Interview: Sons Of Alpha Centauri
It was the first time I think that our collaborative ideology fully cross pollinated with an SOAC studio album. It feels like a landmark as we have done it in a fairly fluid way.
Sons Of Alpha Centauri have always been a band who have always experimented with the music they make, constantly evolving their sound with amazing results. The band have worked with the likes of Karma To Burn and Yawning Man to create music and on their new album Push, they collaborate with members of Far and Will Haven for an all consuming listening experience. Gavin Brown caught up with Sons Of Alpha Centauri bassist Nick Hannon to hear all about how Push came together as well as memorable touring experiences, remixes, the band’s early days and how they have evolved since those days.
E&D: Your new album Push has just come out. Are you excited about getting the album out to people?
Nick: Absolutely. We’re twenty years in and this is our third studio record so these things are a momentous occasion in the SOAC camp!
E&D: How did the creation and recording sessions for the album go?
Nick: Really well. Buried Memories is the sister release of Continuum as the two concepts were themed together but quite a bit of the writing from Continuum spawned into Push. The first session we did was actually intended as a Continuum recording so those three tracks are significantly older than the others. However, it gave us some material – almost like a demo to try out vocals and gauge where this vibe was going.
E&D: The album is a collaboration with Jonah Matranga from Far and Mitch Wheeler from Will Haven. How was the experience of working with them on Push?
Nick: It was the first time I think that our collaborative ideology fully cross pollinated with an SOAC studio album. It feels like a landmark as we have done it in a fairly fluid way. Steve laid down the first tracks of drums and we had a theme and concept that we could them develop further with Jonah and Mitch. Plus, the harder more driving material was perfect for Mitch to inject that energy into the music which contrasted really well against the darker synth driven elements of the record. The transition feels seamless and congruent as one which we desperately needed if we were going to capture our essence as well as this new perspective which is a fairly radical departure.
E&D: How did this lineup come together?
Nick: We were writing during the Continuum sessions and certain elements kept raising themselves and they didn’t quite fit on the vibe of that record but they were present and frequent enough for them to be a dedicated consistency in a style of our writing. We got three tracks down and then we approached Jonah about maybe laying down vocals on these tracks just to see how it sounds and if it would actually work. That way, if it didn’t work out then we’d not written a whole album and had to let it go. It was a sensible approach – it also meant that we could spend time with Jonah in the studio, sharing ideas for lyrics, themes and harmonies. We really got on with each other and he loved the collaborative concept so we took it forward for a whole album.
E&D: Are Far and Will Haven a big influence on Sons Of Alpha Centauri?
Nick: Far were a big influence on me in my first band when I was a teenager! Me and Marlon were in a band together before SOAC called Pariah and when Marlon left he was replaced on vocals by a guy called Mark ‘Woody’ Wood. Mark was pretty withdrawn and he totally drew his style from Chino Moreno and Jonah Matranga which at the time (1998) would not have been an uncommon thing. However, he really explored the Jonah style and made it his own in a way so me and the guitarist wrote more and more toward this style. As such, when these vibes started pouring out of me again 20 years later, then in my head I was like ‘Jonah’ straight away. Sadly, I didn’t get the opportunity to tell Woody about it all going on as he was tragically taken from us in 2016, but he would’ve loved it. The record is dedicated to him. Will Haven? A firm favourite for sure. No-one sounds like Will Haven – they are unique and they have a vibe about them which is dark and enthralling. Been with them since El Diablo and again when I was at school a lot of us got into them at the same time. Was fortunate enough to see them in 1999 and they were phenomenal. Went to their most recent show with the same group of people on their most recent tour. A testament to integrity of the community of people I know that we’re all still into it and love it so much!
E&D: Will this lineup release any more music together?
Nick: That would be cool.
E&D: Did you approach making this album in the same way that you did with your last album Continuum or was it its own separate entity?
Nick: Totally different. I mean the first tracks came from the Continuum writing sessions but once we had those tracks worked with Jonah then we started writing and diving into that style more. We had some ideas that could finally be developed up that had been waiting patiently in the archive until the time was right so it was good to start working those up. A particular favourite is ‘Buried Under’. I had some of those riffs for a long time so to get them into a track, orchestrated and then for Jonah and Mitch to develop it as they did it was a magical process.
E&D: Do you think that you will explore more vocal led music in the future?
Nick: I expect so. However, that doesn’t mean that we will no longer be an instrumental band in my mind either. Every door we open we have to make a decision as to whether or not we’re going to shut it again. We’re going to keep the door ajar on this one and see how it goes…
E&D: You also recently released a remastered edition of your demo from 2004. How was it looking back on your music from that time?
Nick: It was really cool and we were really stoked to get a proper release of that record out. We didn’t do it by halves either – grey/gold vinyl 7” with 3” CD and a lot of background info together with reprints of all of the old Seldon Hunt artwork and new artwork from him too. Re-releasing a demo is not huge deal of course, but it’s still a part of our discography and important in the fact that it’s the first thing we ever did. I mean, a lot of bands never even get past the demo right? See how it sounds on tape and hope that it’s not terrible? I still like those songs and despite the fact that we played them a lot from 2004 through to 2009 either of them could still be played live today. I mean, we took ‘Hitman’ and it became ‘Hitmen’ after we played it live so much which then went on Buried Memories so it was great to hear the original in its raw format recorded live at our rehearsal space, ourselves via 13 mics onto a Mini-Disc player – we were broke you know and we made it as good as we could and it still stands up ok. Also, we re-released it at the same time as Karma to Burn re-released their Demo and we did it on the same label and some of the limited versions of our Demo were available with the limited version of the KTB Demo so to reflect on it all by doing with our brothers in KTB was a nice way to reflect on the process and a cool way to punctuate the experience especially as KTB were quite the influence in the first days of SOAC!
E&D: How do you feel that the music of Sons Of Alpha Centauri has evolved over the years since then?
Nick: The debut was quite the milestone for us. The people that helped make that happen are very important to SOAC as it set the whole tine and direction for the band. We had written 35 tracks and we chose 12 that we thought captured the scope of what we were trying to do which I think it did. However, the issue then was that if you go to the next stage of refinement then you’re suddenly dealing realistically with probably two different strains or concepts. We developed the whole riff rock vibe with Karma to Burn extensively and in particular Will Mecum who took us under his wing really in terms of touring, collaborative albums and multiple split records. Then we took our ambient desert vibe into Yawning Sons and the heavier pursuits into Continuum and now Push. However, each of those threads has got its own unique vibe and plus there’s whole swathes of evolution we need to put in on them. It is an intensive and expansive process but we hope that the interlinked nature and development arcs continue to interest people.
E&D: After Continuum, you released the remix album Buried Memories with Justin Broadrick and James Plotkin. How was the experience of working on that?
Nick: I met Justin at an ISIS show where Jesu were supporting and I cannot speak highly enough of him. He is very busy as he sweats talent and whereas SOAC have multiple themes and he has many, many different guises and themes all conceived within actually delivery vehicles / projects for determinant payloads! A true innovator and inspiration. Collating and working on Buried Memories with him was phenomenal especially when he started working on the second remix straight away we knew we were onto something. We had worked with James previously as he had mastered the debut album and he was really into the idea too. His remix of 23 – SS Montgomery gives a really cool take on the bass and it was great to do a full mix down on War Hero with him. That track came out from Continuum recording sessions too – it was a really productive time for the band!
E&D: What is your favourite ever remix of a song?
Nick: Maybe the ‘Trance U Down’ remix by The Prodigy of ‘Religion’ by Front 242. Front 242 are the masters of electronic body music and The Prodigy are the masters of rave. That’s the beauty of the remix – blending and twisting DNA and RNA of music seamlessly into one new double helix. ‘At the Heart of it All’ by Aphex Twin from Further Down The Spiral by Nine Inch Nails would be another one. Another two phenomenal artists. The remix is like universal language that can cross musical boundaries without a passport. Industrial music remixes seem to work so well. Another reason to bring Justin in when we did for Buried Memories!
E&D: Have you had any thoughts about doing something similar and having remixes of the songs from Push yet?
Nick: Interesting concept.
E&D: Do you like to keep as busy as possible with your music? You’ve certainly been prolific recently!
Nick: Yes we do keep busy but outwardly I can imagine SOAC releases feel like oasis in the desert you know. I was always conscious that I wanted to work on something that could carry itself over a period of time but to do it in an organic way. I’ve seen bands burnout after writing six songs and then playing everywhere up and down the country. Equally I’ve seen bands release very little music, but have a lot of merch and exist perpetually on social media. ‘Scene but not heard’ so to speak. Instead we are quite introspective and quite like surprises but also an element of mysticism about what we’re trying to do. Clearly, we can’t be completely off grid and we leave a lot to the PR. However, this weekend for the Push release I’ll be sending out postcards like it used to happen – it’s heavily time consuming but its something just a little but more old school and direct.
E&D: What are your plans for taking your music back into a live environment in the near future?
Nick: I’d love to offer you some more certainty about what we’re going to be doing but things are so transient right now that I can’t see live shows being something that we will be able to commit to. SOAC will play live though again for sure and I’d like us to get back to being able to play with and support anyone again. Remember one week supporting A Storm of Light with full visuals going and it was an immensely heavy show with all of our Continuum material – we even played an early pre-vocal version of ‘The Enemy’ at that show and then next week playing with Brant Bjork. That’s what SOAC is about – seamless transitioning. Like the whole remix vibe I was referring to earlier you know?
E&D: What have been some of the most memorable gigs that you have ever played?
Nick: We have sought out some crazy concept performances. We played an event whereby there was a celebration of a building being demolished and the whole part of the town where we live being regenerated. As such, despite the fact that the building, electricity and condition of the building was dilapidated we still played and it was for like five hours. To be honest we did like three hours of ambience and soundscapes and then the performance. We had visuals, red lighting and the whole dark atmosphere around it – plus we were in our home town so connecting to it even more. And the building is still there, they never knocked it down, they just refurbed it. Another cool show was when we played a show in the countryside with generators etc and for soundcheck we were next to a field and a load of cows came up and watched. They pushed their calves to the front and sat down and all genuinely watched – there must have been like 30 animals. They must have been attracted to the vibration but the cows were a good crowd. After we finished they slowed walked off except for one who just starred at us for ages.
E&D: Who have been the biggest influences on your music over the years?
Nick: Hmmm.. well I would probably think that it is our fathers and ourselves. Both Marlon and I are fortunate to have Dads who lived and breathed music and who were fantastic for bringing music into our lives and getting us to pursue it in different ways. For Marlon he started playing guitar at five. However, I was exposed to a vast array of music and directed towards not wasting all of my money on vices and ensuring that I bought music and saw it live. Also, fundamentally I grew up in a town where it was big enough for everyone to do their own thing but it was small enough for everyone to know what was going on. As such, when we got into a new band or record then it quickly spread through and everyone was into it. That sense of community was cool and something I still really value – there were so many cool bands back in Swale from like 1998 – 2010 or so. I still find a lot of inspiration and motivation emanating from that community both holistically and from the individuals I am still in contact with.
E&D: What have been some of the sheer highlights of your time in Sons Of Alpha Centauri so far?
Nick: In all honesty I never thought that the whole thing with Karma to Burn would happen let alone escalate to what it did. And you know, despite being the band being happy to sit in the shadows when it comes to speaking to the media they won’t mind me saying that they really backed me to try and pull off the first collaboration. Well, it wasn’t strictly the first I did some really weird off kilter collaboration with members of GY!BE before it, but wither way it was the first main collaboration and as KTB are such a huge influence of me, having that friendship build, the records, collaborations and the boxset / box all come together is a huge highlight. Building those friendships, relationships and musicianship is all set from that bar so in many ways Push continues to build on an indoctrination set from that key milestone from us as a band. Thanks so much for your interest, support and space. We really appreciate the interest of Echoes and Dust in SOAC and thanks for all of the coverage of the band and our projects you offer – right on!
