So you’re interested in the people behind Twentycoreseven? We’re flattered!
Every one of us comes from a different background of how we got into music and where we stand within our respective scenes now. Some of us are musicians, and some of us just like to have opinions on things, but we all have a shared love of music, regardless of genre or involvement and that’s what makes this publication so authentic.
You can also head right to the bottom of this page to check out all of our Spotify playlists, curated with the idea of telling you about ourselves through the medium of music.
I’ve been going to live shows for most of my life (my first one being when I was 5 to see the British boyband, Blue, in an underground venue in London.) I’ve watched a variety of artists perform, from boybands to deathcore bands, in all venue sizes, and it’s always been somewhere that I’ve never been able to find the feeling I get when experiencing live music elsewhere.
My love for music comes from my Dad (shout out Dave) introducing me to bands at the age of 3. Bands such as, Skunk Anansie, The Prodigy, Nirvana, and Slipknot to name a few. I developed my own taste in music around the age of 11, where I started with bands like deathcore era Bring Me The Horizon, Her Words Kill, Oceana, Deaf Havana, and Emarosa. That period of discovery substantially shaped my taste today because despite having a dubstep and pop-heavy stage when I was a teenager, I always gravitated towards alternative music. Now my listening rotation consists of bands like, Withpaperwings, Killing of a Sacred Deer, Moodring, Sleep Token, Blessthefall, Bad Omens, Heavensgate, and a lot more. But once a fangirl, always a fangirl, and you will find me in a pile of ashes before I stop listening to Justin Bieber. I’m also from South London so best believe I switch it up and go full grime/drill mode every now and then.
I’m not musically inclined, couldn’t play an instrument to save my life (but I’ll smoke anyone on Guitar Hero), and I don’t know the correct terminology, or tunings, or drum kit names, or even how to correctly identify a genre sometimes, I just live a life where I feel music beyond the surface level and listen a bit deeper than the average person. Each day I’m learning and educating myself to better understand the world of music and use that to my advantage when articulating my thoughts and feelings.
I’ve always had a knack for creative writing. Since I was 3 I could write short stories I’d made up in my head, and typed out almost entire novels on the family computer. This interest followed me throughout childhood and adolescence but I never sought out opportunities to write articles of text unless it was for work - and that’s just not the same.
I decided my 2026 venture would be to create a space where I could put my love of music and love of writing together, and here we are.
Welcome to Twentycoreseven, where music meets the (somewhat) uneducated and opinionated.
I’m Hayls.
Owner - She/Her, Scotland, UK
-
What got you into music? My older brother always listened to music and played bass growing up, so I took on a lot of his influences from across a variety of genres! He also took me to my first ever live show when I was 14, which was Fall Out Boy!
Top 5 bands: Fall Out Boy, Turnstile, Basement, Incubus, and Oasis
Top 5 records of all time: "Take This To Your Grave" - Fall Out Boy, "What I Breathe" - Mall Grab, "What's The Story?" - Oasis, "Promise Everything" - Basement, "Adrenaline" - Deftones
Loves: Hardcore, House, and Techno
Dislikes: Country, Octanecore, and Christian Rock
What do you get up to in your free time? I'm an avid reader, runner, and all-round incredibly social person! I'm very outdoorsy and love going for walks and hikes on a weekend.
-
What got you into music? My dad playing 80s metal and pop in the car, got into heavier stuff like Slipknot, then eventually metalcore through bands like Killswitch Engage and Caliban.
Top 5 bands: Callous Daoboys, It Dies Today, Bleeding Through, Trivium, and Poison The Well
Top 5 records of all time: "The Opposite of December" by Poison The well, "Declaration" by Bleeding Through, "Holy Vacants" by Trophy Scars, "Ascendancy" by Trivium, and "Celebrity Therapist" by Callous Daoboys
Loves: Metalcore, Hardcore, and Metallic Hardcore
Dislikes: Post-Punk, Country, and Noise
What do you get up to in your free time? Reading, hot sauce, petting animals, and going to shows.
