The capital has seen a lot of great up and coming bands coming through it’s venues in the last couple of years and one of those named after the capitals historic nickname comes Big Smoke.
Big Smoke borrow their name from the capitals historic thick clouds of smog through the industrial revolution from the 19th Century.
Starting out in 2024 and currently spanning 2 EP’s Big Smoke have brought London Hardcore some proper beatdown groove to mosh to. With influences coming from the early days of NYHC, some of London/Rucktions best in Knuckledust and 50 Caliber and not forgetting some newer influences from todays generation.
Members of Big Smoke have been active in the UK hardcore scene for over a decade and this project has given a new lease on life to show you what they can do and they do it so well.
I got speaking to the lads on their history, experiences, whats to come and their most recent EP ‘Nothing Left To Mourn’.
Thank you as always for reading!
FIRST OF ALL WHERE ARE YOU GUYS BASED & HOW DID YOU ALL MEET?
Our bassist Jamie has known our drummer Ethan for decades, through school. We shared the stage a whole bunch years back when Jamie was in World Weary, Ethan was in No Rest, and our guitarist Sam was in Renounced.
Big Smoke got started when Ethan moved down the road from Jamie, who pulled out some demos he’d written a few years earlier. We met Lewis (vocals) and Louis (guitar) through shows and the internet etc.
We started practising in late 2024, our first release “From the Big Smoke” was in early 2025, and our latest release “Nothing Left to Mourn” came out almost exactly one year later in May 2026.
WHAT WAS THE SCENE LIKE WHERE YOU WERE GROWING UP & HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN IT?
We could chew your ear off on this topic for years… Ethan has a habit of lecturing us all on how the scene used to be in the 2000s/2010s in between songs when we’re practicing.
Jamie and Ethan went to school together, and got into hardcore through metal and then hearing local hardcore bands in the St Albans and London scenes. Your Demise’s early demos were especially influential for us! Jamie actually took Ethan to his first ever hardcore show at the Camden Underworld, probably to see Brutality Will Prevail, who used to play there every week or so, it felt like.
Sam has been involved in hardcore for even longer. He used to play in Abolition and Renounced, both of which were influential bands in UKHC in the late 00s and early 10s.
Louis and Lewis are newer, but they’ve been coming to shows for a while and live this music with us!
THIS MIGHT SOUND LIKE A DUMBASS QUESTION BUT HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME BIG SMOKE?
Ethan just suggested it; the name is an old phrase that just means “London”. We liked it when we first heard of it. I remember showing some of the names we were considering to a few people and when I said that the band was going to be old school, NYHC / beatdown style, Marcy from Regress said that that was the perfect name. We stuck with it!
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND TO SOMEBODY WHO HASN’T HEARD YOU BEFORE?
In short: OG, New York and London-style beatdown and metallic hardcore. FFO Denied, Bulldoze, Irate, etc.
WHO HAS BEEN SOME OF THE LARGEST INFLUENCES IN YOUR SOUND?
The original idea for the band was basically just New York Hardcore through the ages. From the late 80s with Cro-Mags and Breakdown, 90s with Neglect, Bulldoze, Denied, and the 00s with Terror Ave, Everybody Gets Hurt, and Billy Club Sandwich. Including everything from the bouncy, punkier side of things like Outburst or Madball, through to the very metallic like All Out War or Irate.
Other US bands that influenced us include Cold As Life, Ringworm, and Hatebreed. Then there’s the London OGs like Knuckledust, 50 Caliber, and Special Move (okay they’re Essex but close enough).
Those bands are from 20+ years ago, but of course we’re influenced by what’s happening right now, too, like the bands on Northern Unrest or Daze Records. I think that helps push us a chuggier and moshier sound than we’d have if we were only listening to the OGs.
YOU RELEASED YOUR RECENT EP ‘NOTHING LEFT TO MOURN’ RECENTLY. WHAT WERE YOUR INFLUENCES FOR THESE TRACKS AND HOW HAPPY WERE YOU WITH HOW IT CAME TOGETHER?
