EMQs with DWELLED

EMQs with DWELLED

Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with UK Modern Metallers, DWELLED. Huge thanks to their Guitarist, Louis, 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?

Hey, I’m Louis and I play guitar in Dwelled. The band originally started as a recording project during covid lockdowns in 2020, before scaling up to a full live band in mid-2022, then rebranding as Dwelled earlier this year.

How did you come up with your band name?

Our name means to keep thinking or talking about something, especially those which are bad or unpleasant. We have all experienced our own trauma’s and this band acts as a way of coping and healing.

What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?

We’re from the Northwest UK and Greater Manchester area. The underground music scene in these areas are awesome, with good venues and promoters catering for all different types of metal.

What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)

We’ve just released our newest single ‘Suffer’ along with a music video, which has been taken from our upcoming EP “Suffering Heritage” which is due to be released 6th December.

Who have been your greatest influences?

This is a 2 stage answer as my old tastes still stand but I also take a lot of influence from more modern music.

Modern: Ten.56, Loathe, The Acacia Strain, Sleep Token, Thrown, Humanities Last Breath.

Historical: Deftones, Raging Speedhorn, Will Haven, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, In Flames, Soilwork, Meshuggah.

We’ve all got our own influences but these are some of mine.

What first got you into music?

I was always drawn to heavy music as a kid. My gateway band was Guns N Roses when my older cousin played me Appetite for Destruction. I was hooked. Fast forward a few years and I saw a video for Thumper by Raging Speedhorn and something clicked in me. “I need to make music like that!” So I borrowed guitars off friends until I could afford my own and learned how to play. It just had an energy that I had no way to express without playing it myself.

If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?

Sleep Token for me. I’d love to have some monstrously heavy riff and breakdown laden song then shift it into that signature ethereal sound that only they seem to do. Failing that Meshuggah.

If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?

Hellfest. I watch footage of that festival online every year. Every year I wish me and the guys were there, causing moshpit carnage, then celebrating the performance watching our favourite bands sharing some cold beers.

What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?

Not really a gift, but we once played a show where someone in the crowd was so hyped by Matt’s drumming that he couldn’t wait to talk to him. He then left the gig only to return with his favourite snare drum just to show Matt. Found it endearing but hilarious at the same time.

If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?

TURN OUT TO SHOWS. If you don’t, they won’t happen. Every show you go to improves your local scene which has a snowball effect of making better shows with better bands.

If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?

Chester Bennington. Incredible vocalist and seemed to be such a genuine, caring guy.

What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?

Love: Hanging out with the guys and the live performance. We all share the same ethos of “fun before anything”. If we’re not having fun it’s not happening. We really feel like that resonates to our audience. If we’re having a great time they feed off it, which in turn we feed off. Everyone wins.

Hate: Messy stages. I like a stage to be clean and clear of debris with organised cables.

If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

Move the focus back to being musicians and performers rather than content creators. 

Name one of your all-time favourite albums?

This absolutely does not speak for everyone else, but “White Pony” by Deftones has been an “on repeat” album for 24 years! I feel old…

What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs, or Downloads?

Well, I’m involved with music production so I like CD’s. Physical media is a dying thing but I enjoy owning the product, with its artwork and being able to flick through it. I like the definition of digital sound quality too. Vinyl is cool but doesn’t do anything for me with my taste in sound. No interest in cassette – sounds awful and only gets worse in my opinion. Downloads are of course the most convenient and sound great, but I’m going to really stick with CDs.

What’s the best gig that you have played to date?

Our first appearance at Sunbird Records in Darwen. Love the venue, the audience and the staff there. That is a perfect example of a great grassroots venue. 

If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?

We all have our own interests outside of music. I’d be either in the mountains on a snowboard or bike. Or on the sea windsurfing or kitesurfing. In the evening some of us hop on the laptops for a bit of gaming sometimes too.

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

Corey Taylor, I feel like he’d have some great stories to share!

Mike Shinoda, I want to hear about how it was being in a band with Chester.

Rob Zombie, we all love horror films and I bet he’s got some crazy ideas in his head.

Tatiana Shmayluk, she seems like a vocalist who takes no prisoners. 

Ice T, because he is a legend. 

What’s next for the band?

We’ve just shot a music video for our next single, which we’re in the process of editing now. And then we have gigs lined up for the remainder of the year, starting with Sunbird Records in Darwen, Grand Central in Manchester and then The Salty Dog in Northwich to round things off.

What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people? 

You can find us on almost all platforms, with our links to these:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dwelleduk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwelleduk/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dwelleduk

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dwelleduk

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1woBVtyj26o5Czg3dl3lPk?si=Z2LvX53fS6y1blCgDyC0Jw

Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?

A bun or roll from where I’m from.

Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Thanks for the chat! Our new EP drops 6th December – we can’t wait to share it with you!

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