MSRY: It Was Never Supposed To Be Forever

From the moment they burst onto the UK hardcore scene in 2016, MSRY forged a reputation for feral riffs, unrelenting energy, sweat-drenched shows, and throat-shredding aggression.

The band burned bright but all too briefly, hitting the pause button in 2020. As time passed and the hiatus endured, it seemed the pause had become permanent. But reports of their death were greatly exaggerated. With TOCstock '25 looming, MSRY are back, as loud and chaotic as ever, to prove their fire never really went out.

With 2017’s self-titled EP and its successor Safety First in 2018, Oxford’s destructive hardcore quadruplet carved out their niche in the British aggro-metal landscape. The release of the critically lauded Loss in 2019 upped the stakes still further, cementing their preeminent position.

MSRY | Charles Bishop, Keir French, Dave Curtis, Kial Churcher

Known for their visceral, adrenaline-pumping shows, MSRY toured extensively, supporting the likes of Press To MECO, Carcer City, and Employed To Serve. They also attracted the attention of genre heavy hitters like Liam Cormier of Canadian hardcore punk outfit Cancer Bats, who provided guest vocals on MSRY's ‘Still Breaks My Heart’ in 2019.

And then, in February 2020, it all stopped.

In this exclusive interview with MSRY guitarist Charles Bishop and (fleetingly) drummer Keir French, we find out why. Join us as we explore the vowel-hating band’s history, highlights, and hiatus, and discover why they’re returning to the stage for one night only, after five years away from the spotlight.

For fokken prawns, umami pleasure bombs, and waves of euphoria, read on!

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Hey, Charlie. Cheers for agreeing to be grilled. Let’s start at the beginning. Tell us how you came to join MSRY.

CHARLES － I watched from afar as Keir posted snippets of this new project on his Instagram. Then he asked me to join － I think I was asked two or three times － but, due to other commitments, I had to turn it down. Clearly, with enough persistence, I caved... and here we are.

For the uninitiated, please describe MSRY’s music.

CHARLES － Hardcore for toddlers.

Pithy and evocative! What’s your secret sauce?

CHARLES － Lights. They do wonders. And Kial and me doing our utmost to be absolutely anywhere but on the stage.

Do you remember your first MSRY gig?

CHARLES － Yes, of course. The Wheatsheaf, Oxford. Completely sold out! I was absolutely petrified, but it was such a memorable stepping stone at the beginning of our story.

What’s been your biggest MSRY highlight?

CHARLES － For me, it’s getting Liam Cormier in the studio and grabbing coffee with him after. That was surreal. He’s on our track ‘Still Breaks My Heart’. Liam’s lead singer of Cancer Bats, and a very beloved artist who we’ve all been fans of for years. Kial actually has his autograph tattooed on him, from years and years ago.

We used to cover one of their songs － ‘Hail Destroyer’ － in the early days of MSRY. One random night we played it in Brighton, where it turned out the sound guy in the venue was close with Cancer Bats. We’d said to him that we’d love to get Liam on a track. Lo and behold, a couple of months later, out of the blue, Liam messaged us. The rest is history.

Liam actually drove me into town after the recording session. He’s Canadian and those 10 minutes of him struggling to drive on our side of the road will stick with me forever.

[At this point we were joined by MSRY drummer Keir French.]

Here’s a question for both of you. What’s the best thing about band life?

CHARLES － Watching Hot Fuzz at any given moment, and quoting District 9.

KEIR － Honestly, meeting new people is the best. And seeing new bands. And creating memories with each other. Meeting fans is always humbling － new fans and ones we’ve known for years. We never made much money off of our shows, but seeing people enjoying our music and performance is something money can't buy.

What’s the worst thing about band life? 

CHARLES － Going home after tour and not watching Hot Fuzz at any given moment, while being moaned at for constantly quoting District 9.

KEIR － Worst thing is how much traveling and downtime you inevitably have. Too much time sitting in motorway McDonald's and driving along in a hot van with no air con. It gets a bit cabin fevery at times, being unable to get comfortable or stretch properly, slowly losing our minds. But we always knew there was a nice cold pint and a room of people waiting for us that night.

Please tell us why MSRY went on hiatus.

CHARLES － I think I stand for us all when I say the toll of heavy touring and playing countless shows caught up with us. It started to get too much on that last tour. That’s when we decided to call it quits and take a break. It was never supposed to be forever. We announced the hiatus in February 2020 and, well, we all know the story from there.

