EMQ’s with SYDNEY FATE
EMQ’s with SYDNEY FATE
Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Cardiff, South Wales based Alternative Metal band Sydney Fate. Huge thanks to clean vocalist Bailey Edwards 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?
My name’s Bailey and I’m the clean vocalist for the Cardiff based alternative metal band Sydney Fate.
Myself and Thomas Atkinson-Turner (Bass) started the band during our early years of high school, after some time off and a few changes to the line-up, we formed back up with new members in Summer 2018 and went on to record our first five track EP “Sound Alive”.
Since then we’ve been hitting the live music scene pretty hard by supporting some great bands and playing headline shows, this led to us getting Signed to our current label Eclipse Records (USA) and the release of our first album “Silicon Nitride”.
How did you come up with your band name?
At first, ‘Sydney Fate’ was just a random name I came up with when the guys and I got together.
We had recently formed in our early years of high school and had already been booked in for our first gig, so we started throwing ideas back and forth and agreed to stick with my idea until after the show and then come up with something permanent – That’s what we told ourselves anyway!
Over the years the name became something that now holds an enormous sentimental value to all of us.
It’s a name that’s been with me since my early teen years and It’s linked to a lot of my favourite memories and the reason I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many amazing people! From meaning nothing to sentimentally everything.
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
I grew up in a small town in South Wales called Caerphilly before moving to Cardiff, It’s where I met most of the other band members and made some great memories.
Caerphilly didn’t really have much of a music scene when I was younger, aside from maybe a handful of bands that used to practice at a studio I worked at after school, but I wouldn’t call it a scene.
That being said, I do remember in the earlier days we had learned a few covers and I had recently met someone that worked with Caerphilly Workmen’s Hall.
Karina was really cool and down to earth, we got on really well and started to put on a few shows together for new and upcoming bands, and before we knew it Caerphilly became this really cool breeding ground for new bands for a while!
Once we decided to record an EP, a few of us decided to pack our bags and move to Cardiff, it felt like the right choice for us as a band with all the venues and opportunities it had to offer!
Cardiff’s music scene has always been great, and we’re all grateful to be a part of that.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
We’ve currently just released our debut album “Silicon Nitride”, released on April 3rd, 2020 via Eclipse Records. We’re all really happy with the response it’s had so far, and it’s got us nominated for this year’s Cardiff Music Awards! We have two music videos out now too for ‘Sound Alive’ and ‘TACENDA’ both filmed by the amazing Life Is Art Visuals!
Sound Alive (Official Video)
TACENDA (Official Video)
Who have been your greatest influences?
I grew up heavily on bands like Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden and AC/DC, but as I got older My playlists started to overflow with bands like Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium, Parkway Drive and Bring Me the Horizon. I’ve always been a Metal head at heart, and have been a keen subscriber of Metal Hammer/Kerrang!
What first got you into music?
I’ve always been a massive fan of music. I remember going from the Power Ranger’s cassette tape to an “Appetite For Destruction” record. My grandmother actually bought me my first acoustic guitar; I must have been about seven? I think I got really serious about being in a band and making music in primary school! I was really good friends with a guy called Lewys, he was a great guitarist, especially for his age, and he got me into some really cool bands too! We actually ended up starting our first ever band together, I played bass – We never played any shows but that’s definitely where the addiction started for me!
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Avril Lavigne, like unironically, I think we could make some absolute bangers together, but in the event that she in unavailable or is unable to colab due to other commitments, I would love for the chance to make some music and feature a guitarist called Nito!
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
I feel like Download would be that peak metal festival for us, we think it’s great and love that it’s in the UK! But I think as far as any festival in the world goes, I would love to spend a few summers hanging around some festivals state side, maybe even see what Burning Man is all about!
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Redacted!!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
We honestly can’t put into words how much we appreciate the support we’ve received so far! It’s such an awesome feeling knowing that people take the time to listen to our tracks and contact us on our socials to let us know what they think! We can’t wait to hit the stage again and join you all for a few drinks very soon!
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
My first choice would have to be Freddie Mercury! I’ve been a huge fan of Queen for years and I actually played the protagonist character Galileo for this production of ‘We Will Rock You’ and that really fuelled the obsession! I am also torn between someone else however, not so much a Rockstar, but I would want to show Pierre Shaffer where his work has ended up, it completely haunts me that apparently in his final days he felt that his work was wasted, but conceptually; I feel that if you look carefully enough, there are small fingerprints and hairs that build upon his experiments as far as the ear can hear.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I love making music, gigging and meeting new people at shows, it sounds like a poorly written dating bio but it’s honestly the greatest feeling!
I hate the fact I wasn’t the one that wrote the ‘Cha-Cha Slide’.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
I would make it easier for bands to find promoters and vice versa, maybe like a type of tinder but for bands and promoters, could be fun!
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
I’m definitely going to have to go with Guns N’ Roses – “Appetite For Destruction”!
For me it’s always been that ‘Gateway’ album that I’ve adored since such a young age, every track is an absolute credit to the album!
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Although pre-recorded cassettes were basically extinct by the early 2000’s, I actually remember owning a few as a kid, I even had a shoebox cassette player too! Something about cassettes just reminds me of being at that age again which has always been pretty cool, these days I’m really into vinyl however! Whenever I pass a record store I always end up bringing home something cool! I believe the last record I bought was actually Nirvana – “Nevermind”.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Our Album launch show at our hometown was immense! We played some of our first ever shows in that venue, and really wanted the launch gig to be at home! The audience in Caerphilly have always amazed us! The atmosphere is always electric, and this show was no exception! We brought some really cool bands down for the show with us too, it was nice to have bands that we had met on the road down to play with us on such a cool night! The show was pure wild!
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
It’s something I haven’t given a huge amount of thought into before, I was big into theatre/acting at one point though and managed to get work as an extra for Netflix, but I don’t think I would’ve done that full time – Maybe something to do with firefighting!
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Batman, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, Adam West
I have some questions!
What’s next for the band?
Although lockdown currently has us all apart, we’re still continuously writing new material and discussing ideas over social media platforms; We’re always experimenting with new ways to evolve our sound so hopefully it won’t be too long before our next album starts to take shape! We’ve also had to cancel all of our upcoming shows for the near future, but thankfully we’re currently working with a great team and we’re in the process of throwing some ideas together for a UK tour once the world starts to get a little less crazy, and then expanding out as time goes on!
In the meantime, we’re also working with some amazing people for a new line of merch that we’re looking forward to releasing pretty soon! We have a few collaborations in the works too and our fingers are crossed for the three categories we’ve been nominated for in for this year’s Cardiff Music Awards!
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
We have five main sites that we monitor and interact with daily: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube & Spotify. We use these as a way to connect with our fans as we love getting involved and adore it when people take the time to actually message us!
We’re very ‘Hands on’ when it comes to our social media accounts as we like staying connected with the people and sharing our daily adventures and music!
For anyone interested, you can catch us on the links below!
www.facebook.com/OfficialSydneyFate/
www.open.spotify.com/artist/6gzlNpMwMF891YV6FzKJBu
www.instagram.com/sydneyfate
www.youtube.com/channel/UCXUeMuRfNr-gXXvy16s9MIw
www.twitter.com/sydneyfateuk
Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?
Cake, it’s a legal fact, in 1991 the UK took the case to court due to different Tax rules for cakes and biscuits and McVitie’s won their defence about it being a cake. My love for Jaffa Cakes is immense!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Support your local bands! We all have to start somewhere, and without the amazing support we’ve had so far, we wouldn’t be where we are today!
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 said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
