Wales is famous for many things. Its scenery is world renowned while the country's food regularly wins awards. Many people call it their home land, including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Griff Rhys Jones and, of course, Tom Jones.
Now there's a new group of Welshmen elbowing their way into the music world. Comprised of seasoned musicians, Beyond The Break have the kind of heavy, grinding sound that fans of hard rock and heavy metal have been searching for for a long time.
Now there's a new group of Welshmen elbowing their way into the music world. Comprised of seasoned musicians, Beyond The Break have the kind of heavy, grinding sound that fans of hard rock and heavy metal have been searching for for a long time.
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Hi, guys! Please tell
us a little about yourselves.
Hi!
We are Paul Jones (guitars and vocal)
Richard
Thomas-James (guitars)
Chris
Francis (bass) and
Aled
Richards (drums)
You formed in early
2015 and you already have an EP out as well as doing as many shows as
possible. Your members have played with several household names
including 21 Against and Catatonia. How did the band come about?
We
have all known each other and been different bands for years, gone
out, supported each other’s bands, watched each other play live and
so on. But with us being in bands there was never an opportunity for
us to get together. Kind of like the timing wasn’t right like a
relationship I guess. But when it did happen, we knew it was right.
You've got a really
great hard rock sound, something that a lot of people seem to be
crying out for. Where do you draw your inspiration from? Who are your
influences? Do your past bands and endeavours play a part in your
music? Or did you want to do something completely new and different?
As
a group we have bands we all like with wider influences from
different places literally from Motown to Megadeth. There has been
no conscious effort to be new and different, in all the guises we
have been in, rock has been the main style. But with all our
different history, which we have definitely learnt and grown from,
us coming together now equals the sound we have.
The EP was recorded as
live sessions. Do you feel it gives a different dynamic to the
finished product as opposed to other recording methods?
I
think you have to find what suits you. For us, the label and
producer recording live was exactly what we all wanted.
We
like the sound that us four make in a room with amps turned up and
that’s what we want to capture. I think we have put that dynamic
across.
A lot, not all, but a lot of the modern technology is about
perfection and manipulation. That’s not what we are about, we are
a rock band, a good rock band and the recording gives an idea of what
we are about and what we sound like live as that’s how it was
recorded.
That’s
not to say we wouldn’t record using a different format in the
future, but for now, we like this process as the E.P sounds like us,
four guys in a room making noise.
There's been a lot of
talk about music streaming recently. What are your thoughts on that
as well as the current music scene?
From
a fans point of view, we all listen to music and want it to be as
accessible as possible. However, the days when you were paying £15
for an album after queuing up outside a shop have gone, with Spotify
for example being free or £10 a month for unlimited amounts of music
its obviously meaning artists are getting less money than they were
previously.
It
has certainly been better for us than I think we anticipated, our
Spotify count continues to surprise us, and at this stage right now
that exposure can only be a good thing. The challenge for us is to
turn those plays into fans who then buy the EP and so on.
I
think the most important thing for the UK music scene is we need to
do more to protect smaller venues. It is these which provide the
platform for us bands to build and grow, many iconic small venues
such as TJ’s in Newport have gone, the Fleece in Bristol could be
in trouble with new flats next door, we need to make sure that these
places stay open so bands can earn their fans by playing live for
them.
Gene Simmons says that
rock is dead. Discuss.
After
playing to 80,000 people at download it’s a strange thing to say.
I
don’t think rock is dead, every so often someone like a Gene
Simmons or Billy Corgan makes these statements, but the album sales,
downloads and concert takings for rock is usually top out of all
genres year on year along with the success of festivals like download
and Foo Fighters UK sell out stadium tour, certainly rock not as dead
as people like to make out.
It
is less supported by mainstream media in the UK for sure but rock has
never really been in the ‘charts’ as such, yet bands spend years,
their lives if lucky enough touring which is what rock bands and
rock fans associate with, not expensive videos and success in the
charts. There will always be rock music and there will always be
people wanting to go and see a live rock show.
When it comes to music,
you've been doing this for a long time. What advice would you give to
people trying to break into the industry?
We
would probably say don’t let breaking into the industry be your
aim. Aim to enjoy it, practice, write songs and play live. It’s
ok to be bad at first, keep working at it, you will get better and
before you know it you will get that great feeling when a song comes
together (the billy tingles!) Enjoy it as much as you can, be with
friends each show, travelling to shows etc and strive to be as good
as you can.
What's next for you
guys? New album? Tour dates?
We
have just agreed to work with a company that puts shows on over
Europe so we are looking to get over to Germany and a few other
countries if we can. Plus, keep on working with the U.K based
promoters to play shows over here. We are still writing too so have
a few new songs that we hope we can make into an album.
We
are humbled so far by the people who are listening to us and coming
to see the shows so we hope to keep on playing good shows live and
building on the start we’ve had.
We
have a list of upcoming shows on our website, so if you're near to one
come down!
Finally where can we
find you, and your music, online?
Twitter
@beyond_thebreak
Our
music is available from our store on our website, and all the usual
online stores as well as Spoitfy and so on.
Our
video is available on Vevo and Youtube on the following links;
http://www.vevo.com/watch/beyond-the-break/The-Way-It-Was/UK7P41400005
Pictures of Losing Sleep is available on 12" vinyl or as a digital download. Get your copy at:
http://store.beyondthebreak.info/
Pictures of Losing Sleep is available on 12" vinyl or as a digital download. Get your copy at:
http://store.beyondthebreak.info/
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