INTERVIEW: Simon Barr – Dawn Ray’d
UK black metal has seen an explosion in recent years. With the island exporting bands that are pushing black metal to new and exciting places, emerging bands in the scene have to do something rather special to standout from the swelling crowd. DAWN RAY’D are one such band. Since 2015, the Liverpool based trio have flown under the radar compared to some of our more prolific names but last year’s full length debut, The Unlawful Assembly, change all of that. The record demonstrated the band’s forward-thinking sound and outspoken political stance in support of anti-fascism spawned a wave of praise from the press and fans alike. With a new year comes the next stage in DAWN RAY’D‘s blossoming career and we caught up with vocalist/violinist Simon Barr to cast a light onto the band’s origins, their acclaimed debut record and subsequent killer sound and what needs to be done to kick fascism out of black metal.
So you have finished this short run of UK shows with UNYIELDING LOVE. How was the tour for you?
Simon: It’s been amazing, probably the best tour we have done. We’ve definitely seen a big increase in the size of shows since released The Unlawful Assembly, which has been an amazing feeling. UNYIELDING LOVE are definitely the best band we have toured with too, it’s a cliché, but I was genuinely excited to watch them every night, their live show is so intense, its one of the most evil and cathartic things I ever seen. Its also a really well thought out live set, its great to see a group of people put that much effort into producing something good.
Has there been any standout shows for you in particular?
Simon: Every show has been amazing, for different reasons too. I couldn’t have been happier with the shows on this tour, but Edinburgh for me was the best show I think. We were really into the swing of the tour that night, the venue is great, it’s a beautiful city, it was a really busy show, and I felt we played really well. Pisschrist Promotions do an excellent job at running shows too, so a big thanks to Ewan and everyone else involved. We also did a tour of the catacombs of Edinburgh the next day which was fun too. All the shows were great though, it felt like there was a special atmosphere each night, so it does feel unfair picking a favourite.
The sound of DAWN RAY’D is incredibly dynamic as it is expansive. Have you found it difficult to translate this sound to the live environment?
Simon: Not really, when we first started this band we wrote a live set before it became our first EP, and we practice all the songs for recording live. The live show for this band is as important as the record I think, so it was always important that we could recreate everything live. We also played everything on the record ourselves, so there’s pretty much nothing that we have recorded that couldn’t be played live. We have also put a lot of effort into amassing the right gear to make it sound the way we want, Fabian plays guitar through two guitar amps and a bass amp, I play violin through a really nice valve amp, and Matthew seems to be constantly adding cymbals!
This run of tour dates comes on the back of The Unlawful Assembly which was released last year. How have you found the reception for that record?
Simon: It has been great, we really couldn’t be happier. It got a lot more press than we even hoped for, and exclusively good reviews too. It’s always hard just before you release a record, there is a nagging in the back of your mind that maybe people will hate it, so it is a great feeling to see people respond to it so well. Writing lyrics as well is a very personal thing, and something I put a lot of thought and time into, so to see people react to them in such a positive way is an amazing feeling. Its one of the things I’m most proud of in my life if I’m honest.
That record was your debut full-length. Can you describe the writing and recording process for that record?
Simon: Fabian will start with a fairly complete outline of the song which he writes on his own, and I will roughly fit lyrics to it. Once that’s done Matthew will add his drum parts, and that usually changes it a good amount, and gives it a lot more energy and dynamics. I write all the lyrics separately and like to try and have most of them written before Fabian has written the guitar parts, just so I have a lot to work with, and there is no filler, nothing written on the spur of the moment. We record with Tom Dring at Vagrant Recordings (DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT, VENOM PRISON), he specialises in extreme music and has a great ear for song writing, so he really gets the best out of us.
For you and Fabian, you both already had experience in another band (WE CAME OUT LIKE TIGERS). Is DAWN RAY’D a separate musical project for you both or has any influence from your previous ventures crept into the sound of DAWN RAY’D?
