Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
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•Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hi! Thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk with you, it is much appreciated! – Considering the current state of the country and world, surprisingly, we are actually doing well! We just released our third single “Agenda”, which is performing well online and we have started to get gig opportunities through the door for later in 2021. So yeah, overall I think we are doing good!
•Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Agenda”?
Agenda is a fast, hard hitting, groovy song with a psychedelic undertone to it. It is a song that perfectly sums up who we are as a band and highlights our range of styles and influences. Agenda was influenced by the sound of Gojira and Tool combined, so if you are a fan of either those, we hope you would enjoy it!
•Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
Not exactly one pin pointed event, no. However, lyrically it’s a song about facing the evil forces, energy and entities that exist within the fabric of the universe who plague your life. It’s about challenging the torturer and fighting back, opposed to burying it deeper and deeper within you. I think we can all relate to that in some way, but we are also leaving the door slightly open for those that are intrigued by the theme of the ancient and spiritual world to take a look further.
•How was the filming process and experience behind the video?
The filming process took a lot of planning and of course, due to covid, had a lot of delays and cut backs. We worked with the brilliant guys at “Life Is Art Visuals”. This was the first time we as a band had worked with a professional, external company that specialises in making music videos and video/film content in general. So we were unsure of how it would all work out, but the guys were fantastic. Great communication and synergy from them, and would recommend their service to anyone looking to film a music video.
As far as the actual filming process, it was all shot in one day. Originally we were planning on having multiple actors, but due to COVID, we had to cut them out and just use ourselves in their places to reduce the amount of people on set. This did mean adjusting the narrative of the video slightly, but we are still pleased with the way it turned out. On set we used a projector and different lighting techniques to give off the “trippy” lighting effect and then the rest was added in post-production. We love the way it looks!
•How was the recording and writing process?
Agenda was actually the first song that we had all written together as a full band from scratch. All of our previous songs that we have released/play live were already written and recorded as demos before the band was fully formed. So for those songs, it was a matter of everybody learning the basic structure of both songs and then bringing in their own playing styles and ideas together to make it their own part, within the already constructed song. However, with Agenda, having us all create a new song together from the ground up really enabled us to bounce multiple ideas back and forth, giving the song a fresh, free, organic feeling to it. Also, just in terms of its musical style, it’s very different from our other releases. We wanted to create a fast, hard hitting, yet groovy and catchy song with a new psychedelic vibe to it.
Recording wise, we went to Foxhound Recording studios with Mike Bennet for a couple of days. This was the second time we recorded with Mike and it’s always a great experience. He’s such a genuine guy, extremely knowledgeable, hard working and patient; he also shares a similar sense of humour to us, which is a bonus.
•What role does Cambridge play in your music?
Cambridge is where we all currently live and most of us met. So it’s extremely beneficial having all of us living close together. As when it comes to gigs, practice, studio days or even just a night out, we are all able to easily link up.
Our first show was in Cambridge at The Portland Arms, back in February 2019. We were the opening band, but luckily for us, the room was already packed out. So we had a decent size crowd to show them who we were. Five months later, we headlined that same venue and sold it out, which to us was a massive achievement in such a short space of time! At the start of 2020 we played The Junction in Cambridge. Again, another incredible achievement for us. It’s a larger venue with a big stage, so it was a blast performing there. After COVID, we cannot wait to get back on the Cambridge scene and mixing with the metal community again.
Pink Floyd also has their roots in Cambridge, so the bar is set very high!
•How has Tool and Slipknot influenced your writing on this album?
We are all massive fans of both Tool and Slipknot. Tool to us are just the Gods of groovy, hypnotic and dynamic songs. And then Slipknot are the kings of darkness, aggression and performance, there will never be a band like them ever again.
Taking elements from both bands, as different as they are, we managed to find a balance, creating a harmony in our music between the hypnotic groove of Tool and the personal aggression of Slipknot.
We have songs that on the surface may just seem ancient or spiritually themed, but when you really listen to the lyrics and feel the song as a whole internally, they are actually very personal and hopefully people can relate to them in some way or at least be intrigued enough to want more.
•Does the new single mean we can expect a new material – how’s that coming along?
Yes, absolutely! We have a bunch of songs ready to record, it’s just a case of time and planning. Once COVID is all over, we have plans to record and release another three singles, hopefully by the end of 2021, into early 2022.
•Any tentative release date or title in mind?
Yeah, as said previously, we are hopefully going to be able to release the three new singles by the end of 2021, into early 2022. But we shall see!
Title wise, we have: Prisoners, Depraver and Serpentine. All three have their own definitive style as a song and we cannot wait to get them out!
•What else is happening next in AKKADIAN’s world?
Well, the light is now at the end of the tunnel (we hope). So getting more shows booked and confirming the ones currently penciled in for the remainder of 2021 would be amazing!
We have some cool and interesting new social media content coming soon. You can find us on all social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok – you name it!) @akkadianband, where we frequently upload content and give updates on our latest activities etc. So if you don’t already, check us out online, if we seem like something that is for you, drop us a follow and a like, we really appreciate it and it all helps!
