Page 2 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 112

BV112 pg02.qxp_BV112 pg02 27/06/2025 17:36 Page 1

BlackVelvetMagazine.Com - 2

CONTENTS
The Velvet View
03 PUNK ROCK PAMPERING
The Birmingham rock scene lost
one of their own in May, as music pho- 04 THOSE DAMN CROWS
tographer Sam Robinson passed away 10 WEDNESDAY 13
at the start of the month. Sam, who was
only 30 years old, had photographed 16 THIEVES OF LIBERTY
and reviewed a couple of shows for 20 STORM ORCHESTRA
Black Velvet, although more often
worked as a photographer for Uprawr, 24 THE WILDHEARTS
as well as contributing to music web- 30 ALBUMS
site, 3 Songs & Out. Sam had Marfan 32 CONCERTS
syndrome, a genetic disorder that
affects connective tissue that maintains the structure of 44 RUNNING AWAY TO NASHVILLE
the body. We first met Sam through his father, Grey, and, 45 NARD15
just like his dad, Sam was a lovely and genuine person. A 46 POLESWORTH DONKEY SANCTUARY
real good guy, with not a bad bone in his body. It was
always a pleasure to see Sam in the photopit when we 48 R.I.P. MIKE PETERS (THE ALARM)
photographed gigs together. He will be greatly missed.
Our thoughts and condolences go to his family. R.I.P.
Sam. To find out more about Marfan, visit Marfan
Foundation at https://marfan.org BV Instagram
But, on to this issue... which includes some new inter-
views for Black Velvet. We recently discovered the
French trio Storm Orchestra and were blown away (no Follow us on Instagram at @blackvelvetmagazine for more
pun intended), so grabbed the opportunity to find out photos and quotes from our interviews.
more from frontman Maxime Goudard. We also caught up
with UK rockers Thieves Of Liberty following the release
of their ‘Shangri-La’ album, which we reviewed in the last “We didn’t get radio play for the first 13 years of our career.
issue. Unfortunately, since our interview, vocalist James Skillet was just known from the fans that just loved us;
Boak has been ordered not to sing until after he has had grassroots -
surgery to remove nodules on his vocal cords. We wish playing shows,
him the best and hope to see him back on stage ASAP. coming back
It’s been a while since we’ve interviewed Wednesday again and play-
13, but his new ‘Mid Death Crisis’ album is arguably his ing more shows.
best yet - and, of course, we had to ask about midlife They’re the rea-
crises. But, this issue, we decided to put Welsh quintet son we are
Those Damn Crows on the cover. Their new album ‘God here.”
Shaped Hole’ is a stunner - and its No. 1 spot in the UK
album charts was well deserved. The hard work and ded- John Cooper
ication that this band has put into their career is definitely
paying off now. Our final interview of the issue is with the Skillet
awesome Ginger Wildheart - it was a pleasure to talk to
him about overcoming fear and ‘The Power Of Now’.

Y & velvet kisses

Shari Black Velvet

BLACK VELVET STAFF
Publisher / Editor / Features Editor / Art Editor / Online Editor:
Shari Black Velvet
Writers:
Shari Black Velvet, Michael Coventry, Ian Trigg
Photographer:
Shari Black Velvet
Proofreader:
Ian Trigg

CONTACT Front Cover Photos: Main Photo - Those Damn Crows Photo
By Rob Blackham. Inset Photos - Wednesday 13 Photo By
BLACK VELVET MAGAZINE Anabel DFlux, Storm Orchestra Photo By Guillaume Tronel.
Email: editor@blackvelvetmagazine.com Thieves Of Liberty Photo By Jack Herron. Ginger Wildheart
www.blackvelvetmagazine.com Photo By Andy Ford.
www.instagram.com/blackvelvetmagazine Page 2 Background Photo: So Good By Shari Black Velvet.
www.twitter.com/blackvelvetmag
www.facebook.com/blackvelvetmag DATE
www.youtube.com/blackvelvetmagazine
JULY / AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2025