It was recorded by Christy O’Connor from Splitknuckle in a studio owned by Darius from Special Move, then mixed and mastered by Ben Jones from Pest Control. The artwork — photo, logo, and everything — was done by Daniela Knight, Sam’s wife. We’re stoked with how it came out. Wouldn’t change a thing.
The last track, Brand New Game, was probably the most fun to write. It started off pretty different, and we kept pushing it to be more and more extreme. It starts off with a clean bass intro, even has some singing in there (sort of), and finishes with literally 5 different mosh parts in a row getting slower each time.
The EP draws on a similar list of influences to before, but we’ve probably edged a bit more towards beatdown and metalcore, while also adding a few little bursts of melody. That trend will probably continue onwards now that Sam is in the band and actively writing for us.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SHOWS YOU’VE REALLY ENJOYED BEING A PART OF & DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE VENUE?
Hard to pick! Our last show at New Cross Inn supporting A Mourning Star and Crowquill popped off. Shout out Theo from Real Life for putting on probably the majority of hardcore shows in London over the past few years.
Another standout show was in Folkestone with some German beatdown bands, Insane Asylum and Harlekin. It was just a jokes show, in the basement of a massive hotel, with an OAP’s bingo night going on at the same time in the room above us and sharing the same bar. A couple of old blokes wandered in with their dog and sat at the side watching the chaos unfold. The promoters put Christmas music on in between the bands, and as we were leaving to drive home we noticed there was some sort of cover band playing in a massive room to a huge audience. It felt like we were dreaming or something.
HOW HAVE YOU FOUND THE HARDCORE SCENE CHANGE LOCALLY AND THROUGHOUT THE UK IN RECENT YEARS?
Compared to 15 years ago or so, the UK scene has got bigger and busier, but also weirdly more localised. Fewer northern bands seem to play around us these days, and it’s harder to get on shows outside of London.
It’s partly because people used to post on a big shared UK hardcore Facebook group, where everyone heard about everything else that was going on, whereas nowadays the Instagram and TikTok algorithms reward video content, especially mosh videos.
We’re really glad for all the younger lot finding out about this music through those sites though.
Trends in subgenres come and go, but overall, the vibe feels pretty similar. It’s been a big part of all our lives for a long time and we hope that continues.
CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE LONDON SCENE TODAY?
For shows in our kind of sound in London, you’ve got Theo from Real Life (usually at New Cross Inn), Joey and Laurence from LBU Presents (usually at New River Studios), Loz from Smoke Over London (usually at the Black Heart), and a whole bunch of other newer promoters popping up. Some of the busiest local bands right now are Lowlife, King Street, Regress, Headstone… there’s too much happening to shout out everyone but we’re proud to be part of it.
WHAT HAS BEEN SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU’VE BEEN FACED WITH?
Mostly just that none of us are very active on the internet. We like writing music, but we’re not ‘content creators’.
HAVE YOU GOT ANY HOBBIES/INTERESTS THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE PEOPLE?
Don’t get us started. Louis will tell you more than your brain can handle about middle eastern history, Ethan has literally written a book on the architecture of Prague, Sam would win mastermind about 90s metalcore, Jamie wants to talk to you about cost-effective interventions to prevent existential risks from AI, and Lewis will play you demos he’s wrote for every genre that can fit a guitar in it, from screamo to RnB.
FINALLY, WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE FROM YOU GUYS FOR THE REST OF 2026?
We’ve got a load of new music written so it probably won’t be long before we release again.
We love playing London but we’re excited to play more shows in the rest of the UK!
You can catch Big Smoke at the New Cross Inn in a few weeks time supporting NI legends
Last Wishes ticket link below!
Keep supporting local bands and promoters and of course DIY UKHC.
You can listen to Big Smoke on all major streaming services now!
So go and give it a listen.
For further show information keep an eye out on their socials @bigsmoke.hc
Until next time, I’ll catch you in the pit!
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