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.
 

Dripback Debut Album

“It’s been a long time coming but finally the Dripback album will see the light of day, and this is as pure as it gets. Direct from us to you, no labels, no bullshit. It’ll be on Itunes for the lazy cunts with their Ipods and we’ll have a nice vinyl for people to get stuck into as well." - Dripback

London hardcore band Dripback's debut album Failed Futures comes out January 20th on digital release and March 24th if you're after the vinyl format. It was recorded with Russ Russell at Parlour Studios and has over a dozen tracks of uncompromising fast and furious metal to make your ears bleed.  But in the good way.

Failed Futures Track Listing:

1. Wasted

2. Rest With the Dead

3. We Precede the End

4. Cessation of Suffering

5. Profit Driven War

6. Shallow Lives

7. Seeing Without Eyes

8. Failed Futures

9. Victims

10. Stranglehold

11. Forgotten Code

12. Embodying Emptiness

13. Requisite for Refinement

To pre-order the album on vinyl and receive a free download code visit their store page and for more information visit them on facebook. 

Hands Of A Saviour Interview

This week I have more interview goodness for you, this time with London's Hands Of A Saviour. They are a unique blend of groove, hardcore and progressive metal and after seeing them live the other month at The Firehouse, Southampton I knew I wanted to find out more about them.

Photo Credit: Roads To Nowhere

Luckily for me they agreed to an interview despite my accosting them with a business card and rambling on outside the bar, and I think the responses they gave were surprising in places but very intelligent, informative and funny. They currently have an EP out, Clock Hands which you can download here and if you haven't seen them live I definitely recommend them, they have a captivating stage presence making it impossible to walk away from.

Hands Of A Saviour are:
Drums - James Roberts
Vocals - Henry Charnock
Guitar - George Owen
Bass - Luke Fabian

Who are Hands Of A Saviour and how would you each describe yourselves in 3 words?

George: Luscious; rambunctious; titillating.

Luke: Ginger; unappreciated; empowered.

James: The very best.

Henry: Do not resuscitate.

How did you come to be? Have you all been friends forever, did you meet at school/college, put ads in the local paper for band members…

H: James formed the band with a friend of his and hosted adverts online looking for a vocalist. That’s how I got in contact as I didn’t know anyone who played music where I lived. We then wrote the music for Clock Hands and brought in George, who was another friend of James’ from previous bands, before we recorded. Eventually our old bassist left to go to university and that’s how we drafted in Luke – he also responded to an online ad, having just moved down to London from the Midlands.

How did you come up with your band name? 

J: Basically, me and the old guitar player were joking about merging band names like Eyes of A Traitor & Heart of a Coward and we stumbled across Hands Of A Saviour.

H: I used to be worried that it would make us sound too much like a Christian band, but I guess it’s kind of similar to Lamb Of God’s name. Like their video for Redneck, anyone who thinks we’re going to be a worship band would probably in for a relatively unpleasant surprise ...

I don’t really want to ask about influences because that’s a bit cliché, but I’m always interested in what artists are listening to, so what was your favourite album of 2013?

H: I guess ironically, considering what I’ve just said, my favourite album last year was by this worship band from Nashville & New Zealand called The Ember Days. Obviously, they’re nothing like us; their music is really beautiful and passionate. I would recommend anyone to give them a try if they want something a little different. Their latest CD is called “More Than You Think.”

G: TesseracT’s new album (Altered State).

L: Touché Amoré - Is Survived By.

J: Severence by Heart Of A Coward.

... and what release are you looking forward to this year? 

L: Ours! ... or the new Down EP ... and definitely the new Tool album if it eventually emerges.

J: Monuments.

G: ... I don’t know, are Periphery doing an album? I don’t really follow music ...

H: Again, not at all similar to us, but I’ve been looking forward to Kat Dahlia’s debut album for a while – that’s supposed to be released this year. She’s kind of a hip hop/pop singer, but with a really aggressive flow and cutting, depressing lyrics. More on-theme genre-wise though, I’m a big fan of Tyler Carter so I’ll definitely be getting the new Issues CD. Upon A Burning Body are writing at the moment too, I think, so definitely their next release.

Talking of releases you guys have an EP out at the moment, Clock Hands. What can you tell us about it, is there a particular theme or idea that runs through it?

J: Groove.

L: A theme I noticed as a new member of the band was a constant stream of riffs.

H: Lyrically, and this wasn’t something I planned, in one way or another each of the songs deals with the idea of wasting or wasted time – specifically me beating myself up for wasting time. If you think about it, what could be more valuable in life than time – and so what could be worse than wasting it? We carried that theme over to the cover art too with the ruined clock tower and the smashed hourglass with the sand pouring out, etc.

