08-12-2009Interviews - Misery Signals
I dont want to go home and have to get a real job - Rocksnail talks to Misery Signals
The resulting meditative process that came about was Misery Signals and their first E.P and Album 'Of Malice and A Magnum Heart' became instant classics. Famed for their approach to metallic hardcore and their emphasis on passionate lyrics that helped them to deal with events in their life it was a form of working through the troublesome woe of life which resonated within the hearts of many. We take a few moment's to talk to guitarist Ryan ahead of their show at Manchester Moho's about the past, present and a few things in between on the albums of old he had to say, With the ep and the full length Jesse was in a pretty unique positions to write about some heavy things. The accident is something were all close to and were intimately acquainted with the situation. It still applies in that sense.
The band you see now bear one huge difference. New vocalist Karl was found through a worldwide open internet audition which for many was seen as a risky manoeuvre. Ryan states The truth is we tried a couple of people we did know and we wanted to make sure we had the perfect guy and for one reason or another the guys that we tried didn't work because it wasn't what they expected or they weren't what we expected. We just wanted to make the right decision because we considered not being a band anymore because we lost a pretty important member in our singer. Once we'd tried out the guys at home we decided to open it up. Instead of stopping momentum and bringing the Misery Signals engine room to a complete halt his giant frame and powerful lungs provided further steam to stoke the fire and reinvigorated the remaining members.He (Karl) has a different approach in terms of style to Jesse and as a dude he's very different. It's a much different dynamic and that's a lot of the reasons that Jesse left the band, he had different ideas than us and on a personal level had different opinions on the band.
Mirrors subsequently followed and whilst it was revered amongst the majority of fans it was clear that this wasn't an album with which the band was completely at ease with during the creation process. Every record has been a totally different experience. Mirrors was us trying to rebound and continue as a band and persevere. Nevertheless it managed to enable the band to tour, notch up good sales figures and continue to appeal to new fans everywhere. Songs such as 'Anchor' and 'The Failsafe' were catchy enough in their sheer intensity to work on a multitude of levels, compelling both hardened metal fans and those with a more melodic persuasion in one.
Then came Controller and with it the knowledge that the band had now found their feet and were standing proudly upon the plateau they had elevated themselves to. Controller was something where we knew where we were at as a band. We were comfortable in the situation we were in and not just wanted to maintain Misery Signals but take it to the next level says Ryan proudly. 2009 has seen the band traipse the length and breadth of the world in support of this album and standing before the band pre interview it is clear to see the toll it has taken on the band. Their changing room looks more like a hospital waiting room as they clutch hot drinks, neck asprins and look very unwell. Ryan apologises as we move outside and explains that although the tour is going well everyone has caught on to some kind of flu bug. When asked on how the tour is going initially he states, Its good were pretty far into it, this is kind of the point where everyone feels it in their immune system. I think you just kind of expect it after a certain point, you just do what you have to do to rest when you can and get nutrition when you can but it's kind of hard to do in this situation. But the shows have been great. This statement adds to the overall impression I have of the band by the end of the night as watching them take the stage and rip through their set you wouldn't know that any member of this band was operating on less than a hundred percent, in short it was a mark of true professionalism.
Although the band reformed as 7 Angels 7 Plagues for a brief run of dates this isn't something you can expect again for quite some time. When pressed Ryan is happy to talk about it merely without expanding into too much detail The reunion shows came about in a strange way and sketchy circumstances. I won't get too much into them. The point for us was to do this benefit show for someone and then since we decided to do that, we also wanted to the ones in Milwaukee our hometown just to kind of finish the band, we didn't have closure. The plug got pulled, I don't think there will be anymore shows. However the band are bringing back favourites such as 'The Year The Summer Ended In June' back into the live set after once claiming it would be a song that would never be performed again When Jesse left we decided the content was personal and we wanted to retire it, make it more Karl's band. During the time we didn't play it I spoke to so many people who said how much that song meant to them. The logic came that after a while we just said we should play this song again. When you write a song and put it out there it almost ceases to become your song, its meaningful to other people for other reasons.
And so what is next for the guys? After confirming an album is being planned for next springtime Ryan retorts on a more personal level,I want to get the most I can out of the songs we write its part of the life cycle of the songs to play them live. The more places we can play and the more places we can go... were doing pretty much a tour around the world this whole year, this is what were about and how we make our money. I don't want to go home and have to get a real job.
12-12-2009Live review - Misery Signals
Teaming up with Brit starlets Architects for one heavy night
A Textbook Tragedy takes the stage and launch in to their task of warming up the audience, but unfortunately it appears that the sound man hasn't even switched his hearing aid on. The disjointed and frantic chord sequences become lost amongst a mix of levels and its turning very messy very quickly.
The band bounds around the stage and do their best but it takes until the third song for everything to become rectified. At this point the now almost full room begins to stir and the energy levels begin to rise, a small group of kids start to mosh and this provokes more from the band. In the end their tearing through the set, the guitars are in line with all the other instruments and the sound is much more appealing. Not the best show ever but definitely one's to watch for the future.
Misery Signals have none of these problems and from set opener its clear they mean business. Vocalist Kyle Schubach is a lump of a front man; he commands the crowd and owns the stage. Pummelling riff after riff out they set the frenzied atmosphere into overdrive and launch into a well selected mix of songs from Mirror's and Controller. The set is littered with instant classics though it's when the band launch into Mirror's most famous song 'The Failsafe' that really ignites the night into more than just the standard gig experience. 'Anchor' provides another mike thrust in face sing along, everyone who knows the words clamouring forward and joining, at the bands request, in the vocal duties. Misery Signals are sounding like a well oiled machine brought about from relentless touring and a passionate view of the music the make. Karl slips into melodious singing which impresses live as it does in its first appearances on CD whilst guitarist Ryan provides well executed backing vocals whilst thrashing his way through the set. With two songs left they announce that they have a surprise for the fans; they will both be from 'Of Malice and A Magnum Heart' a shortened version of Five Years enters proceedings but it's with the final song of the night that all the Misery Signals fans expectations are blown wide open. They kick in to 'The Year the Summer Ended in June' the cult classic which helped propel them to the levels they are at today, but with a content so close to the band they had previously said this was destined to never grace a PA system again. It is a fitting ending topping off an already impressive set and leaves Architects with a lot to do to avoid being dramatically upstaged.
After such a hard act to follow Architects take everything effortlessly in their stride. The band who have completed over nine UK tours in the past three years are well within their element and any comparisons to the previous bands are dead in the water; they play a different sound and style but with the same energy and looking at the youthful audience it's obvious that most are here for them. The band throws their bodies across the stage whilst keeping the technicality and trickery that has defined their sound in a refined state. Vocalist Sam is reminiscent of the energiser bunny never stopping for a moment and flipping between lung retching screams and impervious singing that characterise new album 'Hollow Crown.' The new songs are attracting good attention, with the band joking that it shouldn't be so good as the album hasn't even been released yet but hey, that's the internet. The band bring an end to the night with new and seemingly already hugely popular 'Follow The Water' a shining example of the diversity available on Hollow Crown and then into Ruin's 'Buried at Sea' at which the crowd on realising their last opportunity duly oblige in 'tearing the place apart.' Architects can have a long and successful career if this show is anything to go by.
