Allow me to introduce you to Left In The Wake, a progressive hardcore band, complete with punk and metal influences from Madrid, Spain. Their unique style of music has fans from various genres taking notice and liking what they hear! They recently released in March, their 10 track album which was recorded in Madrid, Spain at The Metal Factory Studios during December, 2013. It is filled with high energetic songs that bring a new side to metalcore. Check out their song, the title track from their new album, The Banner We Follow:
Music Junkie Press: Thank you for taking the time out to talk with us here at Music Junkie Press. First we would like to get a bit of history on Left In The Wake, How and when did you guys form?
Damon Lumley: Hey guys, thanks for the interview you have some good questions ha ha! We formed in 2010 even though we state that we formed in 2011 because we used to have a different line up and our style was very different to what it is now. I found the guys looking for bands when I moved to Madrid 7 years ago and I found these guys. We had a keyboard player who left to study in Germany and a guitarist who was a classical / flamenco guitarist who stepped down to pursue a career in that area, after that the sound and dynamic of the band changed a lot as well as our influences which little by little changed us into the band we are today.
Music Junkie Press: Being a metal or metalcore band from Madrid, Is there a large metal scene in your area for you?
Damon Lumley: Yeah fairly big, it’s mainly metalcore and death-core bands in Spain and although we do fall into quite a few genres which makes it hard for us to fit in at gigs, we either appeal to people who like the more melodic side of hardcore or people who like Prog-metal, as far as our metalcore parts in our music, we have tried to keep all the typical “metal” parts to a minimum like breakdowns and solos etc. We wanted to try and set a different standard for ourselves as we feel there is a lack of creativity in the metal scene these days and without going to the extremes of mixing ridiculous genres to stand out, we liked the idea of having interludes in the middle of songs and things like that. It’s at the cost of not attracting brutal metal fans but we’re ok with that.
Music Junkie Press: We understand you recently released your new album, The Banner We Follow and it definitely brings a great melodic style to the metal/metalcore genre. Can you tell us more about the album and the title track?
Damon Lumley: Yeah the lyrics to the album definitely have a continuous themes of positivity even though they may start out with a negative feel, “The Banner We Follow” was a track that we wanted to set the tone for the rest of the album with both musically and lyrically, I feel the Lyrics, although fairly ambiguous and personal are relatable to most situations. “The Banner We Follow” sounds a bit like an army sort of title you’d give to an army song but in actual fact I wrote it about the thing that keeps you going in life, whether it be your football team, your hobby, your Spouse / family, whatever, that is your banner and it’s what gets you from day to day.
Music Junkie Press: Do you all collaborate on the writing or do you have a particular songwriting process?
Damon Lumley: Yes and no, I’m the only native English speaker in the band so there are angles and euphemisms that I write that aren’t so obvious to a non-native speaker, but in terms of formular for writing songs it would go like this, 1. We all write riffs and come up with ideas for the music in the rehearsal room 2. I’ll record everything with our Go-pro and listen to the tracks whilst coming up with ideas for lyrics 3. Try and put lyrics to the music and then come up with an ending that either ties up the song nicely or that contradicts itself, depending on the point of view from whom I’m writing.
Music Junkie Press: Will you be heading out to the US for any tours or do you have any tours planned that we can share with our readers?
Damon Lumley: At the moment we’re trying to attract enough European audiences to get a name for ourselves which in turn may help us get further round the world, but anyone who has toured in Europe will know that it’s not as easy as getting in a van and driving state to state, we have language separation, passport control, taxes to pay and seas to cross to get around ha ha, at the moment we’re organising a tour in the UK to try and increase our platform but America would be amazing so if you guys want us there, we’ll try and get there in the future!
Music Junkie Press: One of your songs, Glisten and Gleam really stands out for me and has a great intro, can you tell us more about that track?
Damon Lumley: It’s one of our heavier tracks and is currently under consideration for a music video, we wanted a song that was bouncy and a bit more serious than some of the other songs. The lyrics are about people that value possessions, money and power more than living for a dream, taking chances and not worrying about the future. In Europe and especially Spain, the crisis has hit really hard and there is now an huge gap between poverty and wealth that you can see walking down any road and I just wanted to channel my frustration into the song, “Look beyond your reaches, hearts outweigh the riches” was the key lyric to the song that I wrote around.
Music Junkie Press: Who are some of the most influential artists that inspired you guys with your music?
Damon Lumley: The American and Canadian bands have huge followings over here so to say bands like “Misery signals”, “Counterparts”, “CBK”, “Hundredth”, “Converge” haven’t influenced us would be a lie but in terms of classic influences, we can all agree that Pink Floyd, smashing pumpkins, Radiohead, Deftones have all had massive parts in our childhoods and encouraged us to make music that is a bit challenging to listen to, that not everyone will like, but that we enjoy playing and can emote with in our live performances.
Music Junkie Press: Your songs have such great intensity and invoke so much energy, do you guys have any pre-show rituals to harness that energy?
Damon Lumley: We just love playing together, we’re all really good friends and hang out outside of the band as well, people often say that our live shows are what makes the band stand out and we have always just wanted to be ourselves on stage and enjoy it, we used to take a photo of every gig before playing but it gets hard to do that on tour and we end up just having a mad rush to start playing… the downside of playing all day festivals ha ha.
Music Junkie Press: Will you be making any music videos for the songs off the new album?
Damon Lumley: Yeah I think I mentioned that “Glisten and Gleam” has been taken into consideration as well as “3500 Killermetres” and we already have some ideas but we’re trying to organise 2 tours, buy a van, get all the equipment up to scratch, buy all the cymbals that were stolen from our drummer and pay ferries and venues so the Video is currently on the back burner, but we’ll get them done soon and I’ll try and remember to send you guys the link when it’s up!
Music Junkie Press: Lastly, what would Left In the Wake like to share with our audience?
Damon Lumley: Thanks to everyone for the positive support so far, for anyone who has given us a listen and to you guys for taking an interest in us.
We’d love to get out to the US at some point in the future and play with some of the awesome talents you have over there so fingers crossed and keep up the good work with the site!
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Make sure to visit their social media sites and head over to their Bandcamp page and pick up their album, The Banner We Follow.
~ Marisol
Information & Links:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeftInTheWake
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Leftinthewake
- Bandcamp: https://leftinthewakehc.bandcamp.com/
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