Ashen Reach have been on our radar for some time now, as far back as 2019, and I know they’re a favourite of Ricky’s. However, we’ve not had them get all in-depth in of a Headline Act feature before! Time to fix that…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from Liverpool and it’s surrounding areas! I’m from Liverpool, Jess is from the Wirral, Joe is from Widnes and Kyle is from Runcorn!
How did you meet?
Jess and I met over 10 years ago at one of my old band’s gigs in the O2 Academy, Liverpool. We met Joe and Kyle a couple of weeks apart from each other in 2019, when we were auditioning new potential band .
How long have you been playing as a band?
We’ve been playing together as a band since mid-late 2019!
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
The band name comes from a video game called Sea of Thieves. There is a large volcanic island in the game called Ashen Reaches and we thought it sounded cool, but didn’t want to letter for letter emulate it, so we shortened it a little to make it sound a bit more like a rock/metal band.
What are your influences?
We have a plethora of influences. Everything from pop, disco, trap, gypsy jazz and chillstep, through to tech-death, black metal, nu-metal, butt rock and everything in between!
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
I think we fill a similar musical space to a lot of modern bands these days, which is bridging the gap between rock and metal, but we do it in our own unique way. In our debut album, Homecoming, we probably leaned more toward the rock side of said bridge, but no we are very much on the metal side of things. We do retain a level of accessibility though and melodic content is always paramount. We want to give people something to mosh to, but also sing along to. I think, for whatever reason, we’ve found a way to sound like us and not anyone else.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
For the new EP The Fear, definitely! It sort of happened by accident where we were writing a song about a haunting, and thought ‘if the next project is an EP, why don’t we do them all about phobias and theme it?’ It went from there really. Other than that, not really. We sort of get a vibe on the instrumentation and try to figure out based off that, what themes would suit the track.
If you like what we do, consider ing us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Our live show is hard-hitting and visceral. We like getting the crowd involved as much as possible and want every show of ours to be an experience. You can listen to the tunes at home if you want, but if you’re at the gig, be present and get involved. Be a part of the show. We’ve played hundreds of shows in the relatively short time we’ve been around by we go out of our way to improve every time and analyse what we’re doing to see if we could do it differently or better. The introduction of the sampler pad was a necessity, but a welcome one. It’s given us unlimited scope on things we can do and incorporate, that without it, would simply be impossible.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
When Jess and I were in Russia, we saw someone lighting/setting off a flare at an indoor venue. That one instantly sprung to mind. Someone at that gig told us that the last time they were there, someone poured vodka over their own head and set themself on fire. We didn’t personally witness that incident though!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Jess was recently endorsed by Duallist Drums and Pedals, so she uses a Duallist Copper Snare and a D2 double-bass pedal. The shells comprise of a Sonor Essential Force kit, with one of the deepest bass drums I’ve ever seen! She also uses Paiste 900 heavy series cymbals. Joe and I both use the Neural DSP Quadcortex. It’s literally the 2nd best thing money can buy. Guitar wise, Joe uses a Solar SB1.6 in Flame Ocean Blue and I use a Chapman Ghost Fret most of the time. We both use the Evertune bridge too, mine was retrofitted and Joe’s guitar came with one. That bridge is the best thing money can buy, and every hardtail guitar should come with one. Kyle uses a Line 6 Wireless microphone, I’m pretty sure it’s an iteration of the XD line.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We are currently promoting our new EP The Fear. Three singles are currently out; “Ghosts”, “Neophobia” and “Lost”. All available everywhere right now. Spotify, Apple, Amazon etc.
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
Our plans are to promote the release of the EP and then do a headline tour of the UK. We have a load of festivals this year too which is amazing so we can’t wait to get back to gigging and touring, after last year where we focused on writing and recording, over heavy gigging.
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!
Architects headlining, and Fahran opening!? They aren’t necessarily smaller than us, but they are a band who we loved touring with and deserve more love!
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If you want to check out more new music, then fire up our Headline Act playlists on Spotify and YouTube!
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