Northampton metalheads Lay Siege may be newbies on the scene, but already the quartet are starting to outburst from their local familiarities and make a name for themselves. Following the recent release of their new EP ‘Obolus’, we spoke with guitarist Jamie Steadman a bit more about the EP, how he would describe their sound, their recent tour with Our People Versus Yours and more:
DP!: ‘Obolus’ is the name of your new mini-album. It’s been out for a month or so now, how do you feel about how it has been received so far?
Jamie: We couldn’t be happier really. The reviews and the feedback have been outstanding and far better than we could have hoped for. Rock Sound gave us 8/10, and things like that really give you the confidence to push on with your sound and try to take it to the next level.
DP!: You offered ‘Obolus’ up for free download; do you think that’s a risky strategy?
Jamie: Not at all. At this stage we’re a small band with a small fan base, so offering the record to everyone for free is the best way to get as many people interested in our band as possible. There was no risk really, because we had nothing to lose.
DP!: You’ve just finished a UK tour with Our People Versus Yours. How did that go?
Jamie: It was great. As with any tour, there were some shows which went better than others, but we enjoyed every single night and we met some great people along the way.
DP!: You’ve been touring for just over a year now, but who have been the best dudes to tour with? Who do you think would be good to tour with in the future?
Jamie: We actually really enjoyed hanging out with OPVY. By the end of the tour, we were genuinely sad to be saying goodbye. We would love to tour with ACODA, because we have been really good friends with the guys for a couple of years now, but we’ve never had a run of shows together.
DP!: Now, your sound is an interesting one – a mix of metalcore and sludge – but how would you describe it, and who/what are your influences?
Jamie: We prefer to just tell people that it’s heavy/noisy/loud, because people start making judgements if you apply tags to it, but “a mix of metalcore and sludge” is a fair statement. The big influences on our sound are probably the constraints that we work to: none of us are particularly great at singing, we only have one guitar player, we don’t currently use any electronics and we consciously steer away from cliches. Apart from that, the biggest influence on us overall is probably Deftones. That band pretty much wrote the manual on how to fill the space and sound massive with one guitar.
DP!: Recording ‘Obolus’ must have meant that you spent a lot of time cooped up in the studio together, so have you noticed any of each others’ weird habits?
Jamie: We’re all actually good friends so we know a lot about each other’s habits, but in the studio we learnt that I can’t tolerate dust, Lewis should sometimes not express his opinions so honestly to people he doesn’t know that well, Bartlett tracks bass better when wearing a bandanna and Barrick looks horrific with slicked back hair.
DP!: 2012 is almost over now. What have been your highlights of the year so far?
Jamie: Releasing our first music video and reaching 10k plays, getting on the cover mount of Rock Sound, seeing our picture in magazines, all the crazy Kettering/Corby gigs we have played with ACODA and, of course, our tour with OPVY.
DP!: Do you guys have anything planned for the rest of the year, 2013, and beyond?
Jamie: We’re writing new material and we’re trying our hardest to bang everything out for a release before the festival season next year. The only problem is that FIFA 13 has just come out and that’s a massive distraction. After that, we plan to tour with what we have come up with.
You can follow the band online on Facebook and Twitter.
Interview by MG Savage
Tags: Lay Siege
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