EMQ’s with SIDERIAN
EMQ’s with SIDERIAN
Hi Everyone. Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Northampton, UK Metal band Siderian! Huge thanks to Vocalist Dave Pope for taking part!
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hello Ever Metal and readers, I’m Dave, vocalist and lyricist for Siderian.
In terms of our history, the band formed in early 2015 and put together a set of songs to play live before recording and releasing an EP “Cancel Your Future” all within three months, which in hindsight might have been a bit soon if I’m being honest. We then underwent a number of line-up changes that killed any momentum we may have built up, but made us a much stronger unit and brought a wealth of new influences and styles into the band which in turn has led to much stronger song-writing. We released a couple of standalone singles before realising we needed something to really get behind and not wanting to do any more EP’s, hid ourselves away for a good six months writing hard for the upcoming debut album, “Origins”.
How did you come up with your band name?
Ha! There’s the pretentious answer and the real answer. Pretentious first; the Siderian was the first geologic period in the Paleoproterozoic Era 2.5 billion years ago when iron was laid down in Earth’s crust, the process allowing the build-up of our oxygen-rich atmosphere. The real answer is we nicked it off a quality German metal band called The Ocean who had it as a song title; only upon further investigation did we find out what it signified.
What country are you from and what is the metal scene like there?
We’re from Northampton in the UK. The scene varies across the country, but locally we have some truly outstanding bands in Northamptonshire. There’s so many bands out there these days that standing out is becoming harder, but there is obviously still a real appetite for live music in this country, especially at festival level with the likes of ArcTanGent, Amplified, Damnation and Beermageddon all going great guns.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single or Video)
“Origins” is the title of our upcoming debut album which is set for release on 21st June. It’s been a slog to get to this point but we’re very hopeful that it will pay off. We strongly believe in the strength of the material on the record, it’s from the soul and we’ve bowed to no-one in terms of what went on there. Realistically it’s so much faster, harder and more technical than our EP that it’s the same band in name only. We recently shot a video for lead single ‘The Supplicant’ which should drop a couple of weeks before the album is released, from the snippets we’ve seen so far it looks stunning.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Our influences as a band are fairly wide-ranging in nature which I think helps in our song-writing. Personally, I love my Sludge and Grindcore; I always loved the vocals of Johnny Morrow (RIP) from Iron Monkey, just as abrasive and anti-social as possible. Grady Avenell from Will Haven, John Loughlin from Raging Speedhorn and Dave Verellen from Botch are big influences too. There are other vocalists I admire more such as Mike Patton, Chino Moreno and Layne Staley but they’ve not influenced my style particularly.
The other lads influences cover a wide range from classic thrash to deathcore, punk and reggae. I think in terms of the major song-writing influences there are obviously some Slayer, Gojira and Megadeth in there somewhere.
What first got you into music?
I think a lot of people grow up listening to their parent’s stuff. My mum was all about The Who, Small Faces and The Kinks which I loved, my Dad’s Simply Red, Phil Collins and Enya albums much less so! I guess I found my own musical feet about 15 when I got into guitar based music with the start of my first band, indie and grunge and then became the archetypal nu-metal kid in the late 90’s, that stuff just blew my teenage mind and opened the doorway to a whole world of metal I never even knew existed.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
I would love to have a guest vocalist on one of our tracks. Jamie Lenman for me probably, his lyrics and vocals are off the charts. Our drummer John has demanded that I state he would like to work with Graham “Pin” Pinney, formerly of Sikth, so there you go John, I have.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Hellfest! Their line-ups recently have been incredible and it’d be great to go to a foreign festival.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Not had any gifts yet sadly (send bacon!), but we have one fan who went out and started making his own alternative band merch with our blessing and got our logo tattooed on him. That was pretty cool.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Thank you for everything. The reaction of 95% of people to most metal is total incomprehension, so to find people that love your stuff and are prepared to pay money for music and merch and shows is incredibly humbling.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Layne Staley, that voice. (Another drummer interjection to say Keith Moon, which is a fair shout).
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I love it when we finish playing a song and the place erupts. That is a real drug. What do I hate? Sending out polite correspondence on a variety of band matters and being totally ignored.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
There should be more done to protect and promote local venues. We’ve lost so many locally and nationally, where are the next generation of bands going to play? Where are we going to play? We’ve got very few left, places like The Craufurd Arms are a beacon of light, but every sizeable town should have a place like that.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
“White Pony” by Deftones is probably my favourite album of all time because of the time period in my life that it represents. That and ‘Change (in the House of Flies)’ is the perfect song.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
CD’s; I’ve been building a proper collection since I was 15 and it represents my own musical journey. I like having a tangible product and reading the sleeve notes and putting them all in alphabetical and chronological order because I am a very sad man. My wife is less enthusiastic at the never-ending stream of discs I accumulate.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
In terms of the gig itself, the massively worthy Sarcoma Fest 3 down in Kent. Immense line-up, brilliant organisation, sound, crowd, just a total winner of an event organised by some very excellent humans. In terms of our performance, our last show almost certainly, we proper nailed it!
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
I’m not a musician; I scream and growl over real musicians. I do plenty of things outside of music; parenting, work, watching rubbish football, reading etc. Music is free therapy.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Can I invite dead people? If so; Bill Hicks, Hunter S Thompson, Sir David Attenborough, my wife and Armando Ianucci. That would be an epic, although I fear there may be some personality clashes there!
What’s next for the band?
Aside from releasing “Origins”, we’re playing for the opportunity to appear at Amplified Festival this year, we’ve got our finals heat at the Firebug in Leicester on album release day (21st June) and then the week after that we’re opening for Vader at HOP Fest in Northampton, which will be pretty sweet. Then it’s hammering the album live as hard as we can and hopefully booking some more shows with a view to having a bit of a tour in late summer to see parts of the UK we’ve not made it to before.
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
These ones…
Website: www.siderianband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Siderianband
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SiderianUK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siderianuk/
Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?
I believe a court once ruled that they are a cake for the purposes of taxation, but given my dislike of authority I will therefore say they are a biscuit just to be contrary. That said, I have no time for Jaffa Cakes, I’m more of a Cherry Bakewell kinda guy.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you for providing us/me with the platform to push Siderian, we really appreciate it. Buy or stream “Origins” when it comes out on 21st June, it’ll mean the world to us and just be nice to each other. Cheers!
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
