Exclusive Interview: Christmas with… #3 My Latest Failure!

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a cheeky pint of the finest and a chat with the man, the myth and the legend that is Chris Underhill from Hardcore injected Punks My Latest Failure. While we were at Slammer at Manchester Rebellion back in October the vocalist and guitarist showed us some artwork for new material that’s in the pipeline for a 2026 release and we have to say it looks the real deal. So what does the Underhill family get up to during the festive season?

This one rears its ugly head every year, so let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room. Is Die Hard really a Christmas movie? Do you have a movie you watch every Christmas? “This is a debate that I have every year with my mother-in-law… Yes, it’s set at a Christmas party, so it’s a Christmas movie. Fact. I honestly don’t understand how people think Die Hard isn’t a Christmas Movie. If it was set in mid July I would understand but it’s in December, at a Christmas Party and has a bloody Christmas Tree. What more evidence do you need? Seriously. Tbh I do actually watch quite a few Christmas movie in December. Couple of favourites include Die Hard, Deck The Halls, Bad Santa, Gremlins, Home Alone… classics. I like The Christmas Chronicles as well, Oh, recently watched Violent Night and Dear Santa, both a decent watch”

What will you be listening to this Christmas? Are you a fan of seasonal classics or are you going to be sticking to your usual tunes? “Christmas songs are pretty shit, let’s be honest, they’re too festive, too cheery and bloody annoying. Last Christmas… fuck off! Not every Christmas song should be “full of joy”. Give me a doom and gloomy Christmas song any day. There will be 2 Christmas songs I will be banging out to my neighbours, and they’re both from the same artist… From First To Last’s Christmassacre and Santapocalypse. Merry fucking Christmas.”

Do you have a favorite Christmas treat? “I do like a cheeky Christmas treat. Mulled Wine goes without saying, even if I have just said it. Haha. TBF I had some mulled cider this year, add that to the list as well. Lovely! I do love those sold gingerbread biscuits with the icing on the top. This year I’m on the white chocolate peanut clusters from Lidl. 

Do you have any family traditions in the festive season you’d care to share? Is it going to be family photos in matching Christmas onesies this year? “Yes… I can confirm that I partake in Christmas Eve matching PJ photos. I’ll let you into a little secret, I like my tops baggy and my trousers tighter so when I buy my set I swap the tops over so that it matches my preference. Haha, naughty I know, sorry Santa.”

How seriously do you take Christmas at your mansion? Is it straight to the presents at dawn’s crack or more of a relaxed sleep in until 11am kind of vibe? “Lie in? I wish, it’s straight down to business, kicking off Christmas Day by banging out the stocking fillers, then onto the main presents.”

What does Christmas mean to you? “Family, and spending time with your loved ones. I think that’s the meaning to me”

Champagne at midnight on New Years? Do you have any New Year’s Resolutions in mind? “If I make it to midnight then I would saw a cheeky Honey Jack. My new years has become an extension of Christmas, we get together, order a curry, wash it down with a few beers and play Guitar Hero / Band Hero until midnight. In many ways has become our family tradition. No resolutions, I have never been one for making New Year’s resolutions. I feel you are putting pressure on yourself from the get go and if you don’t commit to it you feel shitty. Fuck that.”

What’s next for your My Latest Failure? “Next year we will be releasing some covers / alternative versions of a couple of song. It will be over three releases, the first release will be called Side A / Side B. A is a song called Arguments Are Contagious which is the song we recorded for the Pete Drake Project on Halloween 2020. Pete Drake wrote the song and we reimagined the it in our style. We recorded it at Skyline Studios which was inside of Airplay Studios. It was only me and Jamie that recorded this song, Andy was unavailable so I did the bass on this track. It has a strong Post Hardcore vibe.  

The B side is the original version of Bad Dreams that we recorded with Ross Walker of Sore Teeth back in 2019. This is before I revisited it a couple of years later by adding the screamed vocals and 2nd guitar. It’s a stripped down version and truer to our live performance of Bad Dreams. 

The Second release is C Side / D Side. C is a cover of We Punch Tigers Costa. We didn’t want to do a like for like cover, so we took their song and gave it a My Latest Failure make over. We recorded this in December 2024 at Amersham Music Studios and on the day I was so sick that I couldn’t do the vocals. Mike (The Skinny Lattes) was pretty cool about it all and was happy for me to come back on a later date. What a legend. 

The D side is an alternative version of Disappointment which is more direct and shorter than the original. We’ve played this version live a couple of times and it has been well received so we decided to do some chopping and this is what we got. 

And finally E Side, which is a cover of We Punch Tigers Elon Musk. We recorded this at the same time as Costa, the two songs were going to be part of a split EP with We Punch Tigers but unfortunately didn’t materialise and we thought these two songs where too good not too release. Like I mentioned earlier, I was pretty ill when we recorded these songs and meet back up with Mike in a couple of weeks later. When reviewing the songs I noticed that I was playing the verse in the wrong so had to redo them parts. Lol. Really wasn’t with it that day. I don’t make anything easy.”