EMQ’s With ten56.
EMQ’s With ten56.
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with French Deathcore band, ten56. Huge thanks to their vocalist and founder, Aaron, 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 is Aaron, I write and do vocals for ten56. I created this, originally, side-project during the tail end of lockdown alongside Arnaud, our drummer. I’d had it in my mind to start a new project for a little while, and what set it off was Arnaud putting out an Instagram story looking for members to start a jazz band, so I replied along the line of “f*** that, let’s do something stupidly heavy”, and Arnaud’s arm is easy to twist *laughs* and that was the start of it.
How did you come up with your band name?
We originally were going to go by the name of our first album ‘Downer’, until we got hit up by an Australian rapper’s lawyer, who goes by a similar name. Tight on time, I couldn’t stop thinking about this reference made by a band formerly known as ‘Villains’ on their album ‘10-code’, and as our style has been so heavily influenced by the Chicago metal scene, we thought it a good nod to those guys. 10-56 is a police code used in the US to signal a suicide, and given my mental state and content of our one song at the time, it fit perfectly so we ran with that!
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
Although I was born and raised in Leicester, England, I’ve been living in Paris, France, for 15 years now, and as four fifths of the band are natively French, we are very much a French band *laughs*. The metal scene over here is better than it has ever been, bands like Landmvrks, Novelists, Rise Of The Northstar, Resolve, Ashen, etc. are all doing great things internationally, and between us all there is this support system. We all support each other and each band works hard to bring everyone us as a whole, it’s a very healthy and friendly environment!
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
We just dropped a track called ‘I Know Where You Sleep’, a strange but brutal track, announcing our upcoming second album, titled ‘IO’. We’re super excited for everyone to hear what we’ve been working on, and to go tour these new tracks!
Who have been your greatest influences?
Personally I’d say Eminem has always been my biggest influence, lyrically, but many metal bands have shaped the way I perform today. As for the other guys, our influences range from jazz, to r’n’b, of course extreme metal, and a lot of hip-hop influence across the board!
What first got you into music?
Three key moments for me were: Eminem’s ‘Marshall Mathers LP’, hearing the song ‘Kim’ for the first time absolutely blew my mind and cemented the violent side of music into my younger brain. Hearing Slipknot’s debut album for the first time. And finally, my grandma was German, so we had German TV at her house, I got to hear Rammstein’s ‘Sonne’ before the general UK public, and I was obsessed with that heavy sound straight away!
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Eminem.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Wacken Festival has always been one that I’ve wanted to do, we have that to look forward to next year. But more importantly, for me at least being English, I’d absolutely love to play Download Festival UK, being from the midlands myself, it’s always been a dream of mine, it would make me very proud to have a good slot at Download!
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
A pot of mustard from a German fan *laughs*
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
I’d say thank you, thank you for opening your hearts up and being so kind about the things I have to say in my lyrics. It was a huge step for me, writing about my emotions, addictions, and traumatic events; I was worried that it would be misinterpreted, but instead people have been so kind and understanding. We’ve found a deep connection with our fans and we mutually help one another to get by.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Mitch Lucker. I miss him a lot.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The best thing is being on tour and travelling the world, meeting new people, making friends and strong bonds along the way; yet it’s a double edged sword in a way, as being away from home so much makes it complicated to maintain the friendships and bonds with those back home. I wouldn’t say there’s anything I hate about it, but that is certainly a down side.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
If artists could get paid fairly instead of filling the pockets of streaming services CEO’s, that would be sick *laughs*
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Sworn In – The Death Card. Another Chicago band that really shifted the musical landscape at that time, I still listen to that record on the regular andbit still hits so hard!
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs or Downloads?
There’s nothing like holding a nice big vinyl, just the object is a beautiful thing, maybe not the most practical way to consume music, but it’s something worth the investment and something that will always belong to you. The consumer.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Oh wow, that’s a tricky one! There’s been times where we’ve played smaller rooms, for example the small stage at high 5 summer festival in Sweden, we were running on fumes after an overnight flight, and the energy that fit into that tiny room was just explosive. Then of course our show at Hellfest, being a French band, was a tear jerker for us, we’ll never forget that one.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Probably still welding *laughs*
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
I’d go with: Eminem, Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers, Theo Von, and Dave Chappelle.
What’s next for the band?
We’re incredibly excited to drop our sophomore album, we go right out onto our first EU/UK headline tour off the back of that, then one day at home before going over to the states to support ‘Signs Of The Swarm’, then we do the final Warped Tour stadium show before coming home for the winter! We can’t wait to get back out on the road!
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people? Please include any links
Facebook.com/ten56hq
Instagram: @ten56hq
Tiktok: @ten56hq
And YouTube, search for ten56., we release both on our record label’s channel, and also on our own channel!
There’s a long-standing food-based debate here in the UK. And we’d like your help. So… A Jaffa cake – is it a cake or a biscuit? Discuss!
*laughs* OK, so hear me out: a biscuit goes soft when left out too long, and typically, cake goes hard when left out. Jaffa cakes tend to go hard when left out, pair that with the word ‘cake’ in the title. I’m gonna have to go cake on this one. A biscuit sized cake, in biscuit style packaging.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Just that we all appreciate your time, to those who are reading, thank you for taking time out of your lives to read about us! Come to a show, grab the album, and keep the scene alive! Cheers!
Aaron