Interview With 'Normaliser'
Firstly, introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the band and how you came to be?
We’re Normaliser, A Progressive/Post-Metal band from Sheffield, how we came to be? Well Chris and I were in a band together many years ago, when that came to an end, I decided to form another, booked a gig for a couple of weeks later and hoped we could write a set of material in time, I didn’t so much recruit Chris again, more like drafted him, he did a splendid job and we’ve been playing together ever since!
What were you all up too prior to the band, was this always the chosen path or did you have other dreams and aspirations?
We were in various bits separately, the 4 of us still pursue other musical projects as it helps to keep things fresh, I don’t think any of us are doing the jobs we want to spend the rest of our lives doing so hopefully people like our music enough to pay us for it one day.
Tell us about your latest Album and why our readers should check it out.
The latest release is kind of a concept album, it takes you on a journey through raging destruction, to bleakness, to hope, it has a lot of ideas in there, and a good mix of heavy riffs and quiet parts. I don’t think it really sounds like anything else, I will leave you to judge if that is a good thing or not.
Who would you say is the band's main song writer or is it a group effort and where do you draw your inspiration lyrically and musically from?
I would say Chris and I usually come up with the first draft of the songs, but then it goes through the meat grinder of Nathaniel and Theo, we jam it out and it usually ends up unrecognisable from the original, we don’t really draw lyrical ideas from real world situations, but there is definitely some subtext in there, anything but songs about girls etc really! We have a wide range of influences; there’s something to like in all genres, it is a proper melting pot as we are all coming from different places.
As a band what do you believe is your greatest achievement to date and why?
I would have to say the release of '456e64', we went through hell with that album, for a long time it didn’t look like it was going to happen, we had injuries, delays, lineup changes, the works, then to have that CD in your hand after all that was just the best feeling imaginable.
Have you ever come face to face with someone within the music scene who has left you awestruck and why?
The general Sheffield music scene is fantastic, so diverse and energetic, you look at things like 'Tramlines Festival' which takes over the entire city every year, or more recently events like 'Day Of The Riffids', which is a huge event put on by Sheffield bands to promote Sheffield bands, and you realise you are really lucky to work with these people and be part of this community.
What do you enjoy most about touring?
Just getting out there, we are yet to play a city where people were not into our music, it is fantastic to play to a group of strangers and not have them throw stuff at you, I don’t know if that is because they are too polite or whatever, but it is just a wonderful thing to be able to do what you love in different places, that and motorway services are neat, especially ones with those Dyson airblade hand dryers.
If we were to head out to one of your live shows what can ourselves and others expect?
Loudness, we like to be heard, it is usually pretty funny watching people try to headbang to guitar riffs in weird time signatures too, most of all we try to put on a show, we keep the energy up even if we are playing bleak music.
If you had one artist/band that you could go on tour with tomorrow who would it be and why?
Probably Mastodon, they just seem to be the band that can do no wrong at the moment, I wouldn’t say they influence us as such, but we all have a huge respect for their unique style, also it looks like they know how to party, and that is the real reason people go on tour, right?
You can spend an hour with a musical icon living or dead, who would you pick, why and what would you speak about?
I can’t speak for the whole band, but personally it would have to be David Bowie, he only passed away this year, but I feel like I lost a family member, his influence on me is incalculable quite frankly, and he just seems like he was an awesome guy.
And finally and most importantly is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?
Die Hard is probably the only Christmas movie worth watching, unless you count Jingle all the way...
We just want to say thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.
Facebook - www.facebook.com/normaliser
Web - www.normaliser.net