What have you missed most about MSRY life?

CHARLES － Watching Hot Fuzz and quoting District 9. “You fokken prawn!”

“Don’t point your fokken tentacles at me!” Please tell us, like we didn’t know already, how MSRY’s TOCstock return came about.

CHARLES － It started with what I thought was a mere after-work pint with a friend. While at the pub, I was blessed and honoured to bump into a devilishly handsome man who said he was part of the Ten of Clubs Collective.

A few pints of Guinness later, and talk of what seemed at the time like rather insane propositions, I ran to the MSRY boys. I was not expecting anyone to be on board － but, lo and behold, here we are! It shall forever be an afternoon I hold dear to my heart, igniting a fire I thought was well and truly extinguished.

A devilishly handsome man? Are you sure it was Matt you met? And just to be clear, the 'insane proposition' was that you guys should reunite for TOCstock. We only planted the seed, so to speak; you fertilised it and made it grow. Why did you want to reunite?

CHARLES － We always felt we’d be back someday. Doing this now, and for such a good cause, just feels right. So stoked to be part of TOCstock.

The cause, of course, is supporting mental health in the music community. Grab your TOCstock tickets now, dear reader, and make a donation to Music Minds Matter. How does it feel to be jamming together again? 

CHARLES － How does it feel? You know when you think you’ve finished all your chips from Maccies, but then you find a few hidden ones at the bottom of the bag? That’s how it feels.

KEIR － It honestly feels a little surreal; great, but surreal. We've spent so long since our last tour all messaging and talking about doing some shows, writing music or jamming, but never fully coming round to doing it all again. Being in a room together, with all our gear, playing tunes we used to perform constantly, just has nostalgia about it that I can't put my finger on. It also feels so amazing to see us all grown up, smiling away and enjoying music together again. It’s heartwarming.

It warmed our hearts too when you said yes to TOCstock. If you could be in any band, at any time, not including MSRY, which would it be?

KEIR － If I could choose another band I'd probably pick Deftones, or maybe Bad Omens. Both for very different reasons. I'd choose Deftones purely because they're massive live. One of the best bands I've seen, and their music just hits so hard. Bad Omens, on the other hand, because they tickle that metalcore goodness I loved as a teenager. Live, they put on the most accurate representation of their albums I've ever seen from a band. It's nuts.

CHARLES － The Shaffer Conservatory Studio Band, but only with Fletcher as conductor.

Nice Whiplash reference! That’s a fantastic film. Please give us three albums everyone should own.

KEIR － Hmm, that’s tough. Okay, three albums everyone should own:

• Subliminal Criminals by Stray From The Path
• Diamond Eyes by Deftones
• Paranoid by Black Sabbath

[At this point, perhaps exhausted by our vigorous probing, Keir had to leave.]

Let’s mix things up. Some random, quick-fire questions. What’s the best way to start the day?

CHARLES － Re-runs of The Jeremy Kyle Show.

Very wholesome. What’s something you think everyone should do at least once?

CHARLES － Eat anchovies. I left it late so you don’t have to. I urge everyone to enjoy these beautiful, umami pleasure bombs.

Delicious salty fish. What’s something you will NEVER do again?

CHARLES － Watch Interstellar.

Couldn’t agree more. Imagine you’re on Death Row. What’s your last meal?

CHARLES － Actually, I have this conversation pretty often. I will forever die on this hill of judgment I seem to have backed up onto: jacket potato with cheese and beans, always.

What are you most looking forward to about TOCstock? 

CHARLES － The spark, the feeling of unbearable anxiety until the first note is hit, then the wave of euphoria that engulfs you until the set is over. That’s what I’m most excited about.

Which MSRY song are you most looking forward to playing?

CHARLES － 'Bloom'. I have a weird, heartfelt connection to that song. Doesn’t matter if it’s 2017 or 2025, I love it.

You’ve said MSRY’s TOCstock return will be a one-off reunion. Should we believe you?

CHARLES － Why would I lie? 

Why indeed. The interrogation is over. Cheers for answering our questions and for joining us for TOCstock. It’s gonna be epic! Any final words? 

CHARLES － If you’re reading this, we can’t wait to see you in October at TOCstock. Get your ticket and come along － we’ll owe you a pint.

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▶︎ Tickets for TOCstock are available now. Get yours here. 

▶︎ Photography by Andy