Progressive groove legends TesseracT are confirmed for two exclusive South African shows. The band has popped up at Download Festival, Sonisphere and Euroblast and they’ve toured with pioneering peers like Periphery, Karnivool, Animals as Leaders and Cult of Luna. JANE MAYNE interviews bassist AMOS WILLIAMS
How ‘progressive’ is metal really these days – when the instrumentation, focus and overall drive often seems to just cycle the same blueprint. Is this a temporary global holding pattern, or are you inspired but any cutting-edge new projects we should know about?
I feel a musician can choose to be anything they want now. Which is about as progressive as it gets. I think the environment exists now, that allows bands to be a little more creative, and experimental than the last 30 years or so. Carving your niche has become the key to success, and the global shopping mall affords bands and consumers access to markets that would have taken them years to reach out previously. Many would argue that this is fact makes it more difficult for you to be heard amongst the din created by the plethora of bands out there, but I would say the opposite. It surely does come with new challenges, like how to build a grass roots fan base locally; but ultimately it allows a creator freedom to be more progressive, more experimental, and to buck global trends that come and go.
The word ‘esoteric’ frequently pops up in descriptions of the band’s sound. Is this just listeners with overactive imaginations, or is there some deeper meaning to TesseracT’s lyrics and score we should be paying more attention to?
Ha ha! The application of the word esoteric to anything TesseracT suggests we are deep, intelligent, and that there is a master plan. There is not. I think each of us demands slightly more from ourselves, and our music than most. That may be the key. We are harder on ourselves, and demand a little more from our music. The only deeper meaning to our music is the one the listener garners from it themselves. We will never try to establish the story for you, rather we will create a path, the journey is yours and yours alone to tread.
Great conceptual visual imagery of sacred geometry – is this a particular interest of band members?
I spend a lot of time watching the world. To help the band stand out at the start of its career, I felt we needed an iconic symbol to represent us. A logo of sorts. So, I spent an hour or so playing around with different concepts, and eventually stumbled upon the TesseracT logo as we have it now. All I did to it was to change the orientation of the centre cube, and alter, a couple of the lines to improve the aesthetic of the image. Much like our music, and most music, I guess. Nothing is truly original, hey. Either through serendipity or design, we all are the sum of our parts. This has developed through each album as I have explored many ideas, and seen what was at the end of each conceptual tunnel. At the moment, we have started with ideas for our next album, it’s quite convoluted but, it is also a group effort, which accurately represents our approach to our new album.
Personnel changes have led to different nuances – does it feel like you’re home. Any new influences some members would like to augment the sound with?
Working with Daniel again certainly feels very natural. Having got things underway again with a few years of touring, and an album to re-establish this line up; we know feel have room to stretch out a little, and explore what TesseracT is, and wants to be. We have always wished to push our boundaries a little, and experiment with instrumentation, and arrangement. We work closely with our live sound engineer, Aidan O’Brien, who comes from a completely different musical world. Having a voice like this within the choir helps to push those boundaries into new and exciting musical directions.
Do you ever tire of the rock/metal lifestyle of touring, celebrity, being on the road and all that entails? Or is it an ever-evolving journey?
When we do tire, we try to remember just what we are experiencing. How wonderful it all is. I’m unsure anyone on earth would enjoy my itinerary before I get to the first gig. I am in Asia, but must travel to the UK before travelling to South Africa. And I must do it all to get back home to Asia after, too. Good for air miles. Terrible for my sanity. But, it’s to do what I love, and experience a new part of this world. Some of the band get grumpy and annoyed at the travel, but if the opportunity were taken away from them, I would hope they would do everything they could to get it all back again.
Sound on stage at different venues can be unpredictable. Does your crew generally have it all in hand? What’s the weirdest gig you’ve ever done?
Crew? We have three sound engineers in the band. This has kind of negated crew from day one. We essentially carry around a recording studio with us, wherever we go. So, whilst not completely free from environmental changes, our sound is kind of similar from show to show. The weirdest gig? Well, that depends on your definition of weird. I’ve been in some of the most developed nations on earth, playing to a supposedly civilised crowd, and have experienced the weirdest people. But the most unusual show must have been Northern Finland, above the Arctic Circle, on top of an igloo for an event organised by Jägermeister. We spent three or four days freezing, whizzing about on skidoos, and somehow playing in minus 20°C beneath the Arora Borealis. All for a 15 minute feature presented by an alcoholic beverage. Pretty weird really.
How many guitars/basses does the band own – any awesome vintage gear?
We’re not keen on hoarding instruments, but we have ended up with quite a few over the years. I have just started working with a new manufacturer, so I have about a dozen basses now, some are prototypes, and some are really worn and well-travelled, as well as modded. Jay, our drummer as started building his own drums. His company is called Planet Earth Drums. It’s in its infancy, but knowing Jay he will do really well!
How did the South African tour come about?
The normal way, really. We had been approached a few times for tours/festivals, but we just couldn’t make it work until now.
I recently went to Mombasa Kenya to help with a school out there. That’s about as close to SA any of us have ever got. To our knowledge, none of us have any real knowledge of the SA scene beyond Die Antwoord. I’m certain there are many great acts, though. And that’s the cool thing about touring, you get to see your world from a new point of view. Discover new ideas, and sounds, and learn something new about what it is to be a musician.
Any standout projects/new material/film content we can prep for?
We are starting to write our next album. It’s being recorded in quite a different manner to our previous albums, and we’ve been putting together ideas collectively for some months now. That however won’t be out until next year as we have a few tours to get through first. It’s sounding fun so far. Somewhat exploratory, a little experimental, yet somehow quintessentially TesseracT.
This a Turning Tricks Entertainment, Monster Energy & Jagermeister gig.
Who: TesseracT
When, where:
Fri, 28 April, 2017 – Mercury Live, Zonnebloem, Cape Town – with Verona Walls
Sat, 29 April, 2017 – Rumours Rock City, Johannesburg – with Deity’s Muse, Red Helen, Only Forever
Tickets: R450
Book: www.computicket.com, Checkers
Web:
http://tesseractband.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/tesseractband /
https://twitter.com/tesseractband
http://www.kscopemusic.com/artists/tesseract
WS
