When people hear about Teesside they probably think of it’s industrial heritage. From it’s steel and iron production, the Newport Bridge and thus leading out to the port on the River Tees.

What you probably are not aware of is TSHC’s community based out of Middlebrough. Back in January I had the pleasure of visiting their annual all dayer hosted by Rhapsody Records and headlined by Lifesick & Overpower and it was an incredible time.

With such love and care in a community I felt incredibly welcomed by everyone involved and had a sick time I could never say a bad word about this scene full of mates.

One of the bands on that line up was today’s interview and Teessides own Flipside who have recently released their debut 3 track promo.

I’ve been speaking to vocalist and Rhapsody Records runner James Flear about this project and whats coming up for Flipside in the coming year. Big love to my guy for this one!

Check out Rhapsody Records whilst you’re at it!

Rhapsody Records

FIRST OF ALL WHERE ARE YOU GUYS BASED & HOW DID YOU ALL MEET?

I’d say as a band we’re based in redcar (home of the lemon top for those that know) but we live across Middlesbrough. I’ve known all 3 other members of Flipside over half my life but only really known Geoff closely the last couple years.

Jack and Kyle have been my close homies since I was around 14-15 and a couple years back I’d left Aggrieved and was playing in a band called Graft Phone/booking shows. Kyle our drummer kept saying to me ‘when are we gonna start a band I’ll play the drums‘ and I laughed it off every time until he was like nah for real let’s do it.

So full of beer I said yo ask Geoff now he’s on the other side of the venue. Geoff said yeah and the rest is history. Me and Jack been doing bands for a while with Aggrieved etc so the fit was easy.

Super grateful to be able to do this with my close homies.

WHAT WAS THE SCENE LIKE WHERE YOU WERE GROWING UP & HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN IT?

Early days in Middlesbrough me and a couple friends found hardcore/what you would describe as deathcore/metalcore and were all about it from the word go.

There was a crew of around 10-15 of us all age 14-17 who would go to shows and we weren’t liked very much by the older lot. All of us used to attend and mosh like fuck get into some bother and go home and it quickly became where I felt most comfortable (the crew helps).

Pretty early I started my first band (Pressgang) and was supposed to be the vocalist but ended up getting lumped on bass, I was pretty happy with that anyway. Again not liked by the older lot, we were playing beatdown hardcore and getting kicked out of our own shows after we played for hard mosh/instigating bullshit w security etc. but often found ourselves on shows and local fests.

We brought all our homies and turned the fuck up every time, some of the Pressgang tracks weren’t bad either. Wasn’t long before we started attending shows in Leeds/Newcastle etc probably from around 15 and up.

THIS MIGHT SOUND LIKE A DUMBASS QUESTION BUT HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME FLIPSIDE?

Was floated mad early. Gives off a fun 90s sorta vibe which would probably pay into what makes our sound.

Pretty dope without taking itself too seriously which is what we’re about. I don’t think there was ever another name floated.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND TO SOMEBODY WHO HASN’T HEARD YOU BEFORE?

I’d say we’re Northern UKHC punk with a lot of that Boston sound influence.

Trying to bring side to side hardcore back.

WHAT HAS BEEN SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU’VE BEEN FACED WITH?

Theres a real obvious one here, Geoff our guitarist was in hospital for I think 10 months last year, so we’ve been a band 2 years in total and it took us an entire year to record our first session.

Long story short Geoff was in and out of ICU but the guy is fucking nails and we’re back. I had quit all other projects to focus on Flipside so trying not to start a new project in this time was really fucking hard.

WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR ALL TIME FAVOURITE ARTISTS?

Honestly I’m super picky but probably like a little bit of every sub-genre of HC.

To pick one of each of my favourite sections of hardcore I’d probably say Floorpunch, Soul Search and Iron Age.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SHOWS YOU’VE REALLY ENJOYED BEING A PART OF & DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE VENUE?

I think every show we’ve played so far I’ve booked, Rhapsody’s first all dayer was probably our best. We played first and the room was packed (for some reason) for first set of the day, it went off with all our homies putting a shift in.

Honestly I think Flipside’s best shows are still to come and I can’t wait for everyone to hear what we been cooking.

favourite venue we’ve played so far is the Lubber Fiend in Newcastle. Dope spot.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR DREAM TOUR TO GET FLIPSIDE ON?

My dream tour would be one with our homies, it would be insane to get onto a big bands headline tour like to play with the likes of SIOA or Cro Mags, But my ideal would be a well attended small venue tour with our friends, maybe with Disarmed, Nothing Pure RemainS and Prozpekt would be ideal.

WHAT HAS BEEN SOME OF THE BEST EXPERIENCES YOU’VE HAD TOGETHER?

We’ve been a band two years and had basically a year of that taken away from us due to ill health.

There was something about coming back after Geoff had come out of hospital that felt amazing in January. Not only because we’d waited so long to play again but I think it’s given us all a little different outlook, you don’t know how quickly things can turn and change and we’re definitely not going to take the blessings and opportunities given for granted.

HOW HAVE YOU FOUND THE SCENE IN BORO AND THE REST OF THE UK CHANGE IN RECENT YEARS?

I personally have seen the scene go through many changes in the last 17 or so years that I’ve been about it.

I think the last 4-5 years in the post Covid era in the U.K. are becoming more and more and more about metalcore/breakdowns/myspace era deathcore sorta vibe. While there’s some great bands doing this style, what the fuck happened.

Shout out the bands keeping side to side hardcore alive, TS Warspite, Goon, Test of Patience and the UKHC legends The Flex.

