In today’s A-Z challenge, we asked Terminals to tell us all about themselves!
A song that made you want to make music?
Linda Claire by Fleshwater, the whole album really, but Linda Claire has all the elements that sum up Fleshwater and their ‘sound’.
Joe got us into this band, we checked out a few songs and then said we’d listen to the whole album together. On the way to the next rehearsal, we listened to the entire ‘We’re Not Here To Be Loved’ album on full blast without saying a word, just headbanging the entire way, then we preceded to write a few riffs of our own in rehearsal, I can’t remember what we wrote that day but I’m sure it was good.
Best rider you’ve had?
The best rider we’ve had so far has been tap water! But we have a dream of sending off cocktail recipes to each venue so we can make a different cocktail each night. That or we would be happy with loads of biscuits.
Craziest moment you’ve had in the band?
We supported one of our favourite bands called Tigercub, which was already a big deal to us, and after our set, Tigercub went on stage to perform and said that we were the best band to ever play the opening support slot for them, a huge compliment and a crazy moment that shocked all of us.
Deepest lyric one of your songs features?
“We swim in a deep blue sky that buries us on gold”. This is from the chorus of our song ‘Swim’ – it’s all about alcohol addiction, about the feeling of euphoria it gives you, but how it buries you in gold, a false sense of happiness.
Easiest song you wrote?
Solitude – one day we said ‘We should write a riff that sounds like Rammstein, except make it sound like us’, the next we put together a riff that sounded ace, which we expanded on, and took to rehearsal, and within a few hours of jamming with the ideas for it, Solitude was created, our first single we released as a band.
Favourite song in your set?
Waves, is a new song we’ve written, and it is already a staple first song in our current live set, it has so much groove and power to the riffs in it, with a massive chorus. We haven’t had time to record this song yet but you had best believe it’s going to be one of our next releases!
Guest you’d most like to feature on your record?
Kadeem France (Loathe) – we are huge fans of Loathe, and we would love to experiment with screaming vocals, it would be interesting to see that dynamic in some way. Kadeem is a hugely talented vocalist and frontman, especially when it comes to mega-heavy music, his intensity perfectly matches it.
One of the first songs we wrote out together as a band was called Breathe, and we always joked about having a screaming singer on it, because it feels like it has gaps for screaming sections, which Kadeem would perfectly suit.
Hardest thing about being in a band?
Going to work in the morning the day after playing a wicked show, makes us all realise how much we love doing what we do, and how much we wanna do it all over again.
You have to put your absolute all into playing in a band, and for us, we try and do as much of the groundwork as we can as well, everything is self-recorded and self-produced, we have made our music videos, travelled miles to play shows for near to no money, but it is all worth it when you put on a good show and people enjoy it.
Interesting fact about one of your members?
Joe lives 170 miles away from the rest of the band, down in Southend on the sea, who lives in Birmingham. We rehearse in Milton Keynes because it’s a meeting point straight in between us, but for gigs, it’s always a road trip no matter where we’re playing.
Jokes you have in the band?
We like to quote a lot of dumb TikTok and Instagram videos, and make a whole bunch of weird noises, between us we sound like we’re in a zoo enclosure sometimes. we also have a running joke where we come up with a new name for the guy who owns our rehearsal space every time we see him, I don’t think he’s realised yet though.
Key to writing a song?
Listening to a lot of music. The more that you listen to different kinds of music, the more likely you are to draw inspiration from it all, and it always adds something new to the way you write a song. For us personally we all like the same type of music, it’s one of the things that brings us together as a band, and it makes writing music feel seamless.
Longest distance you’ve travelled to play a show?
From Birmingham to Lancaster, in a day, Joe had to go back to Southend for work the next morning, and we got back to Birmingham around 3am, so Joe got back at 6am, and had to be at work for 8am. But it was more than worth it.
Most inspiring musician you’ve experienced?
Allen Epley from The Life And Times/Shiner. An incredible songwriter, and does an amazing job in a three-piece band. We love his vocal melodies and use of chord progressions.
Mario Quintero from Spotlights has also been a huge inspiration in the way we write music, along with the way we produce our music. We found out that life and times actually created a song with spotlights too, called ‘Kiss the Ring’ and it’s a banger.
New band you’d recommend?
Soul Blind is another band that we have collectively loved, their music has influenced us tonally and melodically, we went to one of their first UK shows and they sounded huge.
Opening for this band would be ideal?
There are so many bands we would love to open for, but the absolute number one would be Deftones, their music has had a huge impact on us, as well as many other bands we look up to, I would hope their audience would see something in us too as we sound similar, but not too alike.
Place you’d most like to tour?
North America would be amazing, so many of our favourite bands come from there and we would love to visit in general, whilst getting to play gigs every night to new crowds, what a dream.
Quote you’d like to pass on to our readers?
“Musicians that listen to a lot of music write a lot of music”
Reason for the title of your recent/forthcoming release?
The title track for our debut EP is called Baptise, it’s about life changes, and changing elements of your life for the better, like a cleansing, and a metaphorical baptism.
See us live at?
We have some gigs in the works but nothing we can announce just yet, however, there are big things to come that we hope to announce soon.
The old days of music were better than the current, do you agree?
The music industry is hugely different to what it used to be, in some cases better and some worse. There are so many bands around today that it can feel like you are a needle in a haystack, so many people want to be heard and there are so many different musicians around. But it has also become much easier to self-produce and be in control of our releases, which is the most raw and real version of yourselves, and you can see the bands that put in the full amount of effort.
Unusual merchandise?
We only have one T-shirt at the moment but we are currently planning our next releases of merch, one silly design we joked about was our faces cropped onto Ed, Edd and Eddy because we are called James, James and Joe. It probably won’t happen.
Variations you’d like to do on any of your songs?
We would love to do acoustic or live versions of some of our songs. Acoustic versions of Swim or Heavensent would be amazing, we’ve toyed with acoustic versions in the past and they always sound great, we’ve just never had a chance to properly record one.
What do your fans mean to you?
Everything, they always show us support and are dedicated to what we do, it makes the hard work so gratifying when people give you that feedback, but also turn up to every show and listen to every song.
X-rays or any treatments needed for band related injuries?
Our bassist cut his finger on stage during one of our sets and got blood all over his bass, no x-rays or anything needed, but a plaster was in order. (Can attach a picture if needed?)
You’re late for a show, whose fault is it?
So far we haven’t been late for any shows, but if we were late for a Birmingham gig it would probably be Joe because he lives so far away, and does us the honour of travelling so far to perform. Or it would be our singer restringing one of his many guitars.
Zoo animal that next describes the personality of your band?
A gibbon, are they the noisy ones? I guess all monkeys are noisy, anyway, the point is that we’re a noisy bunch of idiots.