Hi Andy. Thanks for taking time out to talk to us at Midlands Rocks. Until September 2010, you were known as Ignominious Incarceration. Can you tell us what prompted the name change and why you chose ‘The Soulless’?
Andy Wardle: We were never ever happy with the name Ignominious Incarceration, we only had it because we never thought we would play out of our drummers basement. We were debating changing it before the release of “Of Winter Born” but decided against it. We decided in late 2009 we were going to change our sound drastically as well as our name. So we spent all this time in between coming up with the new material and brainstorming for name ideas. We chose The Soulless just because it was simple and sounded pretty cool.
MR: Was it an easy decision to change the name? Did you consider your fans’ response?
Andy Wardle: No! We spent months thinking of ideas but could never think of one we liked that wasn’t taken. In the end we thought we will just have to choose anything so long as it was a new name. We thought some fans wouldn’t like the name change and dislike the music change even more, but we did it for ourselves which is most important.
MR: Does the name change reflect a change in style and approach to your music?
Andy Wardle: Yes they go hand in hand; we wanted to start a new band basically. New name, new members and new sound, virtually nothing is the same as Ignominious Incarceration, so it’s quite unfair to compare the bands.
MR: Ohio’s Soulless have recently taken steps about your choice of name being almost the same as theirs. How do you feel about this?
Andy Wardle: I think they think we weren’t aware of their existence when we chose our name. We were, we just thought that they were an inactive band since they had no shows or anything going on. We didn’t think it would be much of an issue as we are in completely different scenes and we would never coincide. As well as that we are “The Soulless” and they are just “Soulless”. I know it’s only a “the” but it’s still different. There are lots of bands with the same name such as Attack Attack etc. as well as many bands called Soulless, to be honest. They haven’t seemed to kick up a fuss about them. Anyway it’s all resolved now as we are known as The Soulless UK in the US. We have no disrespect for them and think they are a great band, I’m sure we won’t affect each other in any way.
MR: How has the band’s sound developed since ‘Of Winter Born’?
Andy Wardle: More technical, more melody, more aggressive vocals, more passion and alot more fun. We just wrote what we think we are best at producing and what we like to hear and play live. Some people will definitely prefer “Of Winter Born” as it’s a lot heavier, but as the people playing it we love our new sound so much more.
MR: What’s the writing process for the band? Is it a collaborative effort or is there one main songwriter?
Andy Wardle: For “Isolated” all the music was written by Steve Brown, then I put my lyrics to the music. This was a really simple process as Steve is a writing machine and we just had to learn our parts. There are no arguments about what stuff should sound like as we all trust and love what Steve comes up with.
MR: When writing, how do you balance technical proficiency with song writing?
Andy Wardle: We just go with whatever sounds good. It’s not technical for the sake of it, just want to write riffs that sound cool. Some bits maybe simple, others pretty tech. I think you find balance by having catchy vocal patterns just drive the songs on through technical parts, or maybe a simple chorus to breaks things up. The structure is also very important. You could have a really techy riff but it could still be a hook of the song if it’s in the right places.
MR: You’ve recently had two new additions to the line-up – second guitarist Kristen Dawson and Dan Wilding on drums. What happened with the previous guys?
Andy Wardle: We had never found a second guitarist that could match up to Steve, or was not committed enough. Dawson was right on our level and wanted to do the same music we were doing. He is extremely determined and enthusiastic which is why he got the slot. He’s a great personality too and adds a lot to the bands especially in his rowdy live performance. Sam, our previous drummer wanted to work hard on pursuing other projects. His main one being The Bronze Trade clothing company which he runs with Your Demise drummer James Tailby. We are stoked for it though and we all love and wear his clothes. He is still a big part of the band and helps with all graphic related stuff. He did our album inlay for example and helped film for the “Unaltered” video. Dan wilding is an absolute beast behind the drum kit and we are very very happy to have him.
MR: How are the new guys working out? Will they be bringing material to the band for the next album?
Andy Wardle: As I said in the last question, yea basically! For the next album we will be trying out a few different ways to write. Lyrics, choruses and vocals patterns will be written first then riffs based around them. Same with drum patterns and so on. With the creative input of our new Members Dawson and Wilding, we are sure it will be awesome. We hope they will add a new dimension to the band, and our next album will be the same sound, just more diverse and a progression.
MR: With ‘Isolated’ being released on 16th May, are you planning to tour in support of it?
Andy Wardle: We did have a huge tour for May in the pipeline but it fell through unfortunately. We decided to go ahead with the album release just to get it out there. However we are happy to announce that we have signed with Jamie Graham for management, and are working with Factory Music for booking. We will be doing a ton of touring later in the year.
MR: Will you be heading into the Midlands any time soon?
Andy Wardle: Of course! Birmingham is always a good show. We wouldn’t do a UK tour without hitting the Midlands, so when we tour later in the year, see you there!!
MR: Is there anything you’d like to say to our readers?
Andy Wardle: Thank you for checking us out, buy our album and check us out live!!!
MR: Thanks again for taking time out for the interview. We look forward to seeing you in the Midlands!
- Read Midlands Rocks review of The Soulless' album, 'Isolated', here
Jason
For Midlands Rocks
www.midlandsrocks.co.uk
