Monday 28 October 2013

Voidstalker Q&A

Your name: 
Stu Cowley.

Where are you from? 
Living in Manchester but originally from St Helens, north-west England.

Name of band: 
Voidstalker.

Who is in your band? 
Emily Garrard - Vocals
Stu Cowley - Guitar and backing vocals
Joe Roberts - Drums
Ashleigh Talbot - Bass and backing vocals

How would you describe yourselves?
As four like-minded, forward-thinking musicians who just want to make good music with real meaning, trying to stay away from the standard verse-chorus-verse cookie cutter style of songwriting; for no other reason than it makes the music ultimately more interesting and allows for the freedom to say what we want in the way we want it. Also fans of science fiction and not taking ourselves too seriously.

Who are your main influences musically?
There's many, but the main ones include Opeth, Incubus, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deftones, Tool, Devin Townsend, Soundgarden and Tori Amos.

What do you hope to achieve in music?
To make something that makes others feel the same way we do when playing it is the main aim, but being able to make enough money from it in the process to not have to do a normal job would be the dream.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
Probably playing the Sparkle festival in Manchester city centre earlier this year. It was our first outdoor gig on a glorious afternoon, playing through a proper PA, and to a crowd of about 500 people. Everything really fell into place, and overhearing people saying great things about the songs whilst wandering around afterwards was extremely rewarding. A perfect gig!

And what’s the moment you want to forget?
We dont regret anything. I've had a couple of moments when a pedal has failed on stage and I've been scrabbling around on the floor trying to figure out whats gone wrong (which makes things interesting for the rest of the band), someone having one too many before going on and having a total brainfart trying to remember all the parts, minor learning curve stuff really. Personally I learn something new every time we leave a stage, so it's a constant evolution in truth.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
The one I'm thinking of isn't online yet, it's in the final mastering stages along with the rest of our first album! The best representation we have online at the time of writing this would be Hotel Hovel, which was written when I lived across the road from a YMCA (in a flat nicknamed 'The Void', the origin of the band name). It represents what we do well because it mixes the upbeat, slightly frantic positive side of life with the introspection that resulted from seeing people getting carried away in ambulances after overdosing or hurting themselves (sometimes several times in one week).
If I had to sum it up in a sentence it would be 'life rock in light and shade'.

Where can we listen to it?


Where can we find out more about your music? 
Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask?
Just that we will be releasing our first album in the next couple of months, it's all recorded and is currently being mixed and mastered. We spent a lot of time and effort into getting it just right, and we're extremely proud of what we've created. Watch this space!


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