Exclusive Interview: Sailor Hunter talk Writing and Recording!

What happens when you take the famed Gothenburg sound that In Flames, Soilwork and Dark Tranquillity helped create and add to it the influence of American Groove Metal acts like Lamb Of God? The answer to that is simple. Sailor Hunter. They unleashed their debut EP via Finnish label of the moment Inverse Records following seven singles which made their mark, like the slap in the face from a lover scorned. A second conversation in seven days with them went something like this…

Since 2020 you have released a steady stream of seven singles before the EP was released. How did your previous experiences writing and recording those songs together help to smooth the path for the self titled EP? “It has been a journey and a learning process how we want our sound to be. But in the end we felt that all those songs made us better in making the right choices ,produce/mix and mastering songs all by ourselves It helped us a lot to shape our band sound and vibes”

How does the writing process of a new track start? Melody, riff or rhythm first? How does it evolve from there before you consider it the finished article? “Al Rinald comes with main guitar riffs and piano orchestral melodies compiled in a simple way, which then it´s translated by all band members putting and writing its own touch and feeling. We really do our best to be very democratic with the ideas and to not over work them. We want that our songs comes from all of us”

If you created something that had more of a Post-Hardcore feel or that had a Deathcore breakdown and so fell outside of the boundaries of the Gothenburg Sound or Groove Metal do you give yourself the freedom to release it under the Sailor Hunter moniker? “Oh yes , personally there’s not boundaries for us as long it feels right in our feelings and ears, as long we get goosebumps is when we know the song is right! . We really don’t want to be labeled on a specific “niche” on the metal scene”

There are some beautiful touches of the symphonic and a really elegant piano moment at the end of “Icon” which is an absolutely stunning track. How did you go about getting the balance of the elements right with the song and not overpowering the distinctive Sailor Hunter sound? “Thanks very much, it feels great you noticed our feeling about that specific song as it was not easy to translate to our specific sound to avoid to become cheese or not in phase with the EP”

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

“We use to record with Presonus R32 interface. And Cubase 12.

Drums are Tama starclassic B/B, Carcie Copyto pedals ,Murat Diril cymbals, Artbeat drumsticks

On guitar and bass Helix line 6 LT and Stomp with customs IR.

Guitar Gibson Studio and Harley Benton modified custom Tele guitar by Al Rinald.

Bass Guitar Filip uses Spector Legend five strings bass guitar.

Stellan Shure SM58 for live shows and Shure sm7b for recording”

What difference would it make to you as a band if you could land an endorsement from a gear manufacturer? “It would probably wake a huge difference. Because we could get even better and updated gear for both recordings and live shows”

“Self Titled” by Sailor Hunter is out now via Inverse Records and available over at bandcamp