1. Hello, Kyle I just wanted to say thank you for doing this interview. What’s been going on in the Seven Sisters camp recently?
Kyle: Hey man, thanks for having us! We’ve been pretty busy recently actually. We’ve been playing a fair few shows all around the UK, and have been working on songs for our second album. It’s all sounding pretty good so far. More imminently, we’ve contributed a song for a compilation album called British Steel that’s coming out on Dissonance Productions. It’s a brand new song called The Witch’s Eye, and it’s exclusive to this release so you won’t be able to hear it anywhere else. The record also features a ton of our favourite bands from the UK, so it’s definitely one to watch out for. It’ll be released on vinyl and CD in September.
2. You guys formed in 2013 how did that all come about? Were you guys friends beforehand? If not how did you meet?
Kyle: Myself, Graeme and Steve had all known each other for a while before we started the band, although we’d never worked together musically. Our bass player Javi is a relatively new face in the band having only joined us about a year ago. We were fortunate to meet him in a bar through a mutual friend at around the same time as our previous bass player left, so that worked out nicely.
In terms of how the band came about, it was just a collective desire to try writing the kind of Heavy Metal we like to listen to I guess. We weren’t expecting or planning for it to be successful or anything; it was just for a bit of fun, and to see what happened. We’re really pleased other people seem to have enjoyed the band too though!
3. Are you guys influenced by Greek mythology? Is that how you came up with the name Seven Sisters?
Kyle: I think we have a general interest in things like history, philosophy and mythology, and not specifically limited to the stuff that originated in Greece. The first album is a kind of retelling of the Greek myth concerning Orion, but that’s certainly not the only kind of thing we’re interested in. The next album is looking like it’ll have songs based on mythical events from a little closer to home. The name Seven Sisters was in place a few years before we even started writing the songs for the first album, so that just tied together nicely really. When we chose the band name it was more because it sounded cool than anything else!
4. Last year you guys released your self-titled debut album on High Roller Records. It got a very good response and I believe the first pressings on both CD and Vinyl sold out. Were you guys surprised at the response to your album?
Kyle: Very surprised actually. Obviously we thought the album was good, but we were also aware that for a lot of people we were still a relatively new band, so for the first pressing of the album to totally sell out within a few weeks of being released was absolutely amazing. We can’t thank everyone who bought a copy enough. We’re just delighted that the album wasn’t a total flop!
5. This album has some songs that are killer headbangers like 'Highways of the Night' and then a more prog track like 'Cast to the Stars'. What I like is the variety in songwriting of this album. It doesn’t get boring at all. So my question is do you guys write all the music as a band or do you guys work individually and come together with ideas or even finished songs?
Kyle: Most of this album was written by myself. Our previous bass player Adam wrote a few riffs here and there, and Graeme helped out with lyrics on a few songs, but most of it came from me. The other guys obviously then contributed their own parts and touches when we came to rehearsing the songs in the studio. That isn’t necessarily the way we planned to work or what we’d done in the past, but just the way it seemed to go with this record. The stuff we’re writing at the minute has been more of a collaborative effort so far, with everybody pitching in with cool ideas, and it sounds great so far. We don’t really have a set strategy for writing songs. If someone comes up with a good idea, we use it!
Kyle: Hey man, thanks for having us! We’ve been pretty busy recently actually. We’ve been playing a fair few shows all around the UK, and have been working on songs for our second album. It’s all sounding pretty good so far. More imminently, we’ve contributed a song for a compilation album called British Steel that’s coming out on Dissonance Productions. It’s a brand new song called The Witch’s Eye, and it’s exclusive to this release so you won’t be able to hear it anywhere else. The record also features a ton of our favourite bands from the UK, so it’s definitely one to watch out for. It’ll be released on vinyl and CD in September.
2. You guys formed in 2013 how did that all come about? Were you guys friends beforehand? If not how did you meet?
Kyle: Myself, Graeme and Steve had all known each other for a while before we started the band, although we’d never worked together musically. Our bass player Javi is a relatively new face in the band having only joined us about a year ago. We were fortunate to meet him in a bar through a mutual friend at around the same time as our previous bass player left, so that worked out nicely.
In terms of how the band came about, it was just a collective desire to try writing the kind of Heavy Metal we like to listen to I guess. We weren’t expecting or planning for it to be successful or anything; it was just for a bit of fun, and to see what happened. We’re really pleased other people seem to have enjoyed the band too though!
3. Are you guys influenced by Greek mythology? Is that how you came up with the name Seven Sisters?
Kyle: I think we have a general interest in things like history, philosophy and mythology, and not specifically limited to the stuff that originated in Greece. The first album is a kind of retelling of the Greek myth concerning Orion, but that’s certainly not the only kind of thing we’re interested in. The next album is looking like it’ll have songs based on mythical events from a little closer to home. The name Seven Sisters was in place a few years before we even started writing the songs for the first album, so that just tied together nicely really. When we chose the band name it was more because it sounded cool than anything else!
4. Last year you guys released your self-titled debut album on High Roller Records. It got a very good response and I believe the first pressings on both CD and Vinyl sold out. Were you guys surprised at the response to your album?
Kyle: Very surprised actually. Obviously we thought the album was good, but we were also aware that for a lot of people we were still a relatively new band, so for the first pressing of the album to totally sell out within a few weeks of being released was absolutely amazing. We can’t thank everyone who bought a copy enough. We’re just delighted that the album wasn’t a total flop!
5. This album has some songs that are killer headbangers like 'Highways of the Night' and then a more prog track like 'Cast to the Stars'. What I like is the variety in songwriting of this album. It doesn’t get boring at all. So my question is do you guys write all the music as a band or do you guys work individually and come together with ideas or even finished songs?
Kyle: Most of this album was written by myself. Our previous bass player Adam wrote a few riffs here and there, and Graeme helped out with lyrics on a few songs, but most of it came from me. The other guys obviously then contributed their own parts and touches when we came to rehearsing the songs in the studio. That isn’t necessarily the way we planned to work or what we’d done in the past, but just the way it seemed to go with this record. The stuff we’re writing at the minute has been more of a collaborative effort so far, with everybody pitching in with cool ideas, and it sounds great so far. We don’t really have a set strategy for writing songs. If someone comes up with a good idea, we use it!
6. From the demo to the debut album do you feel you have progressed as a song writer?
Kyle: I’d certainly hope so! We wouldn’t want to just keep releasing similar sounding stuff year after year. That’s not to say it doesn’t work for some bands who are happy with their sound the way it is, but we tend to get bored easily and like a challenge. So we’re always trying to progress and push ourselves both musically and compositionally. Everybody loves a good three minute fist-pumping metal tune, but I think we’d get bored if we wrote a whole album of them. It’s definitely a conscious effort for us to try and make our music as interesting and varied as possible, but without it sounding over-complicated or like we’re trying to show off. The main thing is to have a catchy tune at the end of the day. But if you can have some fun with it on the way, then you should.
7. The first bands that came to mind was Iron Maiden and Angel Witch but personally I can hear other NWOBHM bands as well. To me I hear a bit of Virtue and even some neo-classical edges to your solos here and there. What are some of your biggest influences?
Kyle: I’m really glad you noticed the neo-classical influences, as myself and Graeme have a total obsession with Yngwie Malmsteen! But yeah, I think you’re right, our sound is probably rooted in that classic NWOBHM sound, and this is undoubtedly our primary influence. That’s not all that we listen to at all though. I’m also really into progressive rock, Graeme likes AOR and hair metal and stuff like that, and Steve and Javi come from thrash backgrounds I suppose. I’d like to think we’re able to blend these influences to a certain extent, and that you can hear a bit of all these things in our songs and our playing.
8. The UK is the birthplace to one of my favorite subgenres NWOBHM which you guys are obviously influenced by. Getting into metal were you attracted to that style or how did you get into it?
Kyle: I think, generally speaking, people’s first exposure to music is hearing their parents’ record collections at home. If your parents have Lizzy, Zeppelin, Purple and Sabbath records lying round the house, it’s not too big a leap for you to check out things like Maiden, Priest and Saxon when you start looking at trying to discover bands for yourself. So I wouldn’t say any of us were NWOBHM fans from birth or anything crazy like that, but that we gradually started to gravitate towards that sound over the years having listened to all sorts of stuff and realizing that this was the music that we enjoyed listening to more than any other.
9. My last question is what is planned for the future for Seven Sisters? New album, EP, single?
As I mentioned earlier, we recorded a new song for the British Steel compilation album. That will be out in September, and it’s going to be killer, so make sure you check that out. Other than that, we’re just keeping ourselves busy by playing as many shows as we can and working on material for the second album. We don’t have any firm details on that one yet, but we’re hoping to hit the studio before the end of the year, and we’d expect it to be released in 2018 some time. Watch this space!
10. Once again thank you for your time. Do you have any last words for the fans?
Just a massive thank you for all the amazing support so far. I don’t think any of us ever expected to be in a band that people actually liked, so it’s pretty awesome that people seem to genuinely enjoy Seven Sisters! It really does mean a lot. Stay safe, stay crazy and see you on the road!
https://www.facebook.com/sevensistersuk/?fref=ts
http://sevensistersuk.bigcartel.com/
https://sevensistersuk.bandcamp.com/
Kyle: I’d certainly hope so! We wouldn’t want to just keep releasing similar sounding stuff year after year. That’s not to say it doesn’t work for some bands who are happy with their sound the way it is, but we tend to get bored easily and like a challenge. So we’re always trying to progress and push ourselves both musically and compositionally. Everybody loves a good three minute fist-pumping metal tune, but I think we’d get bored if we wrote a whole album of them. It’s definitely a conscious effort for us to try and make our music as interesting and varied as possible, but without it sounding over-complicated or like we’re trying to show off. The main thing is to have a catchy tune at the end of the day. But if you can have some fun with it on the way, then you should.
7. The first bands that came to mind was Iron Maiden and Angel Witch but personally I can hear other NWOBHM bands as well. To me I hear a bit of Virtue and even some neo-classical edges to your solos here and there. What are some of your biggest influences?
Kyle: I’m really glad you noticed the neo-classical influences, as myself and Graeme have a total obsession with Yngwie Malmsteen! But yeah, I think you’re right, our sound is probably rooted in that classic NWOBHM sound, and this is undoubtedly our primary influence. That’s not all that we listen to at all though. I’m also really into progressive rock, Graeme likes AOR and hair metal and stuff like that, and Steve and Javi come from thrash backgrounds I suppose. I’d like to think we’re able to blend these influences to a certain extent, and that you can hear a bit of all these things in our songs and our playing.
8. The UK is the birthplace to one of my favorite subgenres NWOBHM which you guys are obviously influenced by. Getting into metal were you attracted to that style or how did you get into it?
Kyle: I think, generally speaking, people’s first exposure to music is hearing their parents’ record collections at home. If your parents have Lizzy, Zeppelin, Purple and Sabbath records lying round the house, it’s not too big a leap for you to check out things like Maiden, Priest and Saxon when you start looking at trying to discover bands for yourself. So I wouldn’t say any of us were NWOBHM fans from birth or anything crazy like that, but that we gradually started to gravitate towards that sound over the years having listened to all sorts of stuff and realizing that this was the music that we enjoyed listening to more than any other.
9. My last question is what is planned for the future for Seven Sisters? New album, EP, single?
As I mentioned earlier, we recorded a new song for the British Steel compilation album. That will be out in September, and it’s going to be killer, so make sure you check that out. Other than that, we’re just keeping ourselves busy by playing as many shows as we can and working on material for the second album. We don’t have any firm details on that one yet, but we’re hoping to hit the studio before the end of the year, and we’d expect it to be released in 2018 some time. Watch this space!
10. Once again thank you for your time. Do you have any last words for the fans?
Just a massive thank you for all the amazing support so far. I don’t think any of us ever expected to be in a band that people actually liked, so it’s pretty awesome that people seem to genuinely enjoy Seven Sisters! It really does mean a lot. Stay safe, stay crazy and see you on the road!
https://www.facebook.com/sevensistersuk/?fref=ts
http://sevensistersuk.bigcartel.com/
https://sevensistersuk.bandcamp.com/