HOW IMPORTANT IS REPRESENTATION IN THE COMMUNITY?

I think representation from every group is important and I would implore people if you feel misrepresented to be counted and put yourself out there and get involved in hardcore, whether that be playing in bands or the surrounding.

Theres more to hardcore than just playing in bands, there’s booking shows, writing zines, taking photos, moshing etc.

We’re all in this together regardless of gender/sexuality/race and the sooner the wider scene recognises that the better.

We’re all a family at the end of the day and should support each other as such.

Can you tell me a little bit about what the scene is like in the North East?

CAN YOU TELL ME A BIT ABOUT WHAT THE SCENE IS LIKE IN THE NORTH EAST?

The scene is pretty strong here, shows in Newcastle are popping off big time and it’s become a real tour destination for bands from overseas now which is dope.

I do feel that there is unfortunately a big fractious divide between Middlesbrough/Newcastle for whatever reason and I’d love to bridge that gap. I would be hard to give a reason for this, just sorta always been the way it is but I hope that this divide comes to an end sooner rather than later.

WE MEET A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THIS SCENE. DO YOU HAVE A GREAT CONNECTION WITH ANYONE IN PARTICULAR AND WOULD RECOMMEND WORKING WITH?

Bands wise I’d reccomend booking Lights Out, Overpower, Divine Hatred, Void of Life, Sidewinder.

Some of the safest dudes of all and they rip as well. Go show Guillotine Records (EMHC) some love too.

WHO HAS BEEN SOME OF YOUR LARGEST INFLUENCES FOR YOUR MUSIC?

My biggest influences for Flipside have been Gag, Angel Dust, No Tolerance and No Warning.

You could probably say that they all have a slightly different vibe but we’re trying to tie this all into one with Flipside.

WE CAN’T ALL BE MUSICIANS 24/7 SO WHAT JOBS/CAREERS DO YOU GUYS HAVE?

I am a cyber security analyst (way more boring than it sounds) and I believe Jack works on the docks.

Kyle and Geoff are both in tattooing, Kyle tattoos at the shop that Geoff owns Iron Hills in Middlesbrough.

Go check out Kyle Lightfoot and Geoff Wharton if your into trad bangers.

HAVE YOU GOT ANY HOBBIES/INTERESTS YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE PEOPLE?

We’re all fucking nerds to be honest, trading cards, warhammer, skateboarding.

Me and Kyle are into the football etc.

YOU’VE RECENTLY RELEASED YOUR SUMMER PROMO DEMO. WHAT WERE YOUR INFLUENCES FOR THESE TRACKS AND HOW HAPPY WERE YOU WITH HOW IT CAME TOGETHER?

We’re honestly buzzing with how all the tracks came out like I said earlier they were a year or so in the making and was really happy with the work that our engineer Neil has put in on this project.

We recorded at The Studio in Hartlepool (that’s its name) with Neil McCluskey our resident DAW wizard. We’re gonna release an EP later in the year called ‘Hard 2 Kill’.

My favourite track is coming up on our EP and is called ‘Bloodsucker’. If you listen to it watch out for the naughty laugh on the side2.

I’m gonna put everything out through Rhapsody in the UK but would love for labels to get involved in doing physicals for EU/US\AUS.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT RHAPSODY RECORDS AND HOW IT CAME ABOUT?

Essentially Rhapsody was all part of a master plan to bring HC back to Teesside. It’s all about representation and everything had died here.

I got sick of North East hardcore just being Newcastle and decided to join Aggrieved, which turned into booking shows and representing as a label. Which then turned into doing something like 20 shows in 2 and a half years.

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE FROM YOU GUYS FOR THE REST OF 2026?

Rest of 2026 we’ve got some physicals of the summer promo coming real soon including some CD’s with the homies at 8991 records in Sacramento shout them out.

We’ve got an EP basically ready to go waiting in the wings, so back end 2026 early 27 expect a full length EP + release show etc. For the boro!

New material in the works also really trying to keep the momentum going and enjoying writing at the moment.

We’ve been a band a long time now even though were new to a lot of people, so the songs off the promo we’ve been playing for nearly two years or longer now. Looking forward to being able to bring some more music out for sure.

I’m really excited for the direction were headed in and think weve near enough found our sound and where we’d like to sit on the spectrum of HC. 

HAVE YOU GOT ANY SHOWS COMING UP THAT YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO PLAYING?

Nothing major penned in barring our annual fest in March. I’d like to play many more shows, family life can be difficult to work around and were all uncs now really. That being said book us to come play your town get a little bit of snarly TSHC flavour in your life, learn the words to Meat shield you won’t regret it.

I am honestly just excited at any opportunity we get to play. Sounds cliche but whether there is 12 people or 1200 people there its always a privilege for sure.

There’s just something about playing songs that mean a lot to you in a live setting.

FINALLY, HAVE YOU GOT ANY OTHER ARTISTS/FRIENDS YOU THINK THE PEOPLE SHOULD CHECK OUT?

New album from Prozpekt fucking slaps. They’re gonna hit it hard and already work super hard on the road and in the local scene. They’ve really shocked me as a band this last year and have raised the bar massively. 

Dancefloor fundamentals which will probably be out by the time this goes out is not one to be missed. Make sure you check out the track by them Ice Cold before they blow the fuck up.

Keep supporting local bands and promoters and of course DIY UKHC. Big up Teeside & TSHC they’ve been incredibly good to me.

You can listen to Flipside on all major streaming services now!
So what are you waiting for?

For further show information keep an eye out on their socials @flipsidehc

Until next time, I’ll catch you in the pit!

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