Seven Stories High are the next rising pop-punk band from South Wales. On the verge of releasing their new EP ‘Deadweight’, the band are ready to go all out about their writing and advice in this interview. Make sure to check it out!
Hey guys! Could you please introduce yourself, what you do in Seven Stories High and each of your personal music inspirations?
Rhys – Hi I’m Rhys, I am the singer and all round hunk of 7SH. Musically I love bands like The Wonder Years, Gospel youth, then older stuff like Blink 182, bowling for soup and sum 41, however vocally I take inspiration from more gruff singers like Dave Grohl.
Matt – I’m Matt Davies, I play guitar and over-write lyrics beyond belief. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Seaway, The Wonder Years and Letlive. It still hurts when I think about how great Kids In Glass Houses were and I spend most of my waking hours trying to derail Seven Stories High and start a KIGH tribute band.
Charlie – I’m Charlie, and I play guitar. My inspirations dive from old school Biffy Clyro to Parkway Drive to Brand New. I think having diversity in my personal taste helps a lot with songwriting and fresh ideas.
Kallum – I’m Kallum, I do bass and the girly harmonies. my musical inspirations are usually bands with great bass like redhotchilipeppers, kings of Leon and don Broco.
Dave- Hi, I’m Dave. I’m the drummer. My inspirations would consist of bands such as A Day To Remember and my personal favourites Four Year Strong. Although it was early Avenged Sevenfold albums that made me transition to drums and writing music.
What can you tell us about your newest single ‘Apathy’?
Matt – Every once in a while, one of us will turn up to practice with a fully written song, completely out of the blue. This is exactly what happened with Apathy. Rhys showed us the song and we got to work adding riffs, throwing in obscure references and sowing the seeds for the EP with an idea for a theme that would tie the whole release together.
Musically, it’s no holds barred, textbook pop punk. It was a lot a fun weaving some of our most emotionally honest lyrics yet into the biggest, catchiest riffs we could conjure u
Apathy sets the stage for the story of King Midas which is told over the course of the EP. As a standalone piece it discusses the taboo surrounding mental health and contends with the social norm of sacrificing your own happiness for fear of rocking the boat.
Your new EP ‘Deadweight’ is coming out in late November, can you tell us a bit about it?
Rhys – With this release, as we had a narrative flowing through everything to convey the themes we wanted, the lyrics were written by everyone. On Deadweight, their primary theme is the importance of working on mental health such as anxiety and depression told through the narrative of King Midas and his daughter Marigold. The lyrics have to fit in with the narrative whilst also being open enough for people to make their own stories with it and relate with the song.
Did you find recording ‘Deadweight’ different to ‘Take the Long Road Home’?
Matt – The process was very similar overall apart from one key difference. This time around we stayed in a log cabin near the studio for the whole week which allowed us to work on and refine the songs together 24hours a day.
You’ve stated that ‘Deadweight’ itself is about the ‘Struggles of mental health’. What is the main message of mental health you want to get across in your music?
Rhys – Each song from our new release Deadweight, from the music to the lyrics, has been written to fit into the theme, and work together to make the EP one whole piece of music. The themes it covers mean a lot to us. We have all, either personally or through someone close to us, dealt with mental health and it was our hope that perhaps someone who was struggling would get something out of it.
How would you describe the music scene in Wales? Have you ever found it hard to break into the music scene?
Matt – We started back in 2014 and over the years we have built strong relationships with a host of great bands from South Wales and beyond. We had Charlotte from Dream State feature on our last release (‘Wait For It’ from Take The Long Road Home) and our video for Working For Wednesdays features members of Nineteen Fifty Eight as well as many other friends from the local alternative scene. After establishing ourselves as a prominent pop-punk band in South Wales, we supported the likes of Moose Blood, Creeper, WSTR and many more great bands we all look up to. We put a lot of emphasis on strong, expressive, melodic vocal lines and heavier guitar riffs to serve them on. This definitely helps our music to stand out from a lot of our peers and the impact our live set has on an audience means we never get bored of playing our music.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians wanting to break into their local music scene?
Matt – Make as many friends as you can on the way up. Meaningful relationships, not just ‘hi’ and ‘bye’. Go and support local shows and help out when you can. People WILL remember you. Building a fan base is a combination of hard work and supporting your peers and working WITH them – how can you expect fans to come and watch your local scene if you don’t even support it yourself.
Finally, if you could send a message across to your fans, what would you say?
Matt – Support your local music scene because all of your favourite bands were the little local band trying to get their mates to watch them once.
Make sure to check out the bands latest single down below!
EUPHORIA OF BREAKDOWN 