We Have Divine Fire Interview
Q: Can you talk about your history as an artist?
A: I consider myself to be primarily a guitarist, although in most of the bands I've played with I've played bass, as well as singing. I started writing songs as a teenager in the '90s with my big brother, Richard, and got my first songwriting credit on a recording his band (Skiff) made. I learned classical guitar at school in Bradford (England) and played in various rock/metal bands with friends before leaving for university in Edinburgh (Scotland) in '96. I didn't ever manage to get anything off the ground in Edinburgh and after three years returned to Bradford and started making some solo demos with a drum machine and a four track recorder. After some time I started dabbling with recording on a PC and made another, slightly better quality demo. Around 2003, a close friend, Jonny Pickles, asked me to stand in for his band's bassist who had quit shortly before a gig, so I went for it and from that, via another short-lived band, Jonny and I formed Vaira. We recorded a decent quality demo and played some kind of stoner metal around the Bradford area for a few years before my daughter was born in 2008. At that time the band needed to be rehearsing more often but I had no more time to give so I left and Vaira split, although we all stayed on good terms. I more or less stopped playing music until around 2017 when Jonny was putting a new band together and asked me to play bass. At that point my current band Abyssera was formed with me on bass and vocals, Jonny on guitar and vocals, Cozza on keys and Joe on drums and keys. For the last few years we've been writing and recording songs in a loosely progressive rock vein, in addition to writing and recording a full, mainly synth-based score for the classic Swedish 1922 film, Häxan, for our collective side-project, Abyssera Motion. Before the pandemic hit we were preparing to start playing live but then everything was put on hold with the restrictions we've had to follow. Out of that came the opportunity for me to take a look at doing some solo stuff, so I challenged myself to write and produce a solo album completely on my own and without any guitars or bass guitar.
Q: What is your recording process like for No Axe To Grind? How different was then with your full band?
A: The whole process for this No Axe To Grind album for my solo We Have Divine Fire project has been intentionally solitary. I love the collaboration that writing and recording as a band forces, and I really enjoy experimenting as some kind of hive mind but the collective process naturally results in individuals compromising and diluting a singular vision. This works really well in Abyssera and I'm fortunate to be able to work with three extremely talented musicians and songwriters, but I've loved having the opportunity to work on something all my own without having to bend to anyone. No Axe To Grind has been written and recorded whilst working full-time and being a dad so it's all about finding quiet moments when I can have some time to do a little and build the project bit-by-bit. One huge difference between recording my solo music and recording with the band is that Jonny very much takes the lead with recording the band material. He has an awesome studio and rehearsal set-up at home and his house is very much Abyssera HQ, when pandemics allow. With No Axe To Grind I got to flex my own production muscles with my own home/bedroom studio set-up and I'm sure what I've learned will prove useful and help take the pressure off Jonny when we get back to recording with the band. No Axe To Grind is the first end-to-end recording production I've done on my own that I've been really happy with. My DAW of choice is Reaper which is a phenomenal product at an amazing price. I use my Line 6 Helix as an audio interface in addition to an IK Multimedia iRig Mic HD 2, which gives surprisingly good results for my vocals. Synth-wise I've used various software synths, but I particularly love Applied Acoustics Systems that offer wonderfully analogue-feeling sounds and superb customer service. For the more natural sounding drums on the album I use Toontrack's Superior Drummer 3, whilst I've also used iZotope's products extensively for the mastering, amongst other things.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: I tend to write my songs in the DAW itself. I will usually come up with a melodic part or a beat and then layer more and more parts on top. I'm not looking to play this music live so it gives me a great deal of freedom to keep adding without worrying about how I'm going to pull it off by myself on a stage. The vocals are almost always the last bit to write, although I will often write a vocal melody with nonsense lyrics and add that to a section before writing the later musical sections and then later fleshing out or completely replacing the original nonsense/skeleton lyrics from earlier in the process. I've always enjoyed and taken great pride in writing lyrics, but I rarely start with a topic in mind. I normally start with anything that pops into my head and then attempt to build a cohesive theme from that, although I'm really interested in the idea of writing concept pieces in the future.
Q: Can you talk about your history as an artist?
A: I consider myself to be primarily a guitarist, although in most of the bands I've played with I've played bass, as well as singing. I started writing songs as a teenager in the '90s with my big brother, Richard, and got my first songwriting credit on a recording his band (Skiff) made. I learned classical guitar at school in Bradford (England) and played in various rock/metal bands with friends before leaving for university in Edinburgh (Scotland) in '96. I didn't ever manage to get anything off the ground in Edinburgh and after three years returned to Bradford and started making some solo demos with a drum machine and a four track recorder. After some time I started dabbling with recording on a PC and made another, slightly better quality demo. Around 2003, a close friend, Jonny Pickles, asked me to stand in for his band's bassist who had quit shortly before a gig, so I went for it and from that, via another short-lived band, Jonny and I formed Vaira. We recorded a decent quality demo and played some kind of stoner metal around the Bradford area for a few years before my daughter was born in 2008. At that time the band needed to be rehearsing more often but I had no more time to give so I left and Vaira split, although we all stayed on good terms. I more or less stopped playing music until around 2017 when Jonny was putting a new band together and asked me to play bass. At that point my current band Abyssera was formed with me on bass and vocals, Jonny on guitar and vocals, Cozza on keys and Joe on drums and keys. For the last few years we've been writing and recording songs in a loosely progressive rock vein, in addition to writing and recording a full, mainly synth-based score for the classic Swedish 1922 film, Häxan, for our collective side-project, Abyssera Motion. Before the pandemic hit we were preparing to start playing live but then everything was put on hold with the restrictions we've had to follow. Out of that came the opportunity for me to take a look at doing some solo stuff, so I challenged myself to write and produce a solo album completely on my own and without any guitars or bass guitar.
Q: What is your recording process like for No Axe To Grind? How different was then with your full band?
A: The whole process for this No Axe To Grind album for my solo We Have Divine Fire project has been intentionally solitary. I love the collaboration that writing and recording as a band forces, and I really enjoy experimenting as some kind of hive mind but the collective process naturally results in individuals compromising and diluting a singular vision. This works really well in Abyssera and I'm fortunate to be able to work with three extremely talented musicians and songwriters, but I've loved having the opportunity to work on something all my own without having to bend to anyone. No Axe To Grind has been written and recorded whilst working full-time and being a dad so it's all about finding quiet moments when I can have some time to do a little and build the project bit-by-bit. One huge difference between recording my solo music and recording with the band is that Jonny very much takes the lead with recording the band material. He has an awesome studio and rehearsal set-up at home and his house is very much Abyssera HQ, when pandemics allow. With No Axe To Grind I got to flex my own production muscles with my own home/bedroom studio set-up and I'm sure what I've learned will prove useful and help take the pressure off Jonny when we get back to recording with the band. No Axe To Grind is the first end-to-end recording production I've done on my own that I've been really happy with. My DAW of choice is Reaper which is a phenomenal product at an amazing price. I use my Line 6 Helix as an audio interface in addition to an IK Multimedia iRig Mic HD 2, which gives surprisingly good results for my vocals. Synth-wise I've used various software synths, but I particularly love Applied Acoustics Systems that offer wonderfully analogue-feeling sounds and superb customer service. For the more natural sounding drums on the album I use Toontrack's Superior Drummer 3, whilst I've also used iZotope's products extensively for the mastering, amongst other things.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: I tend to write my songs in the DAW itself. I will usually come up with a melodic part or a beat and then layer more and more parts on top. I'm not looking to play this music live so it gives me a great deal of freedom to keep adding without worrying about how I'm going to pull it off by myself on a stage. The vocals are almost always the last bit to write, although I will often write a vocal melody with nonsense lyrics and add that to a section before writing the later musical sections and then later fleshing out or completely replacing the original nonsense/skeleton lyrics from earlier in the process. I've always enjoyed and taken great pride in writing lyrics, but I rarely start with a topic in mind. I normally start with anything that pops into my head and then attempt to build a cohesive theme from that, although I'm really interested in the idea of writing concept pieces in the future.
Q: What are some of the themes that are touched upon in your release No Axe To Grind?
A: A strong theme that runs through a few of the songs on No Axe To Grind is the idea of letting go of and moving past negative experiences and learning acceptance and love of oneself. There are some dark ideas alluded to, including coercive control by both societal structures and individuals, and battling personal demons, but I firmly believe that there is a stronger strand of positivity that runs through the album that urges the listener to rise above their past troubles, let go of the pain, find their own personal version of the good life and ultimately live it on their own terms.
Q: Have you started playing shows now that the pandemic is almost over?
A: As I said before I currently have no plans to play the songs on No Axe To Grind live since We Have Divine Fire is intended to be a studio-only project. For my band Abyssera, however, it's an entirely different question. Nearly a year and a half ago we were busy making plans to get our music out there and to start playing shows and then the pandemic hit and scuppered everything. We have only recently started rehearsing together again and after such a long time apart we're very much feeling our way and getting to know one another in a musical way again. For the time being it's just great getting to hang out with each other physically rather than on Zoom, and we're certainly starting to plan the future of the band and hope to be in a position to begin playing shows once the live music scene starts up properly again. I wouldn't expect the local UK music venues to be operating normally for a long time to come so I reckon we have a while to hone our craft and come out strongly when it's ready for us!
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: When I started working on this album I wasn't particularly focused on the world hearing it, but now, as it happens, I would really like people to give it a listen. I'm always open to feedback so if anyone out there gives it a go and would like to get in touch please do so. I am intending to follow this up with more solo work in the future but I'm not entirely sure what kind of direction I'll go yet. Whilst I ditched the guitar and bass guitar for No Axe To Grind I may well use them for future releases, although that's by no means certain because I'm very proud of this release and there's scope for so much more sonic exploration in the future, with or without an axe!
A: A strong theme that runs through a few of the songs on No Axe To Grind is the idea of letting go of and moving past negative experiences and learning acceptance and love of oneself. There are some dark ideas alluded to, including coercive control by both societal structures and individuals, and battling personal demons, but I firmly believe that there is a stronger strand of positivity that runs through the album that urges the listener to rise above their past troubles, let go of the pain, find their own personal version of the good life and ultimately live it on their own terms.
Q: Have you started playing shows now that the pandemic is almost over?
A: As I said before I currently have no plans to play the songs on No Axe To Grind live since We Have Divine Fire is intended to be a studio-only project. For my band Abyssera, however, it's an entirely different question. Nearly a year and a half ago we were busy making plans to get our music out there and to start playing shows and then the pandemic hit and scuppered everything. We have only recently started rehearsing together again and after such a long time apart we're very much feeling our way and getting to know one another in a musical way again. For the time being it's just great getting to hang out with each other physically rather than on Zoom, and we're certainly starting to plan the future of the band and hope to be in a position to begin playing shows once the live music scene starts up properly again. I wouldn't expect the local UK music venues to be operating normally for a long time to come so I reckon we have a while to hone our craft and come out strongly when it's ready for us!
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: When I started working on this album I wasn't particularly focused on the world hearing it, but now, as it happens, I would really like people to give it a listen. I'm always open to feedback so if anyone out there gives it a go and would like to get in touch please do so. I am intending to follow this up with more solo work in the future but I'm not entirely sure what kind of direction I'll go yet. Whilst I ditched the guitar and bass guitar for No Axe To Grind I may well use them for future releases, although that's by no means certain because I'm very proud of this release and there's scope for so much more sonic exploration in the future, with or without an axe!