London-based progressive rock quartet Temples On Mars have been creating some very positive buzz since the release of their self-titled debut album in April 2018. The Metalist caught up with these inter-planetary creatives to find out more.
Originally called ‘Agent’, Temples on Mars is definitely starting to become a household name. For those who are unaware, please give a brief history of the band and the reason for the name change?
James: Agent had been loitering around London since the last album ‘Kingdom of Fear’ was released in 2013, there had been several line-up changes with multiple drummers and the original bass player leaving. There were now ex-member of Agent, The Spindle Sect, and Starseed all in one band heading in a new musical direction. The name Agent wasn’t standing out online in terms of Spotify and Google, some of us didn’t even like the name anymore! Changing the name was definitely the right thing to do. We see this as a completely new band, a fresh start to rebrand and choose a new united musical future together.
You have signed with Primordial Records. With all the negativity we hear about how big labels can take advantage of artists, what are the benefits of signing with an indie label?
James: You more or less have direct communications with the label head who still don’t have barrels of funds so money tends to be spent on important things. You don’t get ignored. And you usually get a bigger cut of any profits as the advances are usually not as big so less time to pay the label back.
Gerald: The hope is with an indie label, the emphasis is on growth and development instead of profit straight out the gate, direct access to everyone from the intern to lady/guy at the top and more freedom to pursue your vision as an artist.
You pushed the marketing of your self-titled debut with some epic music videos. How important do you feel that the initial push was to stir up some buzz and what plans have you still got left to unleash?
James: You have to continuously crank out content these days, people have a 5 second attention span and just want to see fresh new stuff. We still have plenty in the pipeline, we will be releasing some more videos and have show and tour announcements all coming up.
Gerald: The push was important, as no one knows you’ve entered the pool without a dive bomb right next to the lifeguard.
Whats next….. keep checking the TOM and Primordial channels for more bombs.
Over the last decade we have seen a huge resurgence across the ‘progressive’ spectrum. What do you think is contributing to this trend among listeners?
James: The term prog has become wider these days, it’s no linger guys with keyboards, fluffy boots, capes, and tin whistles so that has something to do with it. Quite often when a band is a bit rocky but pushy a few limits its easier to categorize as prog. But what is Prog?
Gerald: It’s a difficult question with undoubtedly many reasons, from complex music becoming more understandable as writing and productions have improved, people’s access to bedroom recording enabling them to explore the many facets that can make up a piece of music. Metal has always been a lot more complex than pop music, as metal fans have matured they possibly seek that same complexity but with a subtler edge.
Film scores and soundscapes have also lent a great deal to the resurgence of prog.
What are the chances of ‘prog fatigue’?
James: As long as bands keep pushing limits, the definition will continue to expand, not everything has been done yet. Look at bands like Tesseract from the djent movement in the UK, they are now classed as Prog.
Gerald: 100%. Maybe tomorrow, maybe long after I’ve played my last chord
Since the band is made up of Saffas and Kiwis, were the All Blacks poisoned in the ’95 World Cup? How heated can match days get between each other?
Gerald: 100% true story. There really is no argument – All Blacks are the best.
Daz: Well, that was the start of the post-truth world. They were the first to really grab fake news by the balls. And, because of them, we now have Trump. Also, they cheat.
If you were a sausage what flavour would you be?
James: A stinky Merguez
Gerald: Sausage flavoured………cos I’m a sausage.
Is Thanos really the unsung hero of the Marvel Universe?
James: Don’t know who this is, did they build a Temples on Mars for him?
Daz: Well if it was not for A’Lars there would be no Universe!
Thanks so much for your time!
Interviewed by:
Kevin Rule
Answered by:
James Donaldson (Guitar/Vocals)
Gerald Gill (Guitar)
Daz Carikas (Bass Guitar)
Follow Temples On Mars on:
http://www.facebook.com/templesonmars
https://www.instagram.com/temples_on_mars/
https://www.youtube.com/c/TemplesonMarsTV
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