Exclusive Interview: A Day In Life of Chris Underhill from My Latest Failure (and a look back at 2022)!

London Hardcore Injected Punk trio My Latest Failure have been burning their bridges to light the way as they sail down river to 2023 with their HUGE melancholic single “Bad Dreams” showcasing another side to the band’s burnt offerings. It may have started slowly and it may not have always gone according to plan but from where we’re standing, 2022 has been pretty sweet for the band, so we spoke to vocalist and guitarist Chris Underhill about the past year. And what he likes for breakfast…

How does your day start? “By snoozing my alarm a couple of times. Seriously who doesn’t snooze their alarm?”

What tunes do you have lined up for the commute to work? “Usually something loud to get me pumped to work. I’m that guy who sticks his air buds on noise cancellation and blasts it on full volume to block out the world and occasionally nearly gets run off by a parent doing a school run. 

What I am listening to, if we take today I was listening to Translating The Name by Saosin followed by Tiger And The Duke by The Sound Of Animals Fighting (well, only the four “Act” tracks from them) on my commute to work. If I had to put it to the top 3 artists listened to on my commute to work in 2022 I would say seeyouspacecowboy, Stray From The Path and Drop Dead, Gorgeous.

Favourite album of 2022? “Euthanasia” by Stray From The Path

Favourite song of 2022? “Permanent Rebellion” by L.S. Dunes

I’ve also created a big playlist called the best of 2022 which showcases over 50 bands that have all released bangers this year. It’s a mighty playlist on Spotify and Apple Music which includes big hitters and fresh up and comers. Right, next question because I’m waffling on…”

A well received single in “Bad Dreams” with lots of positive feedback from critics and a string of one off live shows to boot including the venue of Kerrang! K Pit! fame Blondies; has 2022 served you well? “I think it has served us well, we made our return to the stage in January. We hadn’t played live for 2 years and playing that first show back was amazing, completely forgot how much I enjoy playing music live. Highlights would include getting a 9 out of 10 for our performance at the Facebar (Reading) in April and our 3 headlining shows over the summer including Blondies and The Queens Head in Brixton. 

Also we “finally” released Bad Dreams. I had a lot of reservations about releasing Bad Dreams, to the point that it nearly didn’t get released. It was so different to anything we had released so far and I am completely overwhelmed with the reception of it. So many amazing reviews and positive comments about it. It also made Listmania! Hashtags Winning! 

For me the icing on the cake was seeing our stats on Spotify’s Wrapped ‘22. Our streams doubled, listeners nearly quadrupled and our music reached out to 66 countries, to me this is mind blowing”

What’s for lunch? “I’m really into instant noodles atm, especially spicy ones. There is two standout one’s I’m loving, Nongshin Gourmet Spicy Shin and Samyang Buldok Spicy Hot. If I’m feeling fancy I’ll chop up a couple of frankfurters and stick them in. Gordon Ramsay rate my dish!? Haha.”

How many is too many? What’s your daily tea or coffee plus biscuit count? “There is no limit. On a standard day, easily 4/5 Teas a day. I don’t drink coffee, something about the taste of it, I’m not a fan but this year I have become a lover of Chai tea. In terms of biscuits, I’m a “open the packet, finish the packet” kinda guy. I highly recommend Hobnob coconut macaroon edition. Not only do they taste great, they also hold their own when dunked”

You also put out the “A-Z of Failures” documentary series on Facebook and YouTube, which is absolutely fantastic. Do you have any plans to follow that up and have Netflix been in touch over securing the rights as yet? “Yes, we held talks with Netflix but we had to turn them down as they wanted to turn it into a drama series, no one what’s to see that right? I have thought about it but nothing in the pipeline yet. I’m sure if I dig into the archives there will be enough for another series”

Stopping via the pub on the way home? “I wish, can’t afford a pint in a pub these days. Haha! Jokes aside, there is no pubs on route home. Booooooo!”

How does your evening shape up? Pissing off the neighbours with some guitar practice? “It’s not hard to piss off my neighbour as she hates me. Haha. There is always a guitar in arms reach, some of my best riffs have been off the back of a 5 minute session (if you can call 5 minutes a session). Monday to Friday, generally my evenings consist of watching tv series. I’m a big series binger, thank god for Netflix or I’ll be stuck watching reruns of Family Guy all night on ITV 2 or even worse… Eastenders! Ahhhhhh!!!”

There were some issues with Airplane Studios (which doubles as your rehearsal space) earlier this year, so how is the progress on your Vol. 3 EP for 2023? “RIP Airplay Studios. It has put a spanner in the works as we were going to record Vol:3 there, but the songs have been written, we just need to find a new rehearsal space and start putting the pieces together. I would love to record it next year, but we are still a long way from perfection (at our standards) but at the least be sure to start hearing newer songs on our set list in 2023”

What’s for dinner? Is it a family affair? “100%, got to have dinner together. Usually it’s in the living room with something light hearted on the box. A fan favourite is chicken in gravy with mash potato”

What’s on the box? Any recommendations for the box set bingers out there? “I’m a massive binger, just finished Wednesday which was such a good watch. I’m a fan of Tim Burton and Wednesday did not disappoint. Now I’m watching the US Office, never seen it before but it is funny AF. Recommendations would be Stranger Things, The Mandalorian, House Of Dragons, Wednesday, The Witcher, Vikings, Rick and Morty, Brooklyn Nine-nine and Ted Lasso. I’m sure I am missing some right gems, but all of the above are a must watch”

What does 2023 have in store for My Latest Failure? “Good question… Hopefully a lot more shows. I want to get out there more, personally I would love to do some traveling this year, playing shows up and down the country, a mini summer tour or something? That would be super awesome! I had a great time when we played Bay-Fest (North Wales) in June, and want to experience this more. Bristol, Cardiff and Manchester would definitely be on the list for sure. 

In regards to recording, I would love to obviously but who knows. Don’t want to rush Vol:3 and be disappointed, I want to get it right. As it stands the songs are there but it’s not ready”

How does your day end? “A sleep, usually with the TV left on”

Seek and ye shall find a pair of EPs, a trio of singles, some sweet tees and compilation album over at My Latest Failure’s bandcamp.