-
What got you into music? I was 6 when Tony Hawk Underground 2 came out and I remember playing it on my sisters PS2. The soundtrack was so sick and I would purposely turn the tv up loud to hear it. It had a lot of 90s hardcore and punk which influenced me a lot growing up! Looking back I actually realised I was enjoying 25 ta Life aged 6 ‘cause I knew #ball
Top 5 bands: Six ft Ditch, Gulch, Limp Bizkit, Bolt Thrower, and Citizen
Top 5 records of all time: Citizen - “Everybody is Going to Heaven”, Six ft Ditch - “Unlicensed Cemetery”, Parkway Drive - “Killing With a Smile”, Bolt Thrower - “Realm of Chaos”, Limp Bizkit - “Significant Other”
Loves: Beatdown, Nu-Metal, and Hardcore Punk
Dislikes: Octanecore, Shoegaze, and Slam (impartial)
What do you get up to in your free time? Oblivion, obviously!
-
What got you into music? I grew up with music being played constantly, being around my dad it was pretty much classic rock all the time. Zeppelin, Queen, Sabbath, Boston, Journey were played around my house daily. It wasn’t until I heard Joe Satriani for the first time that I really started to get into guitar, and from there it snowballed. I was constantly on the look out for new music and gradually fell into the heavier side of things. Bands like Killswitch Engage, Bullet For My Valentine, Converge, A7X, and Slipknot started appealing to me more and paved the way for the stuff I listen to today. Although my music taste is much more diverse than it was back then, Classic Rock/Metal/Metalcore will always be home for me.
Top 5 bands: Killswitch Engage, Bullet For My Valentine, Queen, Converge, and Too Close to Touch
Top 5 records of all time: “As Daylight Dies” - Killswitch Engage, “The Poison” - Bullet For My Valentine, “Constellations” - August Burns Red, “Slipknot” - Slipknot, “Jane Doe” - Converge
Loves: Metalcore, Deathcore, and Nu-Metal
Dislikes: Country, Pop-Country, and Country again
What do you get up to in your free time? Taking peoples top scores on Clone Hero
-
What got you into music? I got into music through my parents at a very young age with their constant rotations of Rolling Stones, Guns N Roses, Cher, Shania Twain, and Queen to boot. Started to develop my own taste in music the moment I saw My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome to the Black Parade”. I started learning guitar at 12 and listening to more guitar oriented artists like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and John Petrucci, and over the years gradually leaned to more technical djent guitar playing bands such as Periphery, After the Burial, Meshuggah, Monuments, Reflections. I will listen to anything with a good catchy chorus, monstrous guitar riffs, ambient soundscapes, anything that has pop elements or experimentation, the weirder the better.
Top 5 bands: Sleep Token, Moodring, Vildhjarta, Thrown, Deftones
Top 5 records of all time: Deftones - “Koi No Yokan”, Sleep Token - “Sundowning”, Vildhjarta - “masstaden under vatten”, Glare - “Sunset Funeral”, Loathe - “I Let it in and it Took Everything”
Loves: Shoegaze, Thall, and Nu-metalcore
Dislikes: Country, (Majority of) Slam, and Punk
What do you get up to in your free time? Big video game nerd, collector of Yu-Gi-Oh cards, write music for myself and other people.
-
What got you into music? Video Games and swapping CDs at school
Top 5 bands: Misery Signals, Backtrack, Rejoice, Earth Crisis, Congress
Top 5 records of all time: Backtrack - "Darker Half", Misery Signals - "Of Malice And The Magnum Heart", Metallica - "Ride The Lightning", Mac Miller - "Swimming", Aftershock - "Through The Looking Glass"
Loves: Metalcore, Hardcore, and Dungeon Synth
Dislikes: False Metalcore, False Metalcore, and False Metalcore
What do you get up to in your free time? Go to shows
-
What got you into music? My parents always had the radio on in the car and when they were doing chores around the house, so I was listening to a lot of R.E.M. and meatloaf thanks to them. R.E.M. stuck but meatloaf didn’t. My brother put on Kerrang one day I remember seeing Wait and Bleed by Slipknot play and thought it was the coolest shit I’d ever seen. I didn’t know anything about genres really at that point. Everything that was heavy was metal and everything that was softer with a guitar was rock to me. I think the THPS soundtracks from 1 all the way to THUG 2 shaped the music I like to this day too. Grunge like Alice In Chains definitely played a big part in me developing my own creative style when making music, because I always tell people if there isn’t a “big riff” in a song it ain’t a song and Dirt is just wall to wall big riffs.
Top 5 bands: 7 Angels 7 Plagues, Splitknuckle, Nine Inch Nails, Backtrack, Gatherers
Top 5 records of all time: Have Heart - "Songs To Scream At The Sun", Pianos Become The Teeth - "The Lack Long After", Sentence - "War Begins", 7 Angels 7 Plagues - "Jhazmyne’s Lullaby", Ethel Cain - "Preachers Daughter"
Loves: Metalcore, Hardcore, and Shoegaze
Dislikes: False Metalcore, Ska, and Slam
What do you get up to in your free time? Going to shows either playing, attending or running them or cooking/baking or playing games with my friends
-
What got you into music? Brought up with a dad who was a Metallica super fan, he passed on his sick music taste to me. Went to hardcore shows as a youngen and stuck around ever since. That and the Tony Hawk games.
Top 5 bands: Twitching Tongues, Only Living Witness, Candlemass, Grimlock, and Seed of Pain
Top 5 records of all time: "Disharmony" by Twitching Tongues, "Guilty as Charged" by Bitter End, "Crusades of Reality" by Grimlock, "Virus//vibrance" by Vein, and "Master Killer" by Merauder
Loves: 90's Metalcore, weird mosh music, and Eastern European hardstyle
Dislikes: Octanecore, Country Music, and whatever Sleep Token are
What do you get up to in your free time? I’m an occasional twitch streamer, I also play a few instruments, and powerlifting
-
What got you into music? I grew up listening to SoundCloud rap, indie Brit rock, and electronic music throughout my younger years. I stumbled upon a game called OSU, which has all sorts of music, but I found my love of post-hardcore through this game. I had no idea what genre it was at the time, as it was the first type of heavy I found a connection through their sound. I just sat down one day and went through the songs that grabbed me the most from OSU and did my research on them. Started going to their gigs, seeing supports, finding new bands in similar genres, and now I’m here.
Top 5 bands: Loathe, Citizen, The Night Café, Movements, and Hail The Sun
Top 5 records of all time: “fromjoy” by fromjoy, “Saturday Night Wrist” by Deftones, "I Let It in and It Took Everything" by Loathe, "Youth" by Citizen, and "To Forever Fall Through God's Safety Net" by Killing Me Softly
Loves: 90's Metalcore, Alt-rock, and Mathy guitar parts
Dislikes: Slam, Over-polished songs, Corporate Hardcore
What do you get up to in your free time? I go to shows and play a lot of Counter Strike
-
What got you into music? When i was younger my nan would constantly play linkin park (she just had a crush on chester) whenever i was with her, i also would sit and listen to every wwe video game and tony hawk soundtrack on repeat until i memorised it back to front.
Top 5 bands: Loathe, World Of Pleasure, On Broken Wings, Fleshwater, and Long Goodbye
Top 5 records of all time: “I Let It in and It Took Everything” by Loathe, “The Rainbow Goblins” by Masayoshi Takanaka, “Different Class” - Pulp, “Weapon of Pleasure” by World of Pleasure & XweaponX, and “I Know A Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos” by Combat Wounded Veteran
Loves: Hardcore, Hyperpop, and Citypop
Dislikes: Prog, Prog, and Prog
What do you get up to in your free time? I mostly play overwatch (i know) and destiny 2 (again i know) or spend time with my friends and my partner, Tate. I also occasionally skateboard and do photography
-
What got you into music? I started off listening to metalcore a few years ago, and eventually came across (uk) hardcore, in which I also started my photography career at local shows, and primarily shoots for some really cool hardcore bands and promoters.
Top 5 bands: One Step Closer, Resolve, Killing Me Softly, While She Sleeps, Speedway
Top 5 records of all time: "All You Embrace" by One Step Closer, "A Life's Refrain" by Speedway, "Artillery From Heaven" by Contention, "Some Of Us May Never See The World" by On Broken Wings, "100%" by Raw Brigade
Loves: Hardcore, Metalcore, and Deathcore
Dislikes: Electronic/EDM, and Country
What do you get up to in your free time? Apart from studying physiotherapy at university and taking pictures at shows, I love to collect vinyl and spend most of my time window shopping for them. I also love playing Animal Crossing too
-
What got you into music? I've always been around it, I went to my first show when I was 17/18 and have been hooked ever since, I'm always trying to find new bands to see and new tracks to listen to
Top 5 bands: Misery Signals, Casey, Enter Shikari, Static Dress, and Vein.fm
Top 5 records of all time: "Of Malice & The Magnum Heart" by Misery Signals, "They're Only Chasing Safety" by Underoath, "All's Well That Ends Well" by Chiodos, "Love is Not Enough" by Casey, and "The Difference Between Hell and Home" by Counterparts
Loves/Dislikes: I hate genre labels, I think it's so restrictive, good music is good music, right?
What do you get up to in your free time? I put on shows in Birmingham or am deep in an editing backlog
-
What got you into music? I got into music through my parents but was introduced to Linkin Park by someone in my school when I was nine. That quickly turned to Slipknot and Metallica and BFMV and it's all been downhill from there really.
Top 5 bands: Altar of Plagues is the only band that matters, Bodybag (UK), Bolt Thrower, Sworn Truth, and Paramore
Top 5 records of all time: "Mammal" by Altar of Plagues, "Those Once Loyal" by Bolt Thrower, "Colourmeinkindness" by Basement, "Good Apollo Vol. 1" by Coheed and Cambria, and "At The Heart of Winter" by Immortal
Loves: Death Metal, Black Metal, and Metalcore
Dislikes: Jazz, Indie Rock, and Pop-PunkWhat do you get up to in your free time? Basically, all I do is go to shows or listen to music and write. I write poetry, I write lyrics, I listen to music. I love to spend time with friends and talk about music. I watch films, I watch documentaries, ideally documentaries about the bands I'm currently obsessing over. But really and truly, if a gig's on and I can get there I'm more than likely gonna spend my time doing that than anything else.
-
What got you into music? I have the coolest mum ever. She had me growing up listening to Green Day, Nirvana, Linkin Park etc every time we were in the car. I then had the typical high school emo phase, where my mum took me to see fall out boy for my first gig.
Top 5 bands: Static Dress, Paramore, Crowquill, Basement, and Fontaines DC
Top 5 records of all time: “Rouge Carpet Disaster” by Static Dress, “Skinty Fia” by Fontaines DC, “Colourmeinkindess” by Basement, “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love” by My Chemical Romance, and “Suicide Season” by Bring Me The Horizon
Loves: Metalcore, Post-Hardcore, and Indie Rock
Dislikes: Country, EDM, and HyperpopWhat do you get up to in your free time? I love to go the cinema and watch new movies whenever I can. I play Xbox 360 games and I’m trying to get more back into an older love for reading and writing. Going to any local show I can find, shout out mchc.promotions.
-
What got you into music? Growing up there was always music playing, my parents met going to gigs and shared that passion with us any chance they could. My mum showing me Kate Bush, my dad Metallica, and collectively Pink Floyd. I fondly remember being about 8 or 9 and getting an iPod Nano for my Christmas, they filled it with gigabytes of music ranging from Fatboy Slim to Killswitch Engage, it was all downhill from there!
Top 5 bands: Alkaline Trio, Enter Shikari, Metallica, Age of Apocalypse, and Fiddlehead
Top 5 records of all time: "Clarity" by Jimmy Eat World, "Twin Fantasy" by Car Seat Headrest, "How I'm Feeling Now" by Charli XCX, "The Mindsweep" by Enter Shikari, and "Watching From A Distance" by Warning
Loves: Emo, Hardcore, and Black Metal
Dislikes: Death Metal, Grindcore, and HardstyleWhat do you get up to in your free time? I love going to shows, I’m also always trying to make time for playing guitar and writing songs. Also, my current obsession is wrestling!
-
What got you into music? My best friend Sophie showed me korn when I was 14 and at the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever. She showed me a lot of bands and artists i still listen to, to this day. One of the best gigs we went to together was Tool. I then got into shoegaze when Slowdive came on my recommend for you on Spotify around the same time. Music for me has always been about sharing with friends, that's what's influenced what i listen to today.
Top 5 bands: Bleed, Loathe, L7, Whirr, and MBV
Top 5 records of all time: "Peripheral Vision" by Turnover, "Youth" by Citizen, "Murmur" by Doused, "Bricks Are Heavy" by L7, and "Erotica" by Madonna
Loves: Shoegaze, Indie-Rock, and Grunge
Dislikes: EDM, Country, and DeathcoreWhat do you get up to in your free time? Currently on a fashion photography course but I’ve recently realised I love documenting people rather than fashion. Hence why I love going to shows, hearing live music but also capturing a moment between people in one room. Apart from photography I love getting crafty, collaborating with my friends, cooking and collecting physical media.
-
What got you into music? My journey into music started during my childhood through my older sister, who introduced me to the alternative music scene of the 2000s. Through her, I discovered bands such as Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Linkin Park, which were my first steps into pop-punk, emo, and nu-metal. My first shows were a perfect introduction on how music could create strong connections between people and become part of a wider culture built around shared experiences. As I grew older, I started exploring music independently through the internet, discovering new artists, scenes, and communities. This gradually led me from alternative rock and mainstream heavy music towards core-related and heavier genres. What interested me was not only the music itself, but also the history behind these movements, the scenes that shaped them, and the people who contributed to their evolution over the years. Understanding where these genres came from, how communities formed around them, and how they continue to develop is what led me to listening, doing and eventually writing about music.
Top 5 bands: Bring Me The Horizon, Heilung, Metallica, Bones, and Aurora
Top 5 records of all time: "Doolittle" by Pixies, "13 Songs" by Fugazi, "Allegiance" by As Blood Runs Black, "Spiritual Instinct" by Alcest, and "Night Time, My Time" by Sky Ferreira
Loves: Hardcore and core-related, Alternative and guitar-driven, and Dark and atmospheric
Dislikes: Drum and Bass, Reggae, and House MusicWhat do you get up to in your free time? Outside of writing about music, I spend a lot of time exploring different interests and discovering new things. I enjoy hiking and trekking, spending time in nature, and learning about the history and culture connected to the places I visit. I have a strong interest in history, especially ancient civilizations, historical events, mythology, and the way we have evolved over time. This curiosity also extends to space and astronomy, as I enjoy learning about exploration, scientific discoveries, and understanding where we come from, what we're supposed to do and where we're going. I’m also passionate about fantasy and world-building through books, films, series, and tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. I enjoy the depth of these worlds and the creativity behind them, especially the way stories, characters, and cultures are built., Music remains a major part of my everyday life. I regularly attend concerts and festivals, discover new bands, and explore different scenes. I enjoy learning about the communities around them, and how different bands and generations have contributed to their evolution. Outside of that, I spend time with my family and friends, practice sports, and always try to keep learning about new subjects. Curiosity is what connects most of my interests, whether it’s music, history, nature, science, or culture.