Volumes: Happy Accidents
If you were to delve into the history of VOLUMES you would soon realise it has been less than straightforward. Despite this turmoil, it appears the band have come full circle with the return of longstanding frontman Michael Barr. An opportunity he never expected to present itself.
“It’s felt great, it’s been a really nostalgic and cathartic experience. I never thought I’d be able to be playing music again with these guys, period. Let alone be in a heavy band again,” he admits. “To have this opportunity come across my lap is something that doesn’t happen very often. I feel like when singers leave their band and venture on to do other things it’s pretty rare to go back to their old band again and be able to make an impact. It’s been nothing but exciting. I’ve really missed this so it’s been great.”
Michael departed the band back in 2015 citing personal and creative differences with a view to focus on solo endeavours, but some things are just meant to be. “I was always going to support heavy music and be involved in some capacity but the thought of starting a new band never really was an option for me, at least at that point anyway. I was very much making solo music on my own. I got approached by Nick, the drummer of the band and he asked me to help write some new music so I basically started helping them with production which ultimately led to a bigger conversation of me coming back to the band.”
Their highly anticipated follow-up of 2017’s Different Animals release is now on the horizon, entitled Happier?, a release which Michael is incredibly confident about. “I’m sure I can speak for the rest of the guys by saying we feel this is the best collection of music we’ve made. These songs are very reminiscent of what we were doing when we first started the band. We felt like we needed to revert back to those types of tones and mixes,” he explains. “We feel like we lost some of our authenticity and we wanted to retain that back sonically. We teamed up with our old producer who helped us start the band and the songs are pretty cliche VOLUMES style, very melodic, progressive, heavy. We felt like it was the perfect time to have a fresh slate for the band and make some big pop-oriented metal songs. We wanted our songs to be straight from the heart and we feel like that is what VOLUMES does best. Just basing our songs on life experiences and things that are important to us. We felt that with everything that has been going on in the world with the pandemic and the heightened sense of isolation that it was the perfect time to unleash these emotions.”
The utilisation of multiple vocalists has worked wonders for many a band, offering the chance to broaden their range and allow for a more dynamic style. This is an opportunity that Michael wants to take full advantage of. “There is always the danger of becoming complacent with your style and never really venturing out of your comfort zone, like one style of screaming and you can’t differentiate between who is screaming. We take pride in getting as much out of the both of us creatively as possible so you can distinctly hear two different guys. Sometimes there are things I can’t do that Mike can take care of and vice versa. As Bob Ross would say, it’s a happy accident!”
Since the departure of founding member Diego Farias, VOLUMES have relied on session guitarists and touring musicians to assist them. The band are hesitant to rush into any kind of recruitment process. “We’ve had discussions about getting a permanent guitarist but this band has been through so many changes, some positive, some negative, and over the years we feel like we’re not missing anything currently,” explains Michael. “We would love to have a guitarist who leaves an imprint. We’re quite open-minded about it and we have such a close-knit team of talented people that help out with the records so one way or another we’re always taken care of. It’s been the elephant in the room in some respects and we realise this, but we’d rather wait and find the right fit. We feel it’s also important for our fans to keep things familiar too.”
Happier? is out now via Fearless Records.
Like VOLUMES on Facebook.