You recently played in Southampton for part of a Christmas metal night at the Firehouse, how do you think it went? Did you get a chance to listen to any of the other acts that night?

H: We were all really pleased with that show. Personally, I think it was probably the most enjoyable show we’ve played. I always appreciate playing outside of London because it seems the venues get bigger crowds who are more into the music, I guess because there are less shows each night. I also always appreciate climbable terrain in a venue and The Firehouse had that in spades so I was happy, hanging off of banisters and climbing pillars etc. Who wouldn’t love that?

In terms of the other bands, I personally enjoyed Roads To Nowhere’s set. I loved the singer from Laid Wasted too. He had a really weird, creepy stage presence and that’s something I’m always drawn to.

Do you currently have any touring plans or dates in London, seeing as that’s where you are from?

H: We’re focusing on writing new material at the moment and, with the Christmas/New Year period just finishing, we haven’t had many shows scheduled. Once we’ve got the new set nailed down, we’ll be looking to ramp up the number of shows we’ll be playing all over the country. I’m really keen to play in and see some new places.

L: Our next gig is coming up on February 4^th actually, we’ll be playing at a place called the Horn in St Albans.

All the festivals have been announcing their line-ups left, right and centre. What ones have caught your eye?

L: Hellfest because I’m going to go to it. It’s in France. A continental trip and a healthy dose of metal, what more could you want from a holiday?

H: The rest of us aren’t really festival guys. I guess that’s pretty cliché for a tech-y kind of band – that we’d rather spend time in our bedrooms writing songs ... I’m sure Techfest is going to be killer again this year. Then hopefully they’ll do another Techabilitation show afterwards. We played that last year and it was a really great experience for us. If you haven’t checked it out before, definitely give it a look.

And on that note what does Hands Of A Saviour have planned for 2014?

J: More shows, more music.

L: More curries.

J: We’ve got plans for our 1^st music video too. We’ll be heading into the studio to record these new songs once we have them nailed down and then it’s a question of releasing and trying to get as many people to hear them as possible.

I’ve got some quickfire questions next, so people can get to know you in a less conventional fashion.

Canada or North America?

G: ... for what?

H: Assuming North America means the rest of the continent minus Canada ... América del Norte porque me interesa la cultura de México y Centroamérica. Algún día, quisiera visitarlo. I love the Carolinas as well.

Small or large venue?

G: ... How small?

L: Small.

H: As long as it’s packed ...

If you could commit a crime without being caught, what would it be?

H: I would take over the world like some crazy cartoon villain. It wouldn’t even matter if I got caught that way because there’d be no one who could to do anything about it anyway. Plus, I’ve always wanted to have minions ...

What colour matches your personality?

J: Red because I support Arsenal.

L: Royal purple because I like to think I’m a bit like Prince.

If you had to have theme music play every time you entered a room, what would you pick?

H: Tina Turner – Goldeneye. It’s just a great, classic tune.

L: Power by Kanye West. It even uses the line, “I guess every superhero needs his theme music.”

J: The Champions League anthem.

G: Northlane – Quantum Flux.

If reincarnated as an animal would you be a giraffe or a wolf?

J: Wolf ... actually Giraffe would be quite convenient ... nah, I’d be a wolf. Who wants to eat leaves all their life when they could be chewing on a carcass?

Festivals – better home or away?

L: Away because I’m going to Hellfest.

J: Yeah, Away. I’ve been to Wacken and that was awesome.

Strictly or X  Factor?

L: I’d go for Strictly because I’m a middle aged, BBC kind of guy.

J: I like X Factor because sometimes there’s fit birds on it.

H: I’d say Strictly as well because I just love sequins ... and Bruno Tonioli.

G: No.

Bikini or One Piece?

G: Good question ...

H: Bikini ... it’s so hard to find a one piece that’ll fit me ...

L: Women look fabulous in bikinis ... well, some of them do.

Independent venue or chain?

L: Independent. All the way.

H: Yeah, definitely independent. I guess that’s an easy choice to make when you’re a band of our size though ...

House or Apartment?

J: House.

L: I would like to live in a Victorian semi-detached.

H: I’m a mansion kind of guy so house for me as well.

If forced…Eastenders or Coronation Street?

L: Eastenders because it’s London.

H: Agreed.

For more information on Hands Of  A Saviour you can check out their facebook page as well as Bandcamp where you can listen to Clocks in full and download it.