Dying Breed
There are a lot of prepartions going on at the Dying Breed HQ as the band patiently awaits for the final touches to be added to their new E.P by none other than West West Side Music (WWSM). I spoke to lead vocalist James Moore and Guitarist Raymond Wilson about their new E.P and the other exciting ventures in store for the band.
What can listeners expect from your new E.P?
James: I really want to attract new listeners who aren’t afraid to listen to music that’s a little diverse from other types of metal music out there. This new .E.P. (This being our second) is a lot heavier and technical than our last outing. So I would love to grab the attention of more metal heads by sounding like a monster haha but try not to alienate our more lighter listeners or scare people haha.
Raymond: They can expect a more exciting E.P than before, more compacted, more stuff happens in less time.
What has it been like working with West West Side Music? How did this partnership come about?
James: Our producer Niall ‘Baz’ dalton (also my lover!) directed us towards West West Side Music because he thought our music suited their methods of mastering. They have worked with big artists such as the Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon and Converge to name a few. We thought these guys are right up our alley. The bands that they have worked with are our idols and we look up to them, so there was no seconds thoughts on the matter, plus no one else would have us haha only joking, this would’ve been too good an opportunity to pass up on.
Raymond: We’re having an unattended mastering session, so basically they are getting on with their work, then they’ll let us hear it. The bands albums they’ve mastered give us the faith/trust that whatever comes back will be what we wanted, so there’s really not too much back and forth after an initial questionnaire. As soon as we saw they had mastered Dillinger and Mastodon albums, we were like, okay, yes.
West West Side Music have worked with massive names like The Misfits, Mastodon and Everytime I Die. Do you feel you have out yourselves ahead of the game within the local music scene?
Raymond: Plenty of other N.Irish bands sound pretty good on their albums etc, and have gotten nowhere. I think the only way to get ahead is to put the work in and gig around, and that’s what we plan to do with this E.P!
James: For us it’s not about getting ahead of other bands or being better (Wink wink haha) we just want our music to sound the best it can be professionally, and these guys have done a great job of that with the bands they have worked with, of course we want to out ourselves more. But it’s not as important than giving the listeners a great listening experience with our .E.P.
Do you think that this will lead to other high profile partnerships in the future?
Raymond: I think it’ll make for a nice talking point or bullet point on a press release, but again, any partnerships are going to come from putting the work in. There are plenty of bands that do a lot of talking instead of walking, they get big on facebook or in their respective towns, and that’s about it. Bands like Bakken and Making Monsters are doing it right!
James: We hope so but we aren’t expecting that much to come from it, we just take every day as it comes, and we consider every band we play with, big or small as a step in the right direction. But who knows, fingers crossed; HELLO MASTODON!
Recently your band got a positive gig review from Chordblossom, what stands you apart from other bands performance-wise?
James: Yes, we did! And I would like to thank Melanie from Chordblossom for the kind words and we are chuffed to bits that she enjoyed our set. It’s always good to get some feedback good or bad. It lets us know what we can work on and what we are doing right. It’s always nice to know we are getting some recognition for our hard work. As for our live performances, we give it our all. I personally love to give the audience something to watch, at the end of the day they pay to see a show and good music, so we will provide them with an excellent show and we put our blood sweat and tears into our performance. I like to provide lots of energy on stage and Gareth likes to hump my face with any chance given.
We want our audiences to leave satisfied and wanting more, like a great sandwich haha.
Raymond: I think the genre we’re in is best suited for live music, but besides that… James Moore. He just doesn’t give a fuck. He’s really exciting to watch, hyper. Really couldn’t imagine him doing anything else.
You’ve been invited to the BBC Introducing Masterclass this year. When will it take place? Are you shocked by the invite? What does this opportunity mean to you as a band?
Raymond: It takes place this Thursday, 21st, too early in the morning! I don’t think I’m shocked, it’s about time something decent has come from winning all these BOTB competitions (if that’s in fact how they heard about us, I don’t know), but I’m very pleased to be invited. We are excited as a band to finally get to network with proper industry professionals instead of just bar managers and cowboys. We only hope our music is back from WWSM (West West Side Music) in time so we can spam it around.
James: [It’s at] BBC Blackstaff studios in Belfast. Yes we are shocked and privileged to be selected to take part in such a great opportunity, to me it feels like an eye has been kept on us ever since our air play on BBC introducing with our track Khaleesi.
Roughly, when do you expect the E.P to be released? Will you have a launch night?
Raymond: We already have one launch gig planned in Dungiven, with Stone Crow and Libidoswitch on Friday the 12th of April. So I suppose we need to have it ready for then.
James: We have big things planned for Dungiven and it doesn’t involve sheep haha but seriously if you are epileptic.. Stay clear haha. We are looking to set many more launch gigs up aswell.
Finally; can you describe your new E.P in three words?
Raymond: Worth of money!
James: WE’VE UNLEASHED HELL!
Can’t wait for the new E.P? Stream Dying Breed’s first E.P below;
Sounds Around NI 