INTERVIEW: Keren Ashley – Liquid State
LIQUID STATE are set to make a serious name for themselves. Formed in the latter half of 2016, the quartet from Bristol were less than a year old when they won the Underdog Battle of the Bands competition, and now they are seeing in the next chapter in their career with their debut EP, Save Yourself. Ahead of the release we had a chat with vocalist Keren Ashley to find out a little more about the band, what makes them tick and why if you like moshing, you’ll want to attend their shows.
Keren, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to Distorted Sound! For those who may not know who you are, introduce yourselves quickly.
Keren: Hey! We’re LIQUID STATE, a female fronted alt-metal band from Bristol, UK. We consist of myself, Keren Ashley as the lead vocalist, Kray Mundy as the guitarist, Ben Bull on bass and Harry Moffatt on drums!
Describe your sound in as few words as possible.
Keren: Loud, unapologetic and heavy.
Love it! Who are your three biggest influences as a band?
Keren: I think our three biggest influences are ARCANE ROOTS, PERIPHERY and DREAM STATE; they’re all such incredible musicians and they’ve all offered something different in terms of influencing us, whether it be vocal ideas, guitar chords or drum grooves. For the EP’s vocals though, there were definitely influences from MARMOZETS and guitar influences from DINOSAUR PILE UP and FOO FIGHTERS.
That’s a really cool range of artists! Speaking of the EP, how did you approach it in terms of writing and recording?
Keren: Well, as a band we’re constantly writing new music, and it had come to the point in our career that we needed to start releasing material. We spent around six months constantly writing potential songs and changing up current songs until we had finished with five finished products to take to the studio. When the time came around to actually start the recording process we were all so nervous as it was the first time recording for all of us, however it was so much fun! Our studio was in the middle of Malvern, surrounded by hills and fields so it was nice to get away from city life and have the atmosphere where we could just focus and work really hard to get the best out of our tracks!
Nice, sounds a really good place to record! Do you have any personal favourite songs on the release?
Keren: I reckon it would be Dirty Little Preachers, it’s the first song we wrote together as a band so it’s one that’s close to the heart, you know? Another favourite of ours though would definitely be Temper; it’s such a ‘smack-you-in-the-face’ type song and it really drives hard the whole way through!
Explain the meaning behind the EP title?
Keren: Save Yourself is a lyric taken out of our song Unscathed. We thought the title links well with all of the songs, as they all have lyrical topics of desperation and sorrow. The title comes from the idea of everyone needing to provide themselves with some self love in times of misery, in order to make it through life on top in the long run.
Are you looking forward to the release show on July 7th?
Keren: Yes! We are dead excited for our release show and we cannot wait to see everyone’s faces in the audience! We’ve got some mates supporting us with their bands too, so it’s going to be one hell of a night and we cannot wait!
I bet! What are your favourite songs to perform live?
Keren: To be honest, we fully love the whole set, so this question is a tricky one, but our top two tracks to perform are probably Temper and Bones To Glass – they kick off massively and really get the crowd moving!
Can you divulge the best and worst shows you’ve played to date?
Keren: Our best show was definitely playing the O2 Academy for the finals of The Underdog: the crowd was superb, the stage was incredible and the whole vibe of the night was just second to none. We don’t really have a show that we recognise as being our worst, however it would probably go to one of our quieter gigs. It’s never fun playing to only a few people, but I guess that’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes, eh?
Exactly, it sucks but it happens, unfortunately. If you could open for anyone, who would it be?
Keren: I reckon we’d all have different answers [laughs]! Harry would probably say ARCANE ROOTS, Kray and Ben would more than likely say PERIPHERY and I’d say either MARMOZETS or DREAM STATE. To be fair though, they’re all such great bands I don’t reckon any of us would oppose to supporting them all. [laughs]
Nope, I wouldn’t either! You mentioned the Underdog Battle of the Bands competition a little earlier on – LIQUID STATE actually won the 2017 edition in Bristol. What has that done for you as a band?
Keren: Winning The Underdog came at a perfect time for us as a band. We’d only been together nine months or so and it really threw us head first into the industry, helping us get our foot into the Bristol scene very quickly. We received great gigging opportunities with other incredible bands and the £1000 prize fund really helped us in pursuing our professional visions for the band, meaning that we had the capability to spend money on quality recording sessions. We wouldn’t have been able to record this EP if it wasn’t for winning The Underdog!
What’s the plan for the rest of 2018 for LIQUID STATE, then?
Keren: Lots of things, [laughs] Some things we can’t talk about yet though, not until we have dates, but you can definitely expect more videos, a small UK tour and plenty of new content hitting all of our socials, so make sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and sign up to our mailing list on our website to keep in the loop!
All very exciting indeed! Any closing comments?
Keren: There’s a free beer for the first person to start the mosh pit at any of our shows!
[laughs] We’ll bear it in mind! Keren, thank you very much for talking to us.
Keren: Cheers, speak soon!
Save Yourself is out now via self-release.
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