Exclusive Interview: Schemata Theory talk “Unity In Time”!

After a holy trinity of singles built up some serious anticipation with the aid of high quality music videos, Metalcore Meets Post-Hardcore outfit Schemata Theory landed their second punch with a sophomore album “Unity In Time” that saw Justin Hill (SikTh, Heart of a Coward, Betraying The Martyrs) acting as a partner in crime. A record with a strong message behind it that left a few burning questions, we had the pleasure of a few moments with one half of their vocal duo in Luke Wright to answer them…

How have you found the reaction to the pre-release singles “Our Only Home“, “Mind Eater” and “New Vision” so far? Does peoples reaction to the new material get you more excited for hearing what people think about the new album? “The reaction to the 3 singles so far has been very positive which is always great to hear. Especially for a release like this where we have been sat on it for 2 years, it’s nice to finally have some outside feedback on it and definitely gets us more excited to hear peoples thoughts on the album as a whole. New Vision in particular has been really interesting as we did something a bit different post release. Myles [Dyer, vocals] in particular in really in to VR gaming and ‘Beat Saber’ in particular so with the release of “New Vision” we commissioned a custom map which people could then download and play through our track. We spent a while after the release going into Twitch streams of prominent Beat Saber streamers and requesting they play the track and then sticking around and engaging with the community. Having our song linked to video games was pretty cool on its own but then watching people play through our track on stream and chatting with the community was really exciting”

You’ve created an album that really gives people something to think about once the mosh pit fun is over; do you plan on doing something like Architects and supporting charities like Sea Shepherd at your shows? “Whereas we don’t currently support any particular charities as a band it’s certainly something we would consider. The important thing would be picking the right charity that aligns with us and what we are passionate about. If we found a charity that resonated with us the way Sea Shepherd does with Architects we’d love to use our music to support them any way we could”

As a band, how important was it that everyone was behind the message that is behind the album? Were there ever any points at which you thought “we’ve gone too far and need to peg it back a bit” during the writing phase? “As a band it is incredibly important that, in everything we do, we are all 100% behind it. We talk a lot about being a ‘family’ but it really is true. We’ve been playing together for 10 years but a lot of us have known each other for longer than that. As such it’s always clear in discussions like this that we either all agree or we don’t do it. That being said I honestly can’t think of a moment when writing this album where we had to have a conversation along those lines. In the main Myles writes the lyrics and as such the subject matter tends to fall to him but I can’t remember a time that anyone pushed back on the messaging”

When we’re writing these reviews we often pick out other bands that may have influenced other bands’ works or offer up something in a similar vein and listening to “Unity In Time“, it was “The Shape Of Punk To Come” by Refused that really stood out as having similar vibes, good music but also a solid message in behind it. How does it feel to be mentioned in the same breath as bands like that? “It’s honestly a bit surreal. These are albums & artists that we grew up on and to even be mentioned in the same sentence still feels a bit strange. That being said it’s great to hear that some of that influence comes through in the music that we make. At our core we are a family of five guys that love to make & play music together, but it’s also been important to us that our music has something to say in its lyrics. It can be somewhat polarising, depending on your view of the subject in question the criticism you often get is it feels like it’s being rammed down your throat. For those that connect with the message however you really have an engaged community which is fantastic.”

If the World was your Oyster, who would you like to tour with in support of “Unity In Time“? “You’ve already mentioned one of the bands in Architects. We as a band all have a real fondness for Architects and the opportunity to tour with them would be incredible. We often go together to see them when they tour and I remember us all going to see them at Brixton when they toured ‘All Our Gods…’ and being blown away. I’d also bring along Nothing More as a band that both me and Huw absolutely love. We’ve seen them live a handful of times now when they make it to the UK and their live shows are some of the best I’ve seen, particularly when playing smaller venues. Their ability to make a 300 capacity venue feel like a stadium at times is something I’d love to take in to our live shows and I know we could learn a lot from them about touring and bringing up our live show game”

What’s next for Schemata Theory? “The million dollar question itself. In the short term the answer is we are touring in March to support the release of Unity In Time and are pushing for more dates in the back end of the year. Having not played live in about 2 years thanks to C*vid we are all incredibly excited to get back in front of people again. In the long term you’ll have to wait and see”

Catch Schemata Theory playing cuts from “Unity In Time” later this month!

18.03 – Bracknell, The Acoustic Couch
20.03 – Bristol, The Gryphon
25.03 – Workington, Lounge 41
26.03 – Whitechurch, Percy’s Cafe Bar
27.03 – Nottingham, The Angel Microbrewery