Under the sea. Except twice as under as that story.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
The Greater Manchester and Cheshire area. Joe is from Macclesfield, Rick is from Gatley, Paul, Nathan and I (Harry) are from the Handforth area.
How did you meet?
The band started as friends playing a few covers together. Andy, our rhythm guitar player, who is currently on hiatus, Nathan our vocalist and Paul our drummer. Then Joe joined, who is friends with Andy. Afterwards, Rick joined, who is our bassist and then I joined in the start of January to fill in for Andy whilst he has time off.
How long have you been playing as a band?
40,000 Leagues have been playing together for about two years, but the current line up is fresh as of the start of this year.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
We were thinking band names and someone suggested 40,000 Leagues. We knew it was a book but got the title wrong and decided to stick with it.
What are your influences?
Joe: Opeth, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Devin Townsend, Mastodon, Alter Bridge, Avenged Sevenfold, Trivium, Rush, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Dio, Judas Priest.
Rick: A lot of my music taste comes from my dad’s music CD collection – Deep Purple, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, AC/DC – and Ritchie Blackmore is my guitar icon. My musical taste has since branched out from when I was younger into the likes of DragonForce, Avantasia, Blind Guardian and Amorphis.
Nathan: Avenged Sevenfold, Alter Bridge, Iron Maiden, Linkin Park, Sylosis, Bon Jovi, Daughtry, Guns N’ Roses, Crossfaith, Dragonforce, Judas Priest, Corey Taylor, Pantera, Shinedown and Trivium.
Paul: Joey Jordison and Dave Grohl when I was growing up. In recent years I’ve gotten into Thomas Lang, Wyatt Stav, Luke Holland Alex Rudinger, Anika Nilles and Chris Coleman. The Grooves and bands I’m most inspirted by now are the likes of Ice Nine Kills, Affience, Any Given Day, Nightwish, While She Sleeps and Cane Hill.
Harry: AC/DC, Metallica, Black Label Society, Pantera, Steel Panther, Bon Jovi, Dream Theatre, Tyr and Amon Amarth. My main man is Dimebag Darrell though, that guy changed the way I look at playing my instrument.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We use progressive influences to vary our song writing structures and compositions. We aren’t massive fans of copying and pasting riffs over and over, whilst you need to have a riff that remains a constant so that it’s recognisable, we like to add variations to the overall song structure as well. We also spend time organising our melodies. Nathan spends a lot of time with Joe getting a good vocal melody line, while Joe and I also spend time synchronising harmonies for guitar. It’s a blend of melodic and progressive influence.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
We have a yin and yang to our lyrical themes, whilst Nathan likes to write lyrics about video games like Skyrim (“From The Sky” on our current EP) and God of War (“Godkiller” from our future EP coming out late summer), he also likes to touch on darker, real world issues such as relationship abuse (“Control”, newly released single) and drug addiction (“Defcon” on our current EP).
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We’ve played perhaps somewhere between 50-60 show’s in the last two years. I’ve been told that we’re exciting to watch. We like to change up each performance and make each of our performances dynamic and full of that classic metal hype. It can go from “Defcon” to a metal version of Chaka Khan’s – “Ain’t Nobody”.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
I was a fan at the time but in my opinion the wildest thing I’ve seen 40,000 Leagues do, was perform a 15 minute Disney medley. It was amazing! Also Andy once dressed up as the devil and they played Tenacious D’s “Beezleboss”.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Nathan: Sennheiser XSW.
Joe: Guitars; PRS Custom 24 SE, Schecter Banshee Elite 6, Schecter KM7, Schecter Hellraiser Avenger, Charvel Pro Mod San Midas 2. Amp; EVH 5150 50W. Pedals; TC Electronic Polytune, Dreamscape, Hall of Fame Reverb, Flashback Delay, Mini Spark. Dunlop John Petrucci Cry Baby Wah Pedal. Boss NS-2, Keeley DS-9.
Harry: Guitars; Dean Dime Razorback V 255, Kramer Pacer Classic. Amp; Fender Mustang IV 100W.
Rick: Bass Guitar; Warrick Rock Bass. Pedal; Darkglass Alpha Omega.
Paul: PDP X7 Drum Kit, Pearl Demonator Pedals, Zildjian 16in ZBT Crash, Meinl 14in Classic hi-hats, Meinl 18in Trash Crash, Meinl 20in Classic Ride, Zildjian 18in ZBT China, Evans Emad2 Bass Drum Head, Evans EC2’s on all the Toms, Remo ambassador on the snare.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
Our “Control” Single release. It’s about the toxicity of abusive relationships.
What are your plans for 2019?
We plan to play as many gigs as possible, get as much exposure as possible, play in new cities, finish our new EP by the end of summer and make new friends and connections. So some pretty big plans!
Header image by Naomi Readman
