Exclusive Interview: Solcura talk “A Eulogy For Wasted Time”!

Bournemouth Post-Grunge collective Solcura have been making hay while the sun shines since the winter of 2018. The qualities of their creations have opened many doors and a few windows with Bloodstock as well as shows with Pulled Apart By Horses and Palm Reader on their résumé. With 2021’s well received debut album “Serotonin“ and now a five track EP titled “A Eulogy For Wasted Time” now under their belts, we spoke to the bands string warriors in bassist Sam Taylor and guitarist Dan Rowe…

How did you find the reaction to your debut album “Serotonin” and how do you think it influenced the sound of your new five track EP “A Eulogy For Wasted Time”?

Sam: “The reaction to Serotonin was completely overwhelming! We feel blessed to have such amazing people who continue to listen to the album and give it consistent attention, even two years after release. We learned a lot from recording Serotonin and how to approach the act of writing / recording in ways that allows up to be more productive and ultimately keep improving our sound. Having the feedback from Serotonin was a huge as we had a clearer idea of what our fans wanted more of and how to give it to them. There’s definitely been an up in the intensity of our sound, a harder edge for this record for sure, and we’ve also looked to include new sounds to the music like programming the drums in Panacea”

You waterfall released the singles in advance of the new EP which has paid of handsomely as the record has surpassed 50k of Spotify Streams alone at this point. Who made the decision behind the release strategy? Do you find the statistics inspiring? How does it feel to know you have fans listening in Germany and Holland?

Dan: “We chose the strategy mainly out of necessity. We don’t have a label or any representation and do all of our own promo. Budgets are tight and recording top quality sounding records is expensive, so when we do release music we want to make sure it works hard for us and gets as much exposure as we can afford it. This seemed like the logical strategy based on current music consumption via streaming predominantly”

Sam: “The statistics are incredibly inspiring! Nothing like logging into ‘Spotify for Artists’ and seeing the live activities of all our hard work creep up and up, it’s amazing for sure! Even slightly hard to comprehend, I’d say. We would love to head overseas and play for our far away brothers. Having the odd stream in South America or Asia for example just blows our minds, but is ultimately something we are very grateful for. We never would have thought it possible our music could be heard by music fans in so many towns, cities and countries we’ve never physically been anywhere near”

The diversity of the record is part of what makes it wonderful; programming on “Panacea”, ethnic sounds on “Imposter Syndrome“; where did the inspiration for those moment come from?

Dan: “We have a really diverse range of influences including genres like trip hop and progressive rock. We were playing on a little drone riff and chant based around a small hand drum that came from India for Imposter Syndrome. For Panacea we just fancied incorporating a trip hop/hop hop beat under the spacey guitar. We play off each other really well when we’re in the studio, constantly bringing new ideas and inspiration to the table. This means we can really make the most of spur of the moment decisions”

Sam: “We’re all together in the studio, sitting in the creative mindset and ideas just start flying out everywhere. We try some things, they don’t work. We try other things, they work amazingly well so we put everything into it and BOOM! That’s where the magic happens!”

If we’re a product of a Jeans and our influences, what would you say those were for Solcura?

Sam: “God, too many to write… We have influences spanning the likes of “Pearl Jam, Rush, Deftones, Pantera, Soundgarden, Pink Floyd, Primus” to name but a few! We all love all kinds of music so really the range for inspiration is completely limitless”

You infamously played the New Blood stage at Bloodstock a few years back; looking back on that now how much has playing the festival done for the bands future?

Sam: “We did! The festival was such a giant high point for us! There really aren’t words to describe how much Bloodstock did for our future. The sheer amount of new listeners, venue owners, booking agents, musicians, labels, press etc.. that you get put in contact with is any bands dream! For us, it sure was.”

What’s next for Solcura?

Dan: “We’re pretty excited about our next releases. We’ve got a mass of new material in the work, and it’s likely we’re going to throw another few twists and turns into the next records in terms of the song writing and song styles. We love keeping it fresh – it’s exciting for us (and of course our fans), plus we don’t want to get labelled as one sound or genre. We’ll likely be gigging as much as we can and a new record late this year or early next. We’ll probably drop a few singles to build the anticipation again towards the next record.”

“A Eulogy For Wasted Time” by Solcura is out now and available everywhere you’d expect it to be…