29th December 2022

Exclusive Interview: Furthest From The Light talk writing and recording “Sacrament Of The Sick”!

Vocalist Thomas Sobczynski, guitarist Ryan Zuidema and bassist Evan Dale (whose favourite song just happens to be “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor) from Furthest From The Light took some time out of their busy schedule planning World domination alongside Pinky and The Brain for a second exclusive interview with us about their new EP “Sacrament Of The Sick” and we can’t thank them enough for it. Why? Because it means the World to us here at MetalNoise.Net to be able to bring you some exclusive content and go and talk to these bands; they’re our heroes for doing what they do and if they weren’t doing it, well… life wouldn’t be worth living, would it?!

How did your previous experiences writing and recording “No Time To Sleep // No Time To Heal” in 2021 help to smooth the path of the new record?

Ryan: “That was actually us attempting to put out a more polished “demo” to get the ball rolling and start booking shows. Both of those tracks were recorded at Jack’s house (our drummer) and I took on the mixing duties. So transitioning from that to a full fledged studio like Bricktop and working with Andy was definitely an exciting change of pace and kept us really inspired throughout the whole process”

Evan: “I just went in and played bass. I also like Limp BIZKIT. I asked to cover some but they told me to shut the hell up and play bass”

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?

Ryan: “It all starts with the main riff/rhythm for me. Once I can lay that down and establish the direction of the song, I’m able to keep a consistent theme going and flesh out the rest of the music from there. I do my best to have a pretty solidified demo ready to go and then pass it on to Tom to handle the vocal rhythms/lyrics”

Tom: “Lyrics I write on their own with a hook/ rhythm in mind and later will mold them to Ryan’s demos. They’re typically a literal description and I create meaning from there. Example – Sedation describes driving on a dark road and the meaning is being on a “dark path” in life and doing what you can to stay guided”

Evan: “I take my 2 fingers, grab my pick, and play the bass”

We’ve described “Inhumation” as taking a risk with clean backing vocals and a kind of Stone Temple Pilots vibe to it; did you ever feel it was a risk or do you take the approach that you wright what you like and it’s up to other people if they like it or or not?

Ryan: “It definitely felt like a risk to me, but that’s due to my own personal tastes with clean vocals in this style of music. I don’t think we worry too much about whether people will like our music or not, we just try to write music that excites us and gives us the same feelings we’ve had while listening to our favorite records”.

Tom: “Never viewed it as a risk. Plenty of bands in our realm do a bit of clean singing. In recent years, I’ve been into more haunting/shoegaze styles of rock with artists such as Chelsea Wolfe, Nothing and Miserable. That’s definitely what I was hearing when I came up with the melody”

Evan: “I thought the bass sounded pretty good”

The record was tracked and mixed at Bricktop Recording by Andy Nelson (Foreign Hands, Ether Coven, Wristmeetrazor) and mastered at Audiosiege by Brad Boatright (Obituary, Mindforce, Drug Church). What was it like working with them and how did you come to choose to in the first place?

Ryan: “We have been big fans of those guys for a long time. It’s been an ongoing dream of ours to be able to record at Bricktop with Andy and having Brad handle the mastering was the icing on the cake. Andy is the man. He is one of the best engineers in the country for this style. It couldn’t have been a better experience regarding the work, and he was also a lot of fun to hang out with. Brad is also one of the best. We sought them out because they have done some of our favorite records”

Evan: “I didn’t have a say because I just play bass”

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

Ryan: “We’re actually pretty minimalist when it comes to gear. I think we’d all collectively like to have more than we do and give ourselves more tonal options, but as it stands right now, we make it work with what we have and it’s a pretty easy setup for gigs. I’m personally running my Charvel So-Cal directly into my Peavey Triple XXX head. No pedals whatsoever. On the record we did push it a bit with some overdrive and dual tracked with a Soldano head as well, but that’s about it on my end”

Evan: “I use a kemper for the bass. In the studio we used and SVT head as well”

What difference would it make to you as a band if you could land an endorsement from a gear manufacturer?

Ryan: “That would be sick. I think it would definitely help us carve out the exact sounds we’re after and bring us some more reliability than what we’re currently working with”

Evan: “Bass…”

“Sacrament Of The Sick” by Furthest From The Light is out now and available over at bandcamp