Simon: We see it as a totally different band for sure. That said, it is similar members, playing the same instruments we played in the last band, so there are always going to be similarities. I’m proud of what we did with that band, but it finished at a good time, and DAWN RAY’D is much better example of what we have been listening to in recent years. I think DAWN RAY’D is a lot more aggressive and direct, they feel like very different bands to me definitely.
One of the coolest aspects of your sound is the use of the violin. I’m interested to know the origins of including this dynamic into your sound and what do you think it brings to your sound?
Simon: I have played violin since I was young, so its something that does come very naturally to me when writing songs. We tried it out at the start and it made sense to us to include it. If it hadn’t worked then we wouldn’t have kept it in, everything we do is about making the most effective and powerful music we can, so there’s no time to be precious over things if they don’t add to that end goal. I think because we only have one guitar we can have extra melodies or harmonies over the guitar riffs which gives it that epic, slightly fantasy feel. It is also really useful in the quieter moments. I like the balance we have found of quite harsh extreme music, that also has these really melodic clean moments, I think it helps make everything feel more dramatic.
Moving onto the themes that are explored on the record, it all addresses social issues and reflects your political stance. Did you always want to project your views on this record and why?
Simon: We had a couple of political songs on A Thorn, A Blight, and it was something I wanted to increase, partly to give it some consistency, so people know what to expect. I have no interest in being subtle about what we believe in and what this band stands for, I am proud to be opposed to racism, sexism, bigotry of any kind, so I didn’t feel I had to hide anything, or be cryptic in what I wanted to say. The other side to it is that the world is becoming a more difficult place to live in every day, and these issues are becoming impossible to ignore. Not all the songs are political, I wrote 10 songs about the things that matter most to me, or that felt the most urgent, so it couldn’t be a more honest or less cynical record lyrically.
Out of all metal’s sub-genres it seems that black metal has the biggest association with fascism and the far right. Why do you think this is and what needs to be done to combat fascism in black metal?
Simon: I think initially the connection to the far right is over played, it’s really only a handful of bands that have those views, and a lot of them would be nothing without the controversy that brings them. There is also a far right presence in every genre of music, from black metal, to punk, to techno. I think the thing that makes black metal different is that people for a long time have been happy to turn a blind eye to those bands, myself included. With the rise of fascism in America and parts of Europe, those ideas are being seen in the light of day for what they really are; ugly, cowardly and damaging everyone. I really feel like metal, like the rest of normal decent people are turning against that now, and have had enough of those ideas infiltrating our lives and threatening people we care about.
Music has a long-winded relationship with political movements. Do you feel that music gives you the perfect platform to inspire social change?
Simon: This is something we have talked about a lot actually. I think it’s important for more bands to have the courage to stand up say that we will not be intimidated by internet based, racist metal purists, that this is one of the most diverse music scenes in the world, and everyone is welcome, as long as you care about metal! Music can be very empowering and inspiring, a lot of my political development was sparked by music. However, action is also important, it has to be more than just words, we have to build communities, kick racism out of any space we find ourselves in, and actively work to make the world a better place!
Now that you have completed this tour, what’s next for DAWN RAY’D?
Simon: We are playing Roadburn in April and also have a few other European festivals to play before the summer. We have some really exciting plans for the second half of the year, but they are still not fully locked down, but I think its going to be a busy year for sure! At some point we need to think about writing again, but that feels like a daunting prospect at this point!
To close we will offer you the floor. Do you have anything to say to the readers of Distorted Sound?
Simon: We have had some great discussions and interactions on this tour, we have had people approach us at shows who have suffered racism, homophobia and sexism at shows are glad those things are finally being called out, so I think its really important to speak out about that stuff and look defend everyone who is a metalhead, no matter what gender, race, class, or identity they have. We have met some amazing people who put huge amounts of time and effort into the music scenes in their towns. Stoke, Nottingham, Edinburgh, London, Leeds and Hull all seem to have really active scenes, with people working really hard behind the scenes to make things work. Thanks for the support, we really appreciate it!
The Unlawful Assembly is out now via Halo of Flies/Prosthetic Records.
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