Exclusive Interview: Beyond Extinction talk writing and recording!
The second part of our interview with Beyond Extinction sees us chat with vocalist Jasper Harmer about what goes on behind the scenes in the rehearsal space and recording studio to get an insight into what makes them tick. The Death Metal upstarts are fast proving that age is no barrier when it comes to creating decent music and with cuts like “God Complex” and “Parasitic” leaving a boot print upon our skulls, the sky is indeed the limit.
What did you learn from the studio time for debut EP “The Fatal Flaws Of Humankind” that helped you with the recording of new single “Parasitic“? “We went into the studio with a few changes we had in mind from the EP. I remember the day the EP was released I had met up with Jude and we were already writing new music, but we spent time analysing and reflecting on the last release. There were a couple stylistic changes we made on our writing, and a couple technical changes in the studio. Our sound has always been evolving, we just wanted to be open minded and not get over attached to things we write if we want to improve”
You returned to Matt Williams at Soundlab studio to produce and record the new track with you. How did you go about choosing him in the first place and what has he been like to work with? “Matt is a top guy to work with. He really gets our band, I really think you need that in a producer. Also we just get on with him so well when we’re in the studio. We enjoy every minute we’re in the studio and I think it reflects, it helps that he’s also extremely good at what he does!”
How does the writing process of a new Beyond Extinction track start? Melody, riff or rhythm first? “Our writing process usually starts with a riff or a drum part; the initial idea that we work from to build the rest of the song. What’s unique about our song writing is that we write songs with a feeling in mind, instead of just composing the parts first. So when one of us comes up with a cool riff or interesting drum beat or vocal passage, we then gauge what we think the atmosphere of the song will be if we were to continue it, then go from there. With Parasitic, it all started with a kick pattern idea from Niall (drummer) which you hear at the start of the song. I liked the frantic feeling of that pattern and so we wanted to keep that energy going throughout the song, so that drove how me Niall and Jasper composed the rest of the song”
We’ve described the new single “Parasitic” as being in the gap between Death Metal and Deathcore; do you try and write within specific genre boundaries or do you just allow the material to flow naturally? “The one golden rule we have when writing is to never put ourselves in a box. We never write for a genre or by the numbers for what we think other bands might do – it’s completely driven by our feelings towards what we are writing. For anything to make it into a demo, it has to resonate with all of us. I don’t think we could write any other way, though, as we all come from different backgrounds musically and so this means we have a very narrow overlap for what we all think sounds great – and that sound is what you hear when you play our music!”
For us gear nerds out there, can you tell us what you’re using gear wise (pedals, strings, drums etc) to get your sound?
“On Parasitic, we used my Chapman ML-1 Modern Baritone six string tuned in his alternate drop G tuning (GDGCFA) with a custom set of D’Addario strings (12-70). We recorded the guitar via DI, using Bias FX and Nolly Archetype Neural DSP.
We used an Ibanez SR series 5 string for bass recording, with a monstrous custom set of D’Addario strings (55-170 gauge). We recorded the bass via DI, into a darkglass preamp sim.
For the drums, Niall used a DM design series kit with Zildjian cymbals”
What difference would it make to you as a band if you could land an endorsement from a gear manufacturer? “A gear endorsement would mean the world to us as it would mean we spend more time and money on our writing and recording instead of things like replacing broken gear and buying new strings. It was also be cool to represent a brand that is supporting upcoming musicians. We’re more than open to offers of endorsement!”