INTERVIEW: Eric Revill – Taken By The Tide
We at Distorted Sound had the opportunity to speak to guitarist Eric Revill of the genre smashing TAKEN BY THE TIDE, regarding their upcoming release; Revenge, as well as life on the road and some insights into their production process.
Revenge is TAKEN BY THE TIDE’s most recent release. How does this EP differ from your previous work? Was there a particular theme, message or vibe you wanted to portray?
Eric: Musically, we wanted to elaborate on the sound that we established on our last release, Hands Of Spite. We really feel like we found our voice with that record, so it felt important to cement that on this release. It has definitely has a more miserable atmosphere that anything else that we’ve done previously, and I think that’s really the vibe we wanted to get across…misery, anxiety and claustrophobia.
What was the goal for this EP, what do you want to achieve with this release?
Eric: Again, it was important that we elaborated on the sound that we’d previously established, to take that and grow it into something more atmospheric and horrible. I think we managed that! Outside of that, we love touring, hanging out and generally having a wicked time, so to have another bunch of songs to play to people feels good.
As you know, you’ve been compared to bands such as SYLOSIS, MESHUGGAH, and MASTODON, is this something you were aiming for in terms of your sound?
Eric: Not consciously to be honest. The MESHUGGAH comparison is always an easy one because of the way we use 8 string guitars, odd time meters, and the general climate of modern metal. It’s something that we don’t really want to invite too often, and thinking ahead to the next record, we’ll probably be a bit self-conscious of the comparison and actively try to move away from it. That being said, those are all bands that we love, and to be compared to them is super flattering.
What is it like being compared to some of the giants of the metal world?
Eric: Undeserved. Those bands are all better than us.
After touring with MASK OF JUDAS, and performing at numerous festivals, how have you found the energy and time to write and record new material? It must have been draining and difficult with everything else going on.
Eric: It’s really difficult. Especially given that I’m the principal song writer and I also run my own film making and photography business, which takes up a lot of creative energy. Plus, Ed, our drummer lives in London and is also in another band alongside our bassist, Andy, so we really have to plan when we get together. We do manage it though and being that we’re all creative and just have that need to create music, well, life finds a way.
From the touring that you have done, has there been any standout moments on stage, or on the road?
Eric: There’s a whole story about having to quickly swallow a whole bunch of “stuff” because we thought we were being pulled over by the police, only to find out that when we wound our window down, they were actually interested in the car in front of us and we’d pulled over by mistake. The rest of that drive was horrible.
Was much of Revenge ready to be recorded when TAKEN BY THE TIDE were touring? Did you manage to play any new songs as sneak previews at festivals?
Eric: We’ve been playing these songs live for longer than we care to mention now! Lets just say that we’ve fallen in and out of love with them over and over again. That being said, there’s a couple of songs that seem to really go over well with audiences, so getting to know the songs inside and out has actually been really fun.
With the release of a new EP, were there any new techniques in the studio, or in post-production that you tried? What did you learn from previous records?
Eric: Well, we were pretty much DIY with this recording process, recording the guitars and bass ourselves, and going to different places for drums and mixing. What we learned about that, is that, although it might save money, it’s fucking stressful, and next time, we’ll just go with someone for the whole process! We often make things much harder on ourselves than they need to be, in the vein of being a bit DIY. We’ll find it hard to get away from that methodology, but I think we’ll have to do it at some point or other!
During the writing process, were there any experiences or ideas that you drew upon that ended up being discarded? Can we expect a single or EP with the cut tracks later down the line?
Eric: Musically, I took lots of inspiration from films, especially horror films and horror film scores.
Someone once described as “For fans of the Alien trilogy, MESHUGGAH and anxiety”. Lyrically, there’s a lot of really pissed off and miserable things in there. Phil drew on his family’s experiences with dementia for our single, Moloch, so it’s a pretty cathartic song for him.
What would you say has been the most fun song to record, or to write? Does any track stand out as a real mammoth track on stage (if they have been played live), or do you expect any to really open the pits up?
Eric: Anfang Extinction was probably the most fun to work on, along with Moloch. Both those songs have some weighty parts to them and seem to get people moving when we play them live. They’re definitely the songs where we feel like we can properly let loose when we play them.
You can tell a lot of work has been done to make this EP something special, it sounds fantastic and leaves the listener feeling just utterly crushed in the best way. The whole composition for the EP foretells a bright future. This release features some of the heaviest riffs TAKEN BY THE TIDE have produced so far, and a techy/djenty groove. Was it a conscious effort to include certain elements, or was it a more natural process?
Eric: I guess it felt quite natural to have some tech parts mixed in with some more locked down, heavier parts. I think as we’ve grown as a band, we’ve realised that being tech for the sake of tech is all well and good, but fret board gymnastics don’t get people dancing and that’s the point right? We want to inspire some emotional response to our music other than “wow, check out that guy’s technique”.
Are there any tours in the works or destinations and venues you would like TAKEN BY THE TIDE to play at in the future?
Eric: We’re keen to get out to Europe. it feels like the next step, and we really wanna get out there and impress our misery upon everyone (preferably before free movement is a thing of the past!).
One final note to round off. Is there anything you would like to say to the readers of Distorted Sound Magazine?
Eric: Party on. Be excellent to each other.
Revenge is set for release on August 3rd via self-release.
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