August 14, 2021

BAND MEMBERS

Conor McEniry - Vocals

Harry Ellis - Guitar & Vocals

Matt Gray - Bass & Vocals

Jeremy ‘Skips’ Scheepers - Guitar

Josh Williams - Drums

HOMEWOWN

 Salisbury/ Southampton, UK

YEAR FORMED

Early 2018

*Questions answered by Matt Gray.*

YOUR MUSICAL PAST AND PRESENT IN ONE RUN-ON SENTENCE.

The earliest stuff I remember listening to was Sum 41, Blink 182 etc, then when I started secondary school I got into Black Veil Brides, Bring Me the Horizon, Attack Attack etc, I only really listened to heavy stuff for years but now I’m older I’ve started listening to a lot more so I’ve got really into country music, some more pop stuff but I still generally listen to Metalcore, Post Hardcore and Deathcore more then anything else.

SORRY, BUT WE HAVE TO ASK … WHERE DID YOUR BAND NAME COME FROM?

We got it from Disney’s Hercules, we’d been throwing names around for a little while and couldn’t decide on one and Conor was watching the film, heard the line and thought it sounded cool and stood out so messaged all the guys and we agreed on that it stands out a bit more and is fairly search engine friendly.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND TO SOMEONE WHO HASN’T YET HEARD YOUR MUSIC?

Post-Hardcore/ Metalcore with our own twist of rock ’n’ roll.

IF BANDS WERE REQUIRED TO HAVE A SLOGAN … WHAT WOULD YOUR BAND SLOGAN BE?

I’m a big Asking Alexandria fan and they’ve got a lyric ‘I am rock ’n’ roll’ so I’ll change that up to ‘We are rock ’n’ roll’.

WHAT’S NEW IN YOUR LIFE AND WORK? DESCRIBE THE GREEN, GROWING, CREATIVE EDGE OF WHAT’S ABOUT TO BLOOM.

Unfortunately with everything going on there isn’t too much new going upon in any of our lives but the main thing is that we released our brand new EP ‘Heart, Mind & Hell’ in April so we’re all really happy about that!

WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE BEST SONG YOU EVER RELEASED, AND WHY?

I actually don’t know if I could pick just one because it changes on a day to day basis for me from all five songs off the EP but for today I think I’ll got with Hell To bear because it’s got a bit of everything we do in that song.

PICK ONE WORD THAT BEST DESCRIBES WHAT YOUR REHEARSALS ARE LIKE. WHERE DO YOU REHEARSE?

Funny. It’s been so good getting all five of us back together to practice again that it’s just been hilarious at times. We practice in a cafe that Josh used to work at that has a type of function area attached, it’s great because it has a whole PA set up, stage and monitors.

LET’S GEEK OUT FOR A SECOND … TELL US WHAT YOUR ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE PIECE OF MUSICAL EQUIPMENT IS RIGHT NOW.

I actually bought a new Schecter SLS elite-4 Evil Twin a little while before the first lock down and it’s incredible!

WHICH ARTIST OR LIFE EXPERIENCE INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A MUSICIAN?

Just the first show I ever went too, it was incredible, it’s where I fell in love with live music and the idea of being on stage.

AN ALBUM THAT’S HAD A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON YOU.

Asking Alexandria - Reckless and Relentless, it’s the first album I was obsessed with and it was that albums tour cycle which I saw my first live show.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PRE-SHOW RITUALS?

Nothing really yet, some of us go for a bit of wonder so we can see more of the country or chill with a pint.

FUNNIEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED WHILE YOU WERE ON STAGE OR ON TOUR.

I think the funniest or most fun moments for us would be we played a show on my birthday and we asked the crowd to get us shots (we’d planted someone just in case no one else did so we didn’t look too stupid) and we ended up with about 6 different people getting us shots and the owner on the venue thought it was great so ended up pouring whiskey from the bottle into my mouth whilst I was on one knee and playing the song. For Conor it would be when he got lucky after we played a show once and disappeared for the rest of the show and came back with something on his shirt which granted him a very interesting nickname for a while after.

IF YOU WERE SECOND ON A THREE-BAND BILL, WHICH BAND WOULD YOU LOVE TO BE SUPPORTING AND WHICH BAND WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO OPEN FOR YOU? [GOOD CHANCE TO PLUG A NEWER BAND YOU REALLY LIKE]

I’d love to support Atreyu or The Amity Affliction, I’m a big fan of both bands and think we’d fit one of their shows well and a band to open would have to be Endscape, they’re an incredible new band who every song they’ve released has been phenomenal.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOUR FANS GET FROM YOUR MUSIC? IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE THEM TO KNOW?

We just hope they get whatever they need from our songs, we wrote this EP about a lot of personal stuff that we were going through or are going through so if they can transfer whatever the need to out of the songs into their own lives that would be great! I guess the only thing we’d like them to know is that writing these songs was very cathartic for us and listening to them can help us get through a rough day so hopefully it can for them too!

WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST SURPRISE SO FAR ABOUT MAKING MUSIC YOUR CAREER, OR A BIG PART OF YOUR LIFE?

The amount of dedication being in a band takes and the amount of business behind the scenes we weren’t aware of.

WHAT CONCERT DID YOU ATTEND THAT YOU’LL NEVER, EVER FORGET?

The first download festival Conor and I went too! It was literally perfect, the best line up I’ve seen to date and the weather was perfect too.

SHARE ONE QUIRKY THING ABOUT YOU OR YOUR BAND THAT FEW PEOPLE KNOW.

I suppose something about me is that because I need glasses and don’t wear them on stage I can’t see anything when we’re playing and one thing about the band would be the practice space we use doubles up as a church or something like that and has a cross behind where we play when we have a song which is kind of questioning religion so it’s always funny playing that song there.

BEST BAND NAME YOU EVER HEARD?

I don’t know if it would be the best band name but the first thing that comes to mind is that I love that Bring Me The Horizon got their name from Pirates Of The Caribbean.

WHAT’S YOUR BENCHMARK FOR A GREAT MUSICIAN?

I guess it’s just people at the top of their game and understand how to benefit the song more than their own ego.

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