With the recent release of As Sirens Fall’s EP The Hospital Party, I was able to have a chat with them about their new release and their upcoming tours.
1. What was the hardest track for you to write, and why?
The track that took the longest to write was State Of The Artist. The subject matter of the song is pretty bleak, so lyrically it took a while for me to feel comfortable with it. It went through a lot of regenerations before it reached the format it’s in on the EP. It was originally this really hard and fast, ballsy punk song, and now its roots are more in metal and post-hardcore, which is really cool because it’s a pretty new field of music for us in terms of writing and we love it.
2. Personally, what is your favourite track from the EP?
It changes all the time. It almost took two years to finally have something we were 100% happy with for a debut release, and we’re really happy that we took that long to get it right. However, that means that I’ve heard each song about 17 million times! At the moment it’s probably Lonely Tomorrows, cause it’s the most lyrically vivid for me on the EP. It’ll be a different song tomorrow.
3. How did you find putting the EP together? (Was it fun, difficult, stressful?)
All three of those things and so, so many more adjectives. Putting the EP together was a labor of love for us, but it’s easily the best thing any of us have ever worked on and it’s been such a ride getting it ready for release. Once I had the themes and the lyrics and we had the songs written and ready, we set out to work on the art and finding a producer. Getting to work with Romesh was an awesome experience. He’s worked with so many of our favourite bands, without which we probably wouldn’t be making the music that we make – if at all. He really brought out the best in us.
We didn’t write as if we were working to write an EP. We released a song called ‘From Across The Waves’ last March, and since then have released literally nothing. We spent that time playing show after show after show and just writing and working. Sometime last summer we decided it was time to begin work on our debut EP. Within a couple of months all the plans were in place and we were rolling. It was an incredible experience making The Hospital Party, and holding the physical copy of it in my hand now is exhilarating.
4. Do you think the EP has been successful? (why/why not)
It’s too early to say! The EP only came out on Friday, but I hope it is successful! The first single ‘Where You Are’ is doing really well at the moment. It’s been on the Kerrang TV playlist three weeks running now, which is incredible. We’re about to go and tour the EP and get it into as many ears as we can. Ask me in a few months!
5. How do you feel about the upcoming tour? Are you excited?
So excited. It’s my and Ben’s first tour, but the rest of the guys have all toured countless times before – Adam and Jason have toured the US before. It’s crazy for me personally to finally be climbing into a van and going off to play shows with my band, it’s been a dream of mine for years.
6. What do you hope this tour will be like?
I hope that it’s a string of awesome shows, that we don’t get ill and that the van doesn’t break down.
7. Who are your musical influences?
We all come from different camps musically, but I feel like they marry really well. Modern stuff like My Chemical Romance, Kids In Glass Houses, The Blackout, Taking Back Sunday, right back to relatively old school bands like Queen and Misfits and Bowie. It all mixes in together quite well and I love it.