Stone Circle Interview

Stone Circle are just about to hit Bloodstock and Mammothfest, so it seemed like a good idea to catch up with bassist James “Rambo” Pearce.

Lou: First of all, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. For the benefit of anyone who has yet to listen to your stuff, how would you describe it?

Rambo: Well I would say the best sub-genre to describe Stone Circle would be Progressive Death Metal, but that said we have a huge range of influences, including Doom, Black Metal, and Folk, so there are hints of other things as well.

I guess that is what makes the progressive element, I think there is a lot of confusion about what progressive means but we’ll leave that for other people to say, we have been called progressive enough times for it to stick!

Lou: Stone Circle has been around for a fair while now, how has your sound developed in that time?

Rambo: It has been a very gradual progression, the last 3 EP’s have gone slightly darker and more progressive, and we have started to write longer songs (not intentionally of course).

We started out a very different band but we have settled into a dark progressive sound with a hint of folk. Also going from almost entirely clean vocals to death metal mixed with clean vocals as well.

Lou: Which bands have influenced you? What got you into music (and, more specifically Metal) to begin with?

Rambo: Well personally I started off listening to bands like Metallica, Children of Bodom and then got into bands like In Flames and Arch Enemy, At The Gates, Gojira and Opeth in a big way.

Each of us have a slightly different background, Joe and Sam when they were much younger listened to grunge (Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam etc) and Tom listened to a lot of Hardcore and post-hardcore.

Lou: What has the general reaction to your album “Myth” been like from fans, the press, etc?

Rambo: We have had a very positive reaction from Myth, it has been really encouraging, I think it is very ambitious for a band at our stage to write over 70 minutes of music in less than a couple of years and for it to be received as well as it has been has been fantastic. I think it shows that we are here to stick around, not just a one trick pony.

Lou: If you were given the opportunity to change anything about the album, what would it be? Or, are you completely happy with it?

Rambo: I personally like every song on the album, and we are very happy with the production, obviously in an ideal world we would have months and months to record an album and add more layers and fine tweak things but we recorded and mixed the album in 14 days.

Lou: How would you describe a Stone Circle show?

Rambo: I think we are exciting to watch, lots of heavy riffs and hair going everywhere! We are always told we sound good, I think that is one of the advantages of playing as a unit for such a long time, you know which tones work with your bandmates.

Lou: You guys will be playing at Bloodstock very soon. How did you end up on the bill? Are you excited?

Rambo: Really thrilled to be asked to play Bloodstock, especially being in the first bunch of Unsigned bands to be added to the bill. I just sent through the team a presspack in February/March time and we got asked a couple of months back. We were also asked to play Download festival this year but sadly Joe was away in Korea doing session work so we were unable to do it! KILLER!

Lou: When you’re not playing at Bloodstock, which bands do you plan on seeing?

Rambo: Oooh the lineup is amazing, Opeth, Meshuggah, Gojira, Bloodbath, Obituary Ensiferum, Behemoth, Amorphis, Cannibal Corpse, Korpiklaani etc! Also will be supporting fellow Brighton progressive metal band Lithurgy!

Lou: Do you have any festival survival tips?

Rambo: Just keep drinking….!!

Lou: You’ve also got Mammothfest coming up as well. It’s great to have a Metal festival happening ‘down south’ as it were… How does it make you feel that you get to be a part of it?

Rambo: It is really fantastic that someone has taken the bull by the horns and made something like this happen down here, and with such a killer lineup!!! It is an honour to be playing on the mainstage before some of the most exciting metal bands in the world, as well as old favourites Entombed!

Lou: Which other bands are you looking forward to seeing at Mammothfest?

Rambo: Very much looking forward to seeing Entombed, Xerath, Abgott, Mnemic, Breed 77, Scamp and Cilice in particular.

Lou: If you could tour with any band in the world, who would it be and why?

Rambo: Really tough questions, I would love to tour with someone like Katatonia or Swallow the Sun, maybe when we are bigger it would be great to tour with Opeth!

Lou: Do you have any messages for the readers of Loucifer Speaks?

Rambo: Don’t be strangers! Come say hello, check our music out, we are not one of these bands who are very distant from people who like them, most of the time if you say HI on twitter, or facebook and Myspace one of us will say hi back.

And check us out at Bloodstock if your going, 3.45 on the New Blood Stage! Its going to be killer!

myspace.com/stonecirclemetal

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