30th October 2021

Exclusive Interview: Sore Teeth talk writing and recording “This Is Our Core”!

When it comes to DIY Hardcore work ethic Sore Teeth are a band who know exactly what they’re doing. Hardcore isn’t just music to them, it’s a lifestyle choice and they’ve spent the last four years at the grindstone developing their sound and working out what suits them best while quite literally bringing the house down with a high energy live show. Their most recent offering “This Is Our Core” sees them join US label Kingside Records with a ripper of an EP that has an absolute classic in “Salvation” on it…

What did you learn from your time spent recording single “With my Fist” that you took into “This Is Our Core” that really made a difference? “Well with the magic we found when recording With my Fist we decided to use that approach for the latest recording. Up until With my Fist we were torn between being a crossover thrash band and being straight up hardcore with metal influences, so once we decided on the hardcore route we found it helped in all aspects of the process really. That and the fact we streamlined the demo recording process too!”

You’re a DIY band with vocalist and guitarist Ross Walker doing recording, mixing and mastering at New Noise Studios; how does that affect the band dynamic? Does that mean less pressure due to reduced costs or is he something of a task master when it comes to getting the sound he wants? “We’ve developed the process over the years really – aside from the fact it saves us money it saves us a hell of a lot of time. We make sure we plan every session down to the wire to make the most of our time in the studio, making sure things like tempos and click tracks are final so when Ross presses record we all know what we’re doing with no surprises. Things like this allowed us to get all the drums done in one day to make sure we kept the same sound for each song”

For the new record you brought in Tom Amos of Vendetta for a guest vocal appearance on the title track. How did that collaboration come about? What was it like working with him? “Toms a good friend of a band since we met in Gravesend in a few years ago at a gig, and stayed in contact ever since. As well as being friends we’re big fans of each others bands so it was only natural we asked him to be part of our new sound – thank f*** he said yes!”

How does the writing process of a new Sore Teeth track start? Melody, riff or rhythm first? “The melody and riff on guitar comes first from Ross at home. He then brings it to rehearsal to add bass to fatten it up and then James adds the drums trying to decipher Ross’ drum speak! Then back to writing more lyrics and final tweaking”

For us gear nerds out there, can you tell us what you’re using gear wise (pedals, strings, drums etc) to get your sound?

Chris’ Bass Rig:

-8×10 ampeg

-SVT CL

-Fender jazz bass with custom reversed p in neck and Seymour Duncan quarter pounders.

Ross’ Guitar Rig:

-Esp ltd guitar

-currently using orange dark terror in place of the 5150

-4×10 Mesa boogie

Drums:

-Tama Superstar Hyperdrive

-Zildjan K Custom Cymbals

-DW 5000 double kick pedal

-Promark 2A sticks

What difference would it make to you as a band if you could land an endorsement from a gear manufacturer? “To be honest we hope it wouldn’t make too much difference to us as we’ve spent time working out and buying the gear we need that suits our sound, but it’d make replacing the breakages a bit cheaper – Fender, ESP and Zildjan – hit us up!”