Review Fix Exclusive: Plastic Barricades Talk Future and More

Review Fix chats with London alt indie rock band Plastic Barricades’ lead guitarist Jonas Svendsen and singer/rhythm guitarist Dan Kert, who discuss the band’s origin, standout work and their goals for the future.

For more on the band, click here.

Review Fix: How did the band get together? 

Dan Kert: I’ve met both Dani (bass) and Frazer (drums) at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) during scouting for the best rhythm section London has to offer. That was in the summer of 2013. We’ve been a trio for ages, but we always wanted to expand. We’ve must have auditioned a dozen of guitar players. And then one day in late 2015 I’ve got a message on Gumtree from a lovely chap named Jonas. We had a jam in our Shed studio and shortly after seized being a trio. It feels great being able to talk about guitars all day.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like? 

Jonas Svendsen: At the moment it’s a combination of spontaneous jams which we continually build on throughout rehearsals and then outside ideas brought in and developed as a band. Makes for very interesting ideas as jams can really go unexpected places and although an initial idea might be brought in the end result, with input from the others, can go out a completely different animal.

Kert: Spontaneity is what I am usually after. I like to just follow the flow, have that immediacy during rehearsals, I like when the whole band comes up with a song together, right there, on the spot. That always feel much more honest and inspiring.

Review Fix: What’s your standout song? 

Svendsen: At the moment I’d say it’s a song called “How Goldfish Grow”. We debuted it quite recently at a show in London.

Review Fix: How was it written? 

Svendsen: Dan brought in the rough outline of the song. It was actually quite easy to put together as everyone seemed on the same page. Ended up with really danceable groove and has great dynamics, and really fun to play!

Kert: “How Goldfish Grow” has definitely been a gig favorite for a while now, people seem to enjoy it’s simplicity. It will be featured on our upcoming “Mechanics of Life” album. 

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2016? 

Svendsen: We’re hoping to extend out into Europe as well as expanding our fan base in the UK, hopefully just keep on touring and playing for people.

Kert: And don’t forget the album release. I really hope we can finish recording and mixing asap. It will be an interesting diverse collection of songs and a lot of sonic experimentation! But it takes ages to get some things right, especially when we never run out of tape!

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people? 

Kert: I want to help people find solutions, I want to inspire them to take control and make their life better. I want them to look beneath the surface, to explore, to strive for happiness and self-expression. And to be responsible when it comes to the world around us! I am an idealist, I know that.

Svendsen: As long as people get into the music that’s all we want, people might not interpret the songs in exactly the same way they were interpreted by us but that doesn’t matter.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Svendsen: We’d love to play America, that’d be a dream come true. Playing anywhere internationally would be awesome, be a great way to travel the world 

Kert: There are plans for touring UK in August and Europe in September. All the gig schedule can be found on our official web site.

Upcoming shows:


09.06.2016 – 93 Feet East, LONDON, UK
18.06.2016 – Forty Hall, ENFIELD, UK

22.07.2016 – The Neon, NEWPORT, UK
18.08.2016 – Kings Head, MELTON MOWBRAY, UK




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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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