They've been called "the future of doom" by Terrorizer magazine. They've been featured on countless blogs (including my own recent album review) and in numerous print magazines, and there's a reason for all of this (which you will find out below). Alunah is one of the hardest working bands out there today and I was excited about the opportunity to chat with vocalist / guitarist Sophie Day of the band.
It would have been easy for me to phone in the effort on this interview and ask a bunch of standard band interview questions of one of the more engaging personalities in doom metal today, but that's not what I did. There are any number of existing interviews with Soph that one can read to find the answers to questions about the writing process, what it's like to work in a band with a spouse, being a woman in a metal band, etc. and a whole host of other interesting subjects like the origins of the "White Hoarhound" song among others. There's nothing wrong with those questions, indeed I probably would have asked some of the same kinds of questions if I had "gotten there first", so to speak. But those other interviewers have already covered that ground. I will provide links to those other interviews at the end of the post. What I did have however, because the groundwork had been laid, was an interesting opportunity to go a little off script and hopefully come at her with some questions she'd never been asked of in an interview before. Sure there are quite a few "normal" questions but I kept those to what I hadn't read before. I don't want to spoil anything here, but I got into some darker subject matter in the first half of the interview in keeping with the tone of the 'White Hoarhound' album (which faithful readers and Alunah fans will know is being released on white vinyl on January 25 by Napalm records - shameless plug). There's no rhyme or reason as to why I asked the kind of questions I did. I thought long and hard about the kinds of questions I wanted to ask and this is what came out of me. And in the end, it appears she enjoyed them as much as I did her responses. Win.
So without further ado, and through the magic of the internet, here's my conversation with Sophie Day of Alunah. Enjoy ...
1. Hello Soph, it's nice to meet you,
what’s new?
Hey!
Thanks for having me! Can I just thank you for your recent review, a great
review and very humbling.
2. Well, you're very, very welcome! This is a really, really stupid
question, bordering on insultingly ignorant, but I think if I’m going to make
an ass of myself I might as well do it right off the bat. Here goes
... Living near Birmingham have you ever gone on a Black Sabbath
tour or pilgrimage? Because that’s the first thing that I would do … (you
know, “this is the community centre where they used to jam! This is where
they used to slam back the pints after rehearsal!” Etc. ... and just try to
soak it in. Smoke what they were smoking, if you will)
Haha
brilliant start to the interview, you've actually got me thinking and I feel a
bit ashamed as I've never gone on a Sabbath pilgrimage. I roughly know the
areas where they lived, worked, gigged, practiced but I personally live about
30 minutes away and I've just never done it, maybe I should! I actually live
closer to where Ozzy's parents live, and even closer to Rob Halford... but I'm
not really a Judas Priest fan myself so that's kinda boring haha. We also have
Led Zeppelin, Slade and Moody Blues so a very rich musical heritage around
here.
 |
| Aluna Tidal-Powered Clock |
3. Right, my favorite Brummies (aside from Sabbath) were always The Move. But now that that’s out of the
way, let’s get started … what does the name Alunah mean to you?
It
means a lot of saved legal bills hahaha! Seriously though, originally it was
Aluna which had numerous connections to sun gods, natural sun clocks and
ancient civilisations - it was also the title of a Mindfunk song. Due to
another UK band with the same name threatening legal action once we released
the "Fall to Earth" EP, we had to change the name. They agreed on us
using the name Alunah, which I actually much prefer.
4. In a lot of ways, I think White
Hoarhound is a darker album than Call of Avernus. Do you agree?
Yes
definitely. I read up on a lot of pagan and occult subject matters whilst
writing Hoarhound, and the music reflects those lyrical subject matters. I also
was going through some horrible things with my Dad being very ill, and the
title track is directly inspired by my Dad. He passed away in October, and it
was a pleasure to have the song played at his funeral. Saying all that though,
I find the album very uplifting and full of hope. You need the darkness to see
the beauty.
5. What non-musical influences went
into the creation of White Hoarhound?
Cider,
beer, wine, whiskey, ancient English history, the beauty of nature, wicked
women, mystery, myth and magic - the usual things really...
6. I found the lyrics to “Chester
Midsummer Watch Parade” particularly interesting. I hear them as being
darkly disturbed but I don’t think that was the intent. What is this song
all about? (If you’d like I could give you my interpretation)
I'd
love to hear your interpretation, I don't tend to go into too much details
about the lyrics as I love people to attach their own meanings about the
lyrics. CMWP has a very uplifting subject matter. It is about the ancient
parade held in Chester to celebrate the Midsummer, the words were written in my
garden, in the summer, after a bottle of good wine. My garden backs onto fields
and I could hear nature's song, the words came to me whilst listening and
thinking about the parade. I suppose they do sound quite dark, but it wasn't
the intention for them to be disturbing. Darkness can be beautiful.
LK - Well, I don't know if you've ever heard of Gef, the Talking Mongoose who was a talking mongoose / ghost / demon (?) living with a family on the Isle of Man in the 1930s. It's all a bit silly, but I was quite disturbed when I first heard of this story. The line "they speak to me within the hedgerow" just set off those memories of reading about Gef and how he would follow the girls to market and talk to them, hiding behind the hedgerows (shudders). So with that in mind, the rest of the song becomes about embracing darkness, maybe to the point of letting it in too much and becoming possessed by something.
I
don't think any of us have had any stand out experiences, my Mother-in-Law is a
Tarot card reader, and my Sister has many strong supernatural experiences so I
am always exposed to that side of things, I strongly believe in the strange and
unexplained. it is ignorant to dismiss something just because it can't be
explained. Since my Dad died there have been some unexplained occurrences which
I put down to him walking alongside me, including a recent event where my first
ever guitar which he bought me cropped up in my local junk shop, about 14 years
since I sold it. Pagans believe in the Summerland which is where I believe he is. Many people
dismiss it all as mumbo jumbo, but in times of darkness these beliefs can
really help.
8. I’ve read that you are interested in
Paganism. How big a role does this play in the overall concept of Alunah?
The
rest of the guys don't really share my interest, it is very personal to me and
I veer more towards the neo-pagan side of things. Paganism plays a big part in
the lyrics, but apart from that it doesn't really affect the band. Dave is my
husband, and my Mother-in-Law is also strongly into Paganism, even though he's
surrounded by it he's still not very interested.
9. As an outsider, it seems to me that
subjects like magic and witchcraft are taken more seriously in England.
Do you agree? If so, why do you think that is?
Definitely.
England has a rich history of witchcraft, druidism, paganism and we still
celebrate some of the ancient traditions that our ancestors celebrated. There
are not many places in England not linked to some kind of legend. In Cornwall,
Witchcraft is even part of the tourist industry with families (including my own
as a child) taking their kids to The Museum of Witchcraft, and visiting Pendle
Hill in Yorkshire where the famous witch trials were held. In the 17th century,
English folk used the skills of cunning men and wise women to help them with
ailments etc through the use of what we now know as white magic, they believed
that such ailments were brought on by black magic. These men and women were the
doctors of the time. Such beliefs were held for a long period of time and the
idea of witchcraft forms a huge part of our culture, with perhaps our most
famous son being Matthew Hopkins of Manningtree.
| Read it here |
I've
never read it no (but definitely will). The way I see it, Wicca is the religion
based on neo or contemporary paganism. Witchcraft is the practice that it
centres on. However, Wicca is a very modern English word and I would definitely
agree that the old European religions are strongly linked to the craft. I'd be
interested in reading her book, it's a subject that really interests me.
11. Okay, changing gears, how did the
collaboration with Tony Reed (Mos Generator, Stone Axe, producer) come about?
We
first became acquainted when Dave's and my label Catacomb Records included Mos
Generator on a compilation album we released. We then met when we played a
couple of gigs with Stone Axe. We'd wanted to work together for a while, his
mixing and mastering work (and recent vinyl re-mastering) on Hoarhound
surpassed our expectations. He also featured on a couple of songs, most notably
Hammond Organ on Oak Ritual I. He's a top bloke, and we're talking about
continuing our collaboration in the future.
12. How did you hook up with Napalm
Records?
They
received a copy of Hoarhound and contacted us about re-releasing it on vinyl,
it went from there really as we obviously jumped at the chance to work with
such a prestigious label.
13. What musical format do you
prefer? Are you a vinyl lover, a diehard CD head or a quick and dirty mp3
kind of person?
Apart
from my phone, I don't own a mp3 player and wouldn't have the first clue about
downloading mp3s, so definitely not that. I have hundreds of CDs and nowhere
near as many vinyl, but I do prefer listening to vinyl - if the record player
wasn't hidden away in Dave's studio I'd listen to more vinyl.
14. Has the band begun work on some new stuff? I’ve heard
there’s one new song (with a dubious title).
We
have a couple of half finished songs yeah, I do have an amazing long title for
one but the guys aren't keen... just think along the lines of Chester Midsummer
Watch Parade, but on acid!
15. Why do you think Alunah has been so successful in terms of
getting signed, getting recognition in blogs and print magazines, etc?
16. How have you dealt with the pressure of being called ‘the
future of doom’?
I
don't think we feel any pressure, it was lovely of them to say so and great to
be finally recognised by a magazine where we'd had less than positive reviews
from previously. However, the only pressure we put on ourselves is from
ourselves. There will always be people ready to disagree whether you're called
the future of doom or the best band in the world, why let it overwhelm you? Just
do it for yourself and your band, no-one else.
17. What advice would you give to up and coming bands /
musicians?
Again,
do it for yourself and don't let anyone tell you what you're doing is wrong /
shit. If people give you a positive response, that's a bonus! Don't give up if
opportunities don't automatically drop into your lap, it takes time for most
bands.
18. So, what’s on tap for Alunah in 2013?
We've
just played our first gig of the year with The Sword which was amazing, and
then it's our vinyl release on Jan 25th, a show with Black Moth in Feb and a
European tour in April and May. We'll be playing Heavy Days in Doom Town
Festival in Copenhagen in May also, as well as some other great things in
between which are not quite ready to be announced yet.
19. Do you have any other immediate hopes or aspirations for the
band moving forward?
We
want to get the bulk of the album written this year, stop off at a few more
festivals over in Europe and just push ourselves in general. 2012 was our
biggest year, and we hope to go even bigger this year.
20. Thanks for answering my weird questions, it’s been a
pleasure. Finally, do you have any parting words for the Alunah-heads out
there?
Thanks so
much, I've really enjoyed the interview and love the fact that you haven't felt
the need to discuss my gender! We've got some very cool things to announce in
the coming months so please check out http://www.alunah.co.uk or http://www.facebook.com/alunah.doom.
Links
Official Alunah website
Sludgelord interview
Sleeping Shaman interview
Planet Mosh interview
Lip Service interview
Links
Official Alunah website
Sludgelord interview
Sleeping Shaman interview
Planet Mosh interview
Lip Service interview
No comments:
Post a Comment