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.