Who said, there are not enough good bands, hiding in Austria? I never did.
I recently fall about these guys and they left their footprints of sound in my ears.
I hooked them up, to review their EP and they asked for some more promotion, so we got this down.
Introduce yourself, who are you and where are you from?
My name is Henrik Huber, I'm 19, and I am the lead guitarist of What The Sea Left Over. I live in Vienna, Austria.
How did you get the band started?
I started jamming with the founding members of What The Sea Left Over about three years ago. The guys "found" me on an internet ad. It was the first real band for everyone of us. After more than a year of songwriting and rather casual rehearsals we had more experienced guys completing the band's line-up. That was when things started rolling. We determined the band's name in late 2010 and also released our first songs at that time. Live shows started in early 2011, because we had a lot of line-up changes to go through. It takes some time to find the right combination of musicians, but I guess every band has to struggle with that in the beginning.
Tell us about your sound, how do you think are sounding like?
What is typical for us, are very melodic guitar riffs and licks. I think they are kind of a substitute to clean vocals, which we haven't used yet, but most likely will in the future. We do a lot of harmonized guitar stuff, especially leads, what gives us kind of a "swedish" touch, I guess. On the EP we rather focused on writing catchy melodies than on writing really heavy parts. There are some well-placed kick-ass parts though. And although we consider ourselves a "core"-group, we've never been a band that overuses breakdowns. You will find elements of traditional metal when listening to the EP, like guitar solos in every song.
Are there bands that influenced your sound?
Actually, we really tried to be ourselves on this Debut EP. Of course, there were a lot of bands we listened to at the time of the songwriting process, but we tried not to copy any bands. You will probably make out some As I Lay Dying, some Killswitch Engage and some In Flames amongst others, because those bands simply are the cornerstone to many newer metal and metalcore bands.
What brought you guys, to the band name "What The Sea Left Over"? Whats behind it and what does it mean for you?
An ex-member came up with the name and we instantly agreed on it. For us personally there is no deeper meaning behind it, but it sounds really cool. The name's a bit long for my taste, but I really dig sea-motive based bandnames.
If you would define your band to a specific genre, what would it be?
It's hard for me -and also for many of our fans- to strictly categorize my band and I think that's not a bad thing, because it means, that we somehow have an own style! But that style is mainly composed of Melodic Death Metal and Metalcore. That's why we would call ourselves "Melodic Metalcore" when asked.
Do you guys spread any kind of message with your music to the listeners?
We don't convey any religious or direct politic messages in our lyrics. I don't write lyrics, but I think our songs say things that can be important and helpful for every person, no matter what they believe in. They are about topics like standing up for what you believe in, not giving up on each other although times are hard, being proud of what you have and similar things. In most songs there's room for some personal interpretation, so that many listener can somehow relate to the things we sing about.
What are your favorite bands?
My all-time favorite band is Soilwork! I loved the guys since I heard them for the first time, which was when I was about 12. They surely shine through our songs at some times. Recently I'm getting into more technical stuff like Born Of Osiris. Sylosis from the UK are a damn good band, too. The newest albums of those two bands are the best ones I've heard this year. After all, my favorite bands change quite often, but Soilwork is definitely a constant.
Where do you take your inspirations, beside to other bands, especially for the lyrics?
I guess every songwriter processes experiences in life. Everything can be an inspiration! What is funny in my case: When I'm in a really shitty mood, I write the best riffs and melodies! If there is real emotion behind a song, it probably turns out better in the end, because it's just "true". Same goes with lyrics! They are mostly written by our singer Flo and I'm always impressed when he comes up with new lyric ideas. The only song on our EP that is inspired by an actual event is "July 22nd". It deals with the horrible attacks in Norway this year, that came really surprisingly and shocked the whole planet.
Anything special coming up? Working on a record, new songs or planning a tour?
Our vocalist is in his last year at school at the time and will most likely be stressed out with big exams and stuff. That is why we probably won't be able to rehearse and play live for some time now.
But that doesn't mean that we'll be wasting time! We'll switch to the songwriting mode now, with loads of motivation, and write the best songs possible to present you guys a full length album in 2012!
We will spare no pains to produce a record with the best quality possible!!!
All I can say by now, is that our new songs are going to be heavier and more technical. Nevertheless, they will still contain melodies and harmonies that are typical for us. And I'll play much harder solos, haha!
Which places would be on the top list, you wishing to play a show at?
Hard to choose one... Playing huge festival shows, like With Full Force or Wacken, would definitely be sweet!
How would you explain your live performance?
We have yet to become really tight and secure on stage, musicwise and also what concerns our stage acting. We started playing gigs not even a year ago, so we still have to learn a lot. But what I think is cool, is that I see our stage performance improve with every show we play. After a show, I always like to hear feedback from colleagues in more experienced bands. And as long as the reply is honest I don't care how tough it is, haha!
Are you listening to your music too?
Hehe... Well, the songwriting process and the following recording sessions expanded over a really, really long period of time. So I had to listen to some of the songs for probably a million of times. Because of that, I don't really often listen to our EP, to be honest. But maybe it will become interesting for me again in a few years, when we've already released other records, hehe.
Which bands would you like to tour with and how would your favorite tour look like?
The first band that springs to my mind is August Burns Red. All of us in the band like them and they seem to be really nice guys and are professionals at what they're doing. