What was the original spark that brought this band together, and how has that vision changed over time?

 

Dont know that you'd call it a spark as such. It was more of a series of little calamities really. Me and Andy knew each other since we were 10 and 8 years old. Then we found an affinity for drinking under bridges 10 years after that when Andy and Damo had started playing instruments. We had a couple of little jams back then (about 2001) before I moved away and joined other bands, meanwhile the guys did a Sludge band ,Throat Locust. They trimmed down to a 3 piece under the name "Dwell in Sun" cos Andy discovered Sleep and wanted to play really slow. That band went on hiatus when Damo was becoming a dad and when they reactivated the previous bassist had moved away and they contacted me about it in about 2014. One little name change later and that was it.

If someone had never heard your music before, what would you tell them to listen for when they press play?

Hmm. Dont know what we could say to prepare people who hadn't heard us. If they weren't familiar with the genre a pre-emptive apology might be appropriate.
In terms of what we would actually say to describe ourselves to someone who already was a Doom fan, I'd be a little reticent to describe us at all, we kinda want to leave it to the listener to let them find their own descriptor. Hopefully nothing too derogatory.

When you're writing new material, what usually comes first, the riff, the mood, the lyrics, or something else entirely?

Riff. Always the riffs are pored over and fucked around with until they sound the way we want to, and generally the mood takes care of itself in the process, which informs the lyrical themes. We tend to write a lot of different lyrics then go through what we have once the vocal patterns start taking shape

Your music carries a lot of weight emotionally and sonically. What themes or feelings are you trying to explore through it?

It depends really. Some of it is about current events that have stood out to us, sometimes we had written about conspiracy theories and so on in the past but considering that shitty nefarious things happen in broad daylight now there doesn't seem much point in that.

What artists, records, or experiences have had the biggest influence on the band's sound?

Not so much of the usual suspects oddly enough. Obviously we all have a background listening to doom and sludge but I think if you plan to set yourself apart its worth branching out a lot, so theres everything from classic era grunge to black metal and noise bands because there's different aspects of songcraft and dynamics on display in these genres that might not be readily associated with doom, so it all goes into the songwriting toolbox. If I was to choose one band who are a big influence for all of us though, I'd say Killing Joke.

Looking at your latest release, what was the most rewarding or challenging part of bringing those songs to life?

Well our latest release was 2017 at this point so the main challenge has been remembering how to play those songs haha! But in terms of the latest songs we have for the next release the challenge is making sure we are happy they are up to standard. That (amongst other things) has been one of the main reasons for the gap in releases. We had a lot of positive responses to the last album, so we put ourselves under huge pressure to make certain that the new ones were at least as good as what came before. Its getting there now though and we hope to debut some of what we have in the upcoming shows, so interested folks can see if we've done that.

How different is the experience of playing these songs live compared to recording them in the studio?

Well studio is much more relaxed. We get to look at each song as its taking shape and so they're still kind of fluid at that stage. We can add and take away as we see fit, but they're set in stone when you play them live. On the other hand though the audience feedback watching a live performance can give you a different perspective on what's working in your music and what isn't. Parts you didn't maybe think much of go over really well while your favourite bits perhaps don't so much. Its a good acid test during the writing process

What do you think draws people to sludge and doom music, and why do you think the genre continues to resonate with listeners?

Well people are drawn to extreme and boundary pushing art, particularly in "interesting times" and Doom, much like death/black metal on the other end of the spectrum, can be very extreme and borderline impenetrable for some folks and scratches a very specific itch for them. There's an atmosphere with it that's often quite foreboding and overwhelming that can't really be found in other genres.

What's something about your band or about the sludge doom scene in general, that people often misunderstand?

We don't actually have any problem with owls at all for a start...

In terms of the genre in general though, I think there's a misconception that everyone is an antisocial cave-person when they tend not to be, no matter how filthy the music they make is.

As you look ahead, what excites you most about what's next for the band?

Well first and foremost getting to be properly active again and cover the ground we should have covered 10 years ago when the album came out. We didn't capitalise on the little bit of buzz we had back then so hopefully this time around we can remedy that. Hopefully the upcoming UK shows put us back in people's minds again in time for the next release, then we can get busy being everyone's problem for the next while.

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Thankyou Owlcrusher for taking the time to talk to Metal Unicorn and you can catch them live at the following venues