Artio: How Much Are You Willing To Give?
In a music industry so focused on numbers, ‘viral’ moments and creating a brand, ARTIO, an alt-rock band from Leeds, are determined to maintain everything that makes them unique, and build a community from the ground up. From a place of frustration, anger and pain, Soul Rot was born, a self-proclaimed ‘self-indulgent’ record that holds nothing back, with undertones of criticism of the current state of the industry, and deeply personal lyricism. It’s a gamble, as these things are still important when building a career, no matter how much we wish they weren’t, but in the weeks following the release of the album, the band are shown abundant love and support, hopefully confirming that they’ve done it right.
Catching up with vocalist Rae Brazill, they explain why this absolutely had to be the focus when making the album. “I was kind of spiralling a bit about it, because this whole record is about how social media warps artists, and now I’m buying into this thing. I wrote a whole album about how I don’t want to buy into it, but now no-one knows this album is happening. The day I realised it’ll be fine, we did the album party, and that was gorgeous and beautiful and lovely. I really psyched myself out before the record, but everything was literally fine.”
Soul Rot is a deeply personal album for ARTIO. While it is completely possible to listen blind, knowing nothing about the band and their backgrounds and still find aspects to relate to, it’s clear that the writing came from a place of personal experiences and emotions. For Rae, this was a concern before the release, feeling like people may not understand the themes and where they were coming from, and since the album was written at a really difficult time in their life, the lyrics are often times very specific. They explain, “I was writing in the middle of it all going on, which made it a lot more intense for me, but I wanted people to be able to put their own life and their own narrative into it, so I’m really happy that happened.” Something commendable about the lyricism in Soul Rot is exactly that, how it is broad enough to be able to relate to on a wider scale, but personal enough that the depth of the lyricism isn’t lost in any way, and in the writing, that came almost naturally.
Ultimately, when writing an album, people are going to listen to it, no matter how personal it is or where it came from. That can be scary, and of course it may not always land well, but for ARTIO, they have built, and are still building an amazing community of like-minded people, specially in the Discord server. It came to light just what a close relationship the band had with their audience on the night the album was released, when their listeners began an impromptu listening party at midnight, sharing everything they loved about the music, and all the emotions it was bringing out. For Rae, who had poured everything they had into the writing, this was a beautiful moment.
“These are the people that have been supporting us the whole way through, every campaign of the last few years, and they come to every show. Their devotion to the project is so cool, and I’m so grateful for it.” As a way of giving back, the band used the direct reactions of the people from this server as a promotion, putting them alongside critic reviews, and holding them in the same reverence. At the album release party, this support was demonstrated in person, with fans showing up from all over the country and even further. Rae can be apprehensive when meeting people, something that is often overwhelming and stressful, but meeting everyone after the show was confirmation of the positivity of the community they have created. “It made all the crazy stuff that we’d had to deal with so worth it. It was really lovely to all gather for an album that wasn’t even out yet, but people were so excited about it, and they believe and trusted in us as musicians that it would be good. It’s a very big honour.”
It’s no secret that ARTIO are angry with the current state of the music industry. Before Soul Rot was written, Rae found themself in a state of burnout, partly due to the pressure of needing to create social media content to try to promote the band, and it was clear something needed to change. “I pulled back. I have so many friends who work in the industry as well, and I’m watching every single one of these people struggle because it’s being made into something that wasn’t the reason why they started.” Many of the songs on this album are angry, directed towards the music industry, and the barriers that are put up, and its roots in classism. The songs are complex though, and there is still so much love for the reasons why they started, the sense of community, the music itself, and the local scenes. In trying to protect themselves from the harm of the industry, Rae discusses also wanting to protect the smaller bands that are just starting out, and finding a way that bands can do what they love without the dangers.
Behind all its anger, Soul Rot is an album that comes from love and care for ARTIO as a band, and everyone else that has supported them along the way. It’s recognising that there is something wrong with the industry and doing what they can to change it. “Figure out what is causing you so much pain and go from there. What can I do right now in my life to positively change something? The moral I wrote on the album is, how much of yourself are you willing to give to get what you thought you always wanted? You shouldn’t be willing to sacrifice everything that you are as a person.”
Soul Rot is out now via LAB Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS129 here.
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