Incinery are really damn good. Seriously. If you haven’t already checked the band out, then stop reading this article and go listen, then come back and find out more about the band themselves. If you already know the band – well done. Pat yourself on the head (firmly, but not too hard) and then pray continue.
Founded by Jason Chaikeawrung and Chris Kenny in 2009, the energetic, thrash-blasting five-piece quickly made a name for themselves, releasing two EPs and a full-length album between 2011-14. Since then, the band have been hitting the live trail and hitting it hard, with appearances at Download, Damnation and, most recently Hard Rock Hell. Although we were keen to catch the band in action, typically, the rail service into Birmingham is in a state of disrepair, so we missed their performance (the band graciously assure us that it was both rocking and super-sexy) but managed to make it, gasping for air, just in time for this short interview.
So, you’ve been around for a while and put out three releases between 2011 -14. Since then it seems to have mostly been live work – are you working on something new?
I think basically we got the last album out and toured it and now, this year, is kind of about writing. So, we’re just getting back in to the cycle of getting new material together. There’s a lot in semi-completion and then a couple of new ones that we’ve played over the last six months, so this year is to get the next album and you should hear about it in the future.
How do you approach recording – do you go into a studio for a period of time and hammer it out, or do you do it in stages?
It’s essentially just a case of shouting at Kenny for a year – he writes riffs – we send him down the guitar mine and then he comes back with shovels full of riffs and then we put lyrics on them… and then we all complain after they’re written.
So it’s more Kenny bringing the initial idea and then the band putting the song together after that?
Yeah, it’s the foundation and then, if you don’t like something it gets changed and the band put their own spin on things so that it’s everybody’s thing rather than one person’s thing. The lyrics don’t even get started until the music’s complete because it’s just a waste of time. We’ve had it so often that the track gets changed and nothing fits. You’ll turn up to practice and everything that has had vocals added is no longer a song – here’s a new song: write new lyrics!
So, the song dictates the lyrics?
The way we work yeah. We work to phonetic patterns and melodies and then write stories around that.
One of the things that seems to be the case with heavy music is that physical media seems to be very important to fans and you guys have really impressive artwork. How much attention do yo pay to that and how do you see the physical side of things?
The last album especially was really interesting, because we knew that it was coming up. We put a general shout out on all the platforms that we use, just to say “this is coming – we want an artist: someone just show us what you’ve got”. We gave them a brief as to the style that we wanted and some people threw ideas together for us and we chose what we liked and took it from there. And we ended up going with 5 Miligrams (Wibowo Baskoro). The beauty of the internet now is that things that couldn’t have happened twenty years ago are now common. He sent us a load of sketches – pencil drawn – and said that’s what he could do and it was just amazing. We could never have found out about this if it weren’t for technology. So, he was just sending it all over to us as he worked on it and it ended up looking absolutely brilliant.
This time, we’ve already got a vague idea of what we want to do for the album that’s coming up. We’ve got a guy and a concept and stuff, so he’s slowly working on it for us already. He’s waiting for some more songs to be done so he can take elements from the lyrics and put it within, because the whole album has a concept running through it this time. It should be interesting.
Are you able to say who that it is or do you want to keep that under wraps for now?
He’s called Dan Layton – I’ll always put his name out there. Find him on Facebook and give him some work! He’s a very good artist. He’s mostly done graphic novels and things like that, so he doesn’t get a lot of band works, but he’s someone I know from quite a few years ago, so we sent him a brief and I love the work that he does.
That’s really interesting doing a concept album – they can be quite challenging – are the songs going to flow together as well, or is it more lyrically conceptual?
We’re trying. It’s not the easiest concept to follow all the way through. Most of the songs will flow. There will be some standalone songs, because that is simply the only way we can do it. We need a single! But most of it will flow with the album.
So, what sort of things do you take inspiration from, lyrically, and how much effort is it to take an idea and work it into a finished lyric.
I take a lot from classic literature. Things like Nietzsche. ‘The madman’s tale’ is from that. There’s bits from Dante, bits from Paradise Lost… just the traditional metal themes. Lovecraft… If you read lots of things and try to work it in… anything I’m reading currently will normally make its way in.
Classic literature is perfect for that kind of thing…
Yeah, that’s also the problem. If you’re working from Paradise Lost, you’re going to have to search for bits that people haven’t already used. It’s just interesting. It’s taking the concept, not so much the lyrical style form the poem…. It’s taking the idea and going from there.
You guys seem to have approached the independent thing really well – from Bloodstock, metal 2 the masses and Metal Days… you seem to have found a way to get out there, but to what extent is it a challenge to get your music heard?
I think it’s easier with things like Facebook. Initially it’s a lot of luck. Once you know a few people, then it goes from there. A lot of people who just like a lot of local bands and then they share and it spreads like a web form that. The big thing for us was metal 2 the masses, the bloodstock competition. That put us in a lot of people’s eyes, so that helped us expand. We also network with people. We’re part of the FatAngel group and they help us out with bookings and gigs and there’s more contact from that as well. It’s just who you know and spreading that way. I think the thing…. Again, now vs twenty years ago – you’ve got the platform now to get stuff shared easier than having to go out there…. But it’s also putting the graft in at the beginning, especially to get out there and just gig and get people to see you. You also have to make sure you’re not… shit! That’s our general motto – if it’s not shit, then it’s alright!
Facebook is there but there’s also a wood for the trees kind of thing…
Yeah, you have to stand out! A lot of people are doing it as well, so you just have to have something a bit special to stand out.
So, coming back to the art work – do you think the effort you put into the artwork helped you to stand out?
I guess! It’s part of the whole design. We’re old school, I still like the CD and, I would say records but I don’t really buy them. It’s nice having the CD and taking the book out and reading it and all that. I do all that because I like it myself. I think there’s been some luck. Stuff like the logo and all that kind of stuff – I’m really happy that it’s all worked out really well, but at least form my perspective, we didn’t have an awful lot of thought before we got to it… it was just luck and it worked out.
Festivals like HRH are relatively new – sort of mid to late 2000s. I don’t remember nearly so many festivals offering opportunities for independent bands to get out there and HRH offers you lengthy slots. Have you noticed a shift in the way that the scene supports itself and also in the way that festivals like HRH have emerged to support independent bands?
Yeah – there’s a lot of good grassroots stuff out there. I think there are a lot of really good mid-tier events that are a great stepping stone to more branded and well-known stuff. Later in the year we’re playing at Thrashasauraus, which is in Norwich, and that’s been going for a while and always gets great headline acts like Shrapnel and stuff like that. They also bring in the grass root network and it all fits in. Again, like metal 2 the masses, it’s just amazing as a promotional tool to put bands out there on a stage that’s basically equal to their second stage where they’ve got big headline, mainstream bands and they’re equal weighting to DIY, independent acts who are no worse musically but they just haven’t had that break yet. It’s great.
You said an album’s in the work – have you got a studio you want to go to and is it challenging to get the time and funds together?
This next one’s going to be a bit more DIY. The last one we did with Chris Tsangrides, but unfortunately he passed away at the start of the year. Other than drums, we have the capability to do a lot of it ourselves. Whether we mix it and master it ourselves – that’ll depend on the quality at the end. We can send it off and it won’t have cost us anything. We can get a professional in to do that sort of thing. Between us, we’ve got enough recording knowledge to knock out some decent tracks that someone can work with. Hopefully that’ll keep costs down and maybe a couple of days in the studio for the drums. It may all go to pot, and we’ll end up in the studio, but we’ll play it by ear. Once we’ve got enough material we’ll work it out.
In terms of putting the record out – have you had any thoughts or are you going to keep it independent?
The good thing, again about the digital distribution side of things, it’s just so incredibly easy now to do yourself. So, the last three releases we’ve put out on iTunes and Spotify and got it in all the places people will want to buy it which is just great and you don’t need to do a lot of work on that aspect. In terms of the physical media, that’s more selling through live gigs and that’s where this kind of side of things comes into it. That’s what we’ve done the last three times and it’s worked really well.
Any final words?
Go to your local venues and see the small bands because they’ll probably be as good as anything else you’ll see and you’ll keep your venues open – that’s the main thing.
