoming a full band shortly after! 

(Marvin) For as long as I can remember, I’ve spent a quick decade following a path of love for the drums and over the years I’ve gotten to work with and meet great people – not to mention the memories made along the way! After all this time of working hard with music, it’s wonderful to have found myself working with this fiineee set of musicians and even more so to be such busy bees this year! 30 gigs so far! 

(Ben) I’ve been playing guitar/bass for over 10 years now. Ethan and I started a band in high school called We Found Nemo back in 2012/2013 and I’m glad to share a stage with him once again. I’ve recently started writing some of my own material and will hopefully be bringing this forward with the band shortly, Watch this space! 

What inspires you?
(Ethan) Honestly the energy released when four musicians can get into a room and just create something out of nothing – chasing that feeling when you play something and it just clicks 

(Matt) The thing that inspires me the most is seeing and watching like-minded musicians with their own unique influences and styles just getting together and putting their own creative forces and strengths all into one, to help create amazing new sounds and ideas which then combine to become immense sounding new songs! 

(Marvin) Neil Peart, ever since I was 15 he’s been a huge source of inspiration. His lyrics, his drumming and even just the care in which he did everything in. As a fellow perfectionist when it comes to my playing, that man has had me fixed behind a kit working on my approach to the instrument (both physically and mentally) for so long and I don’t know what I’d have done without the inspiration he gave to me then and still gives to me now. 

(Ben) I love watching bands play live. Whether that be a local band down the pub or an international star filling a stadium. All musicians are passionate about what they do and I get such a rush from playing on stage! 

Tell us about your music.
(Ethan) I love to write songs with a lot of energy, I think we have elements of so many of my/our favourite bands from Green Day / Guns n Roses- we even have done reggae drops in some of our songs! 

I think lyrically my favourite song I’ve written so far is our second single Wake Up – “It’s what’s in our hearts and our minds that defines us, what a shame when the colour of our skin is a tool to divide us, a way to incite us”

I’d just kind of written it and left it then when Matty played the opening riff I knew it was time…

(Matt) I always aim to be very focused musically to have what I am playing fit the feel, mood and emotion of every song we write!

I always want to make sure what I’m playing for the song actually fits the song’s lyrics, tonality, style etc.

For example, I love playing and writing punchy riffs and flashy lead melodies, but there are other times where I know I need to “tone it down” a touch too… Haha! 

(Marvin) I’m glad you asked ! When I first joined the guys in September last year it was really interesting hearing their sound as I’d never really got too far into the punk genre, seeing how absolutely flexible they were in having me write my own parts for these already existing songs, I got to work trying to do an approach that I’d never really heard in punk drumming- I started adding elements of reggae and a more funk driven kind of style that complimented the music perfectly. 

I think my favourite part when playing our songs is when Matt goes into one of his solos! I like to build with the guitar solo and write a set of fills that mirror or play off of what he writes in his solos. It really turns the solo part of a song into a band solo! It’s always satisfying getting all the fills right when we play! 

(Ben) – when it comes to bass, I like to keep things fairly simple. I take a lot of that from the thumping rock artists of the 80s and fill the song with plenty of clean low-end. A few of our songs start off on bass again, much like songs in the 80s. 

What have you got coming up in the future?
Our latest single, Up All Night, is available from 11th August to buy and stream on all major platforms! (Shoutout to Lee at inheartstudios) 

We’ve also got a headline at The Globe on 26th August! Tickets are only £5 ADV and available here.

Where can people find out more about you?
Spotify / Linktree / Facebook / Insta