Jack Reynolds, frontman for metallers Asira, very kindly takes the time to tell us about the band and their music – most importantly their upcoming album As Ink In Water. Don’t forget to scroll down and check out a sample!
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re from Reading, in the UK.
How did you meet?
I met Martin when I was a teenager, at some house party attended by all the local metalheads. A few years later, we were trying to put together a band and look for other musicians. I’d just become a student, and met Ethan through a music society.
How long have you been playing as a band?
I think about 13 years now – but the early days were for our ears only, we really enjoyed just crafting music together.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
We wanted a single word that captured the colour of not only our music but our imagery as well. We started with the colour ‘azure’ and that eventually morphed into ‘asura’ and then finally ‘Asira’.
What are your influences?
Way more than this but the first that come to mind are Eric Whitacre, Stevie Wonder, Steven Wilson, Opeth, Gareth Coker, Strapping Young Lad, Nobuo Uematsu, Alcest, Howard Shore, Daft Punk, Leprous, iamthemorning, Lydian Collective, and most recently, Lorien Testard.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
In terms of the musical palette, you could put Opeth, Alcest, Devin Townsend and Wintersun in a blender and you’d get pretty close. It’s the more emotional and intense side of progressive metal, with a flair of fun technical musicality. What makes us unique is that our writing is really vocally led. We have a lot of really strong voices within the band, and we love exploring the different combinations for different textures.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
We write music with a message of humanism. They all contain this philosophy of human reason, welfare, ethics, justice. Some of our songs are reactionary and those take quite a sonically extreme shape, sometimes our music is a quietly hopeful listening experience – the philosophy behind it all is the same.
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What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We’ve always seen this project as more about the creation of music rather than performance. I suspect you could count the number of shows we’ve played on your fingers! That makes our shows an occasion, a special celebration and a chance for us to relive the inspirations and emotions behind each piece with a room full of new friends. It’s really quite cathartic.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
It was at a show for a previous band I had in school. We were playing in a dim, dingy cellar underneath some arts centre. It had a big pillar in the middle of the room and about 20 signs saying “no moshing”. We found out that those two things were related when a guy in the pit broke his arm on that pillar. We had to stop the show to get the guy out on a stretcher.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Martin and Ethan are both in love with their Waghorn guitars, custom made by Tom Waghorn in Bristol. They also adore their Fenders (Strat and Jazzmaster). At the time they bought their Waghorns, it was impossible to find 7 string guitars with HSS pickups, so they had them custom made. Single coils with 7 strings are a major part of our sound!
What, if anything, are you plugging / promoting at the moment?
Our new album As Ink in Water comes out on 14th November. We’ve been crafting this one for many years and we’re so happy with the shape it’s taken. I’m sure we’ll look back at the end of our music careers, whatever paths we each take, and consider some of these songs to be our emotional pinnacle.
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
We’re working hard on getting this beautiful new album into as many ears as possible. This is an independent release, and we’re taking a bit of an unconventional approach with it – our focus is to make real connections with people who love music, and build a community with them.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you?
We’d all love to support Alcest. Musically, that’s a pairing made in heaven. And for the opener, I’d pick another UK band called Cistvaen. Their material is fantastic and I’ve not caught them live yet; I think it would put me in a great headspace to take the stage after them.
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Header image by Marie Korner Photography
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Asira: official | facebook | instagram | spotify | bandcamp | youtube
