SOURCE – Before we go into anything, let’s talk about Aurora. It was the album that put you on the map, but at the time, could you have predicted the impact it would have on your career?
Isa Holliday (Vocals, Bass) – Aurora definitely brought us to places we would have never been to otherwise. At the time, we were all just really excited to share the songs with the world that we loved playing. It would be a lie if we said that we hadn’t hoped for the success the album has had but the response we have received has certainly been more than we could have ever imagined.
SOURCE – Can you introduce us to your band members and tell us whether we should know them from other bands or projects. Do they have other activities at this moment in time?
Isa Holliday (Vocals, Bass) – This is a bit of a complicated question as we’ve had some role changes and moving parts due to our heavy touring. Most have probably noticed a constantly changing array of faces in our band pictures.
Starting with the constants, we have Jelle on guitar and myself on bass and vocals. Jelle’s the big guy, both on and off stage. He’s the mastermind behind the band; main songwriter, manager, driver, sound tech, you name it. Like all of us, he has been in many punk/hardcore/metal bands in the past. One that people might have heard of is the hard rock/punk/thrash band We’re wolves, he played bass in.
Steven and Jan were our original drummer and rhythm guitarist. Both had separately made the decision to leave the band in 2019 for health reasons and commitments back home that were hard to maintain and combine with our busy tour schedule. Both are still active in the hardcore/metal scene, working on a new project together. Steven used to play in hardcore band, Justice as well as In Arm’s Reach, together with Jelle and myself. He also has a killer online vintage metal shirt store – go follow @msfsvintage on Instagram, right now! Jan always seems to have about 20 bands on the go at the same time. He still plays guitar in straight edge metalcore band, xDevourx as well as in 90’s emo ensemble, Rigged – together with Roy who also filled in for him with Slow Crush a couple of times.
George has now taken Jan’s spot, on guitar. We met him purely coincidentally at a festival we played in the Netherlands some time in 2018. We started chatting and turned out we were both Brits, from the same area in the UK, now living in mainland Europe. He later posted a video of himself covering our song, Sway, on guitar and we joked about calling him for his services in the future. And we did! Jan fell ill in the middle of our tour with Gouge Away last summer, we called George that night and the next morning he jumped on an extremely early train to join us for the remaining dates. Before Slow Crush, George played in melodic hardcore band, Subvert.
Filling in for Steven on drums this last year, we have had Max and Freddy. Max used to play bass in post-hardcore band, Atlas and drums in alt/punk-rock band, Olde Souls. He was also with us on guitar in the very, very early Slow Crush rehearsal days. Besides drumming for us live, Freddy will also be joining us in the studio for our next recordings. He is Jim Carrey and Ryan Reynolds’ secret love child – just as hyper, just as charismatic. Before Slow Crush, Freddy played in progressive alternative indie band, The Sedan Vault and is also still active in their spin off project, You and Your Homies.
SOURCE – Which album was harder to make: the debut or the new album?
Isa Holliday (Vocals, Bass) – In terms of organization (pre COVID-19), album number 2 has been more of a “challenge”. With Aurora, we had more down time to focus on writing and fine-tuning. We only had those songs to practice at rehearsal as we were building them into our live repertoire, so it was manageable to cover everything simultaneously.
Since Aurora’s release, we’ve had to carefully juggling our time at home as there was very little of it! Between touring, shift work at our day jobs, practicing with fill in musicians and other social obligations, it was harder to plan in time to focus on new material. Before the COVID-19 regulations we had a good chunk written of what is to become album #2. Now the world has been forced to slow down, we’re almost at the point where we can finalize the demo tracks to practice, practice, practice and get ourselves studio ready as soon as all this is over!
SOURCE – How crucial were the two-track 7 in terms of your development? Necessary stepping stones to get to the sophomore?
Isa Holliday (Vocals, Bass) – The Reel/Pale Skin release wasn’t initially planned. These recordings were intended as a studio practice run, to try out some new techniques and effects for the album – see if what we had in mind would work on a small project before committing it to a full album. When we heard the end result, we were too excited to hold onto for a full album release. We talked with our label, Holy Roar Records and managed to plan the 7” release in just before, what would have been, 2 months of non-stop touring in US and Europe. Even with all tours being cancelled, the reception the new tracks have received so far have again been beyond our expectations – just over 3 weeks since its release and Reel has had over 12,000 plays. We can’t thank the listeners enough.
It’s also been good to receive feedback and confirmation from our followers that the progression of sound to album #2 is headed in the right direction…
SOURCE – How has Slow Crush do you believe handled the changing musical landscape and consumer consumption models of music delivery, where streaming often overtakes physical product sales and the live concert circuit has greater income possibilities going back to the Musicians?
Isa Holliday (Vocals, Bass) – Streaming has its pros and cons. It’s great to get your music out to the farthest corners of the world but let there be no illusion that it is a money maker. Sure, eventually the band sees a few cents from streaming. As While She Sleeps eloquently put it: “One t-shirt is the equivalent to 5000 streams on Spotify. 76% of all music in 2019 is streamed and not bought physically or digitally. Band merchandise is the more direct way of supporting an artist.” I think we have the benefit that our music speaks to people with a more “old-school” or “collector” mind set, interested in owning a physical copy and not only listening to it on a streaming platform. In the current climate, we’re extremely grateful for every piece of merch we sell as those are they only funds we can put back into the investments we made for the tours that have been cancelled due to COVID-19.
SOURCE – Do you believe social media has levelled the playing field for an independent band like yourselves to compete against all of the label product and international bands out there?
Isa Holliday (Vocals, Bass) – Social media has definitely made it easier for a band to stay connected with fans but it isn’t exactly the key to equalizing the power of bands with entire fleets of managers and PR staff behind them. With algorithms deciding who gets to see your posts, without sponsoring there is no guarantee your message is reaching your targeted market, very much leaving everything still in the hands of the bigger players.
SOURCE – What do you think is the most pressing issue women in the music industry face in your region? What advice would you give women who want to enter your side of the industry?
Isa Holliday (Vocals, Bass) – I struggle with this question because I can thankfully say that there are very few times I, myself, have been treated differently or with less respect because of my gender. Discrimination and harassment are unfortunately still global issues but that is not limited to the subject of gender or the music industry or the combination of the two. Self-consciousness and fear of failure is a hard hurdle for anyone to get over. I suppose the best advice I can give to men or women wanting to start something is to just do it – you’ll be able to make progress if you try.
SOURCE – What would you like to see in the underground scene as we enter a new decade?
Isa Holliday (Vocals, Bass) – Right now, my biggest hope for the new decade is that the underground clubs and venues are able to keep their heads above water during and after the Corona crisis. Having shows and social events cancelled hasn’t only had an impact on the bands but on venues too, relying on ticket and drink sales to cover their rent and other expenses. Government funds for culture in Belgium were cut dramatically last year – by 60%. And with the Brexit looming, making bands travelling in and out of the UK more difficult and expensive in both directions, the fear of smaller venues not being able to make ends meet in the UK is even bigger. Supporting your local small businesses is now more crucial than ever. Consider not asking for a refund for that concert ticket that has now been cancelled so that the venue can use those funds to pay their bills. When you make your essential grocery run, consider going to your small local store instead of to the big chain supermarket – less likely to be a queue too. Every little helps right now. We’ll all get through this together, eventually.
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