Subservience Interview

1.For those that have never heard off you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We are Subservience. A 5 piece Death Metal band from Crawley, West Sussex in the UK. There is a ten year age gap between our drummer (Tom) and our vocalist (Dan). We once played a show in an art gallery in and our brand new EP had it's first play on a Polish Radio station!

2.You have a new EP coming out in October, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

It's absolutely our heaviest music ever written! We parted ways with our original vocalist in late 2013 and were lucky to have Dan Lofthouse join us. He was recommended by a friend of ours. His vocal style is heavily influenced by the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation, Six Feet Under etc. The total opposite to our previous vocalist. Dan's vocal style has put our feet firmly in the Death Metal category.

We also made the choice to use the services of Paul “Win” Winstanley who is a well known Producer in the South East of England. A very talented guy who pushed us to our limit musically!

On top of that, we all had a hand in writing this EP. The whole band.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Werewolves, stalkers who kill their victim, Self harm...........anything really. We take content and try to adapt it to modern day life. Even if it is not real.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Subservience'?

Subservience - the condition of being something that is useful in reaching an end or carrying out a plan.

We basically decided on the name after a drunken night out in Soho. It sounded good, nobody else was using it so we went with it. It's hard to find an original band name these days. All the good ones have gone!



5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

I think that our best show ever was playing at Download 2013. We played on the Thursday night before the main arena opened and we were the one of four bands selected to play. It was right next to the festival campsite and the tent was packed. First time we have ever had 2 huge pits at the same time. Finished the set with a massive wall of death. Probably our greatest moment to date.

Our stage performance needs to be seen to be appreciated. We pride ourselves on our live shows. We bring it as hard and heavy as our music suggests.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new ep is released?

We have a few small shows to finish the year off and we are now in the process of booking some bigger shows for next year. Would be nice to get a couple of festival slots! There is even talk of us heading to Poland for a couple of shows.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

To be honest, we are happy being unsigned for now. We have been approached by labels in the past but the deals are not what we are looking for.  We pay our own way and own everything that we record. We don't want to change that. If the deal is good enough then yeah, we would be interested.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?

We have had feedback from Mexico to Russia!! Generally people like what we do and we appreciate every bit of feedback you give us even if it is bad! It makes us work harder.

9.So far there has only been EP's, splits and demo's, are there any plans on recording a full length in the future?

Of course! We would love to bring out a full length album but we feel that timing is everything when releasing a bigger record. We want to build on our fanbase and we also want to have enough quality songs that we can put out a really good album. We hate the idea of using “filler tracks” just to make an album. Every song has to be really good!!

Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future>

We have developed so much since we first started out that we can't bear to listen to our first demo. It's so bad! But at the time it was the best we could do. I think with this latest EP, we are in the best place we can be as a band. It feels really good to be making music together.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Well, we all have different tastes in music. There are so many influences. The main bands for us that have heavily influenced our sound are Carcass, Strapping Young Lad, Bolt Thrower, Entombed with a dash of Cannibal Corpse.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Tom (Drums) and Ryan (Guitar) are part of an Airsoft team. It's kind of like paintball but with plastic BB pellets instead of paint. Tom thinks he's Rambo. Tom gets killed a lot. Rambo does not! Ha ha

Martin (Guitar) is a season ticket holder for our local football team Crawley Town FC and goes as often as he can.

We all absolutely love beer!



13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

A massive thank you to all the people that have supported us and that have bought our music/merch. It's a great feeling to see you guys wearing our gear and singing along at our shows. It's what keeps us going!!