Takedown Preview: Saint [The] Sinner Interview

With just two more sleeps until Takedown Festival 2014, I caught up with Saint [The] Sinner,
one of the bands in attendance to find out some more about them, what to expect from their performance and who they themselves will be checking out on the day.

If you've not heard of them before, they are a 6 man rock, post hardcore outfit from the South Coast of England who have recently been on the Vans Warped Tour UK with Parkway Drive, Enter Shikari and Memphis May Fire. Takedown will be somewhat of a reunion for the band as they have toured and
played with many of the other acts taking to the stages, including Funeral For A Friend, Glamour Of The Kill and Heart In Hand. For a taster of what's in store should you decide to go check them out, listen to the new single The Lament below.

Thank you for taking some time out to chat with me today, much appreciated. Before we begin with the main questions, could you just introduce yourselves, your role in the band and a positive and negative aspect of your personality so readers can get to know you all a little bit?

[Pash] Hi Guys! I’m Pash, I play guitar and create the electronic and orchestral part of our sound. I’m a bit of a music production nerd, so I guess that helps. A positive of my personality? I guess that’d have to be my drive, once I get something in my teeth, I don’t give up. Negative, I get stressy sometimes… Haha!

Can you give us a brief backstory on Saint [The] Sinner, how you formed and emerged…where the name came from?

[Pash] I started Saint[the]Sinner about 3 years ago over a phone call with an old friend, we wanted  to do something a little different from what everyone was doing in the UK at the time. I really loved that American “Dance Metal-core” sound, so wrote the first demo “Yeah, Even The Mona Lisa is Falling Apart” and hunted down the members. That was hard…Haha! The name just came from the notion that even good people do bad things. So yeah, even a saint can be a sinner in some respects. I came up with it on a bus, inspiration strikes at the weirdest of times. 

How would you prefer to describe yourselves genre wise, to someone who hasn’t heard of you? Hopefully you won’t take offence to this, but some tracks make me think of a metalcore Panic! At The Disco. 

[Pash] James came up with the genre “Theatricore”. I think it sums us up pretty well. We evolved into this orchestral, poppy, dramatically heavy mix. That…and we’re all massive drama queens, so I guess it fits. Haha! As for the Panic! At the Disco comment, we’re all huge fans and we’re definitely influenced by them. I’m all about the hook of the song, and Panic! Are the kings of that. That’s what we try to take from it.

You currently have an album out, ‘The Curious Tale of Mistress Murder’. The title sets the listener up for a story, could you elaborate on the themes or how the album progresses through the tracks?

[Pash] It’s entirely about the person you think about before you go to sleep, and the person you think of when you wake up. We tried to explore a lot of our past and present relationship issues with it, both good and bad. We had the idea for “The Lament” and totally ran with it. It starts off setting the story like a play, then finishes up with “The Comedown” singing chants. We tried to imply no matter how great things can be, there’s always the rough with the smooth.

Personally, I love the orchestral feel – particularly in ‘The Projection Room Knows All My Secrets’. I’m presuming synthesisers were used…any chance we could see you on stage with live violinists etc in the future?

[Pash] Thank you! That’s definitely one of my favourite songs off the record. Yes unfortunately, our budget doesn’t allow for a live orchestra just yet… Haha! That would be mind blowing, so if anyone’s reading this who shreds a violin…get in touch! Haha!

Southampton has a very strong alternative scene which is constantly growing, and Takedown is going to be one of the year’s biggest events for us here. You’re playing the Southampton Music Stage – how are you feeling about it?

[Pash] We’re absolutely stoked to play it. It’s such a big event for alternative music, and it’s an honour to be asked to be a part of it. We were recently moved to the Total Uprawr stage aswell, so our Takedown experience just keeps getting better and better!

What can the audience expect from your performance? Are you a band who jump around and climb on things, do you interact a lot with the audience…that kind of thing.

[Pash] We’re definitely an energetic band. We all love to have a little run around, we definitely take our motivation from the crowd. Our aim is by the end of it, no one is standing still. Get involved and lets party!

Any of the bands on the line up that you will be checking out? 

[Pash] Glamour of the Kill. FFAF, and friends, Our Hollow, Our Home!

I've seen Our Hollow, Our Home at Joiners - definitely worth seeing! Which headliner will you be favouring? Funeral For A Friend or Heaven’s Basement?

[Pash] Funeral For A Friend have always been one of my favourite bands so I’ll definitely be checking them again. It’s such a hard one to call and from what I’ve seen of Heavens Basement in the past, I’m definitely going to have to split my time.

What’s in the pipeline for you after Takedown, how’s the rest of your year looking? Are you touring or writing, are you attending other festivals?

[Pash] 2014 for SaintTheSinner is all about writing and touring, and we’re really balancing that out right now. We’ve got some super cool stuff in the pipeline, all to do with the new record, but we’ll definitely be out touring the UK this summer, so make sure you catch us!

Thanks again for speaking with me and I look forward to seeing you March 15th on the Total Uprawr Stage, 2.25pm.