With their new album out last week, it’s a good time to find out more about Coldbones…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Margate, Kent.
How did you meet?
We’ve been friends for a very long time. I met Max in Infant School and Nick in primary school. Our first band together was when we were only 13 years old playing Black Sabbath, Killswitch Engage and Nirvana covers.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We’ve been together since December 2013.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Being honest, it was just what sounded right. We wanted it nice and short as many post-rock bands have much longer names. We’ve certainly grown into the name and I think it fits the aesthetic of the band now more than ever.
What are your influences?
Before starting the band, our knowledge of post rock was very limited. The reason we decided to be instrumental is because none of us could sing! You can hear influences from bands such as God is an Astronaut and Tides of Man, both of who we discovered from being filtered into the post rock genre by people we played our songs to. On our new album The Cataclysm we took a lot of inspiration from what we grew up listening to and playing. Metalcore bands such as Killswitch Engage and even elements of HIM’s love metal ballads. We’ve explored new ideas like paying more attention to the sound of the drums (heavily influenced from the self titled Paramore album) and introducing synth elements heavily inspired by the industrial sound of Rammstein and Nine Inch Nails. It’s a real mixed bag but ultimately leading the listener on a dark, heavy journey.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We are a highly energetic live band who bring a high production live show to every performance no matter the audience or venue size. Our songs are concise and to the point and will take on a roller coaster of emotions. We feel that we’re a good gate way band into the post-rock genre.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
No. However, we explore different concepts in our albums. The Cataclysm takes inspiration from past events and works of fiction that have interested us. We spent a lot of time building a concept where all that we knew was chaos and destruction and everything and everyone had been destroyed and consumed, in the form of two catastrophic events – The Flooding of the World and The Burning of the Earth.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Certainly not as much as we’d like to be. We pride ourselves on people experiencing us live. Turning heads and surprising people with our sound and what we do makes it all worth it. Given the current global situation, playing live is not an option for us or any band, but we’re very much looking forward to the moment we can celebrate the release of our new album with a show.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Playing at the KOKO in London as part of the Heavy Music Awards was those most surreal experience. Having the opportunity to share our music with such a large audience and play the KOKO which is such a prestigious venue was mind blowing. Also, playing Arctangent festival for the first time in 2017 was a dream come true. Sharing the bill with big names in the post rock and math rock genres was incredibly beneficial for us. The audiences are so kind, receptive and ive at ATG and we gained some amazing fans from that show which have stuck by us ever since.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Primarily I use a Vox Ac30C2 amplifier a Fender FSR deluxe Telecaster and my board features a variety of pedals including: Strymon big sky reverb and timeline delay, Boss chorus and ES8 switching system so that I don’t have to tiptoe everywhere, Walrus Audio Iron Horse V2 which I use for my lead tone and a Seymour Duncan 805 overdrive. I also have a Kirk Hammett Wah which is perfect for combining with high gain guitar.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We recently dropped our latest single “Collapse” on Youtube and all major streaming services. This is in of our new album, The Cataclysm, which came out on Friday 17th April 2020 via Dunk!Records
What are your plans for 2020?
Release our new album in April and go out and play as many shows as possible in of it when the world is back to normal.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be ing and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
We’d love to fellow three piece Biffy Clyro. We love the diverse nature of their sound which we feel we have too. They are also such an energetic live band, Simon Neil is a force to be reckoned with!
The opening slot would go to our friends in A Burial At Sea, lovely Irish lads who we’ve toured with a few times. They play lovely math rock and even feature a couple of trumpets for good measure.
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