File download is hosted on Megaupload
January’s unsigned band of the home is my hometown’s own Tempest. A five piece metalcore band from Eastbourne. Having just released their new single, Solidarity, I caught up with the band to find out about their plans for new music and future tours.
Current line up:
Adam – 22 – Vocals
Alex – 22 – Drums
Ross – 22 – Guitar
Mike – 20 – Bass
Steve – 24 – Guitar/Vocals
How long have you been playing together?
Adam and Alex have been playing together since 2010. In 2012 Ross joined their band at the time, playing bass. Steve joined towards the end of 2013, replacing the previous guitarist Danny. Danny’s still pretty close with us and actually drives us to our shows now, helps with gear etc. It’s cool that he’s still involved with us.
Mike joined in 2016 on bass, bumping Ross onto guitar as we were without one for almost a year. We tried out a couple of other guitarists for a while but nothing really worked out until Mike joined us, and we were finally able to start playing live again and kept moving forward since.
What inspires your music the most?
All of us are huge fans of Architects! Just that melodic metalcore style that we fell in love with, it’s so awesome. It’s really made us want to contribute to that style of music. Bury Tomorrow are also a big inspiration on us, we’ve definitely taken on board a lot of ideas from The Union Of Crowns album and Runes too.
What was recording your single like?
It was really fun! We recorded an E.P with Dan Kerr at Avenue Studios a year beforehand so it was cool to record the single in a familiar environment, we were excited to just get on with it. Dan’s really thorough with the work he does, and doesn’t hesitate to tell you what he thinks which is exactly what you want from a producer. He pushed us to do our best takes and we’re really happy with how it’s come out.
What’s your favourite gig memory?
A couple of years ago we played a gig in Bexhill and were absolutely blown away by the crowd. It was in a rented out hall/youth center and the crowd was so into it, we actually managed to split the entire room for a wall of death. It was mental! And the funniest part is that this was back when we were playing our REALLY old songs, when we didn’t really have a “sound”. We tried too hard to be heavy and as a result our music was basically a load of bollocks and breakdowns. The crowd definitely made that night!
What is/do you think the hardest part of being on the road is?
Steve: I fall asleep on the way home every time, even if I’m not tired. I just can’t stay awake in the car.
Mike: I suffer from verbal diahrea, so I’m always punished by having to ride in the “party car”.
Alex: Pissing in a lucozade bottle on the M1
Adam: I have to drive, and I’m the only one that drives in the band.
Ross: Existence is pain! (I fee you, Ross).
How do you prepare for going to stage?
Alex sets up his cymbal stands so he doesn’t have to spend forever on the changeover between bands. We’re normally really eager to get on stage whenever we play, so we try our best to set up as quickly as possible and get out of the next bands way just as fast. Other than that it’s just vocal warm ups, deep breaths and probably a few cheeky beers.
What are you plans for the future?
Just keep doing what we do! Finish off writing our album, record it and then play as many shows as we can and hop on some tours.
Anything else you’d like to talk about?
We’d like to say a big thank you Del & Maxine at Stables Studio! Without Stables we’d really struggle to do this band, and we really appreciate their positivity and support that they’ve given us over the past few years. Thank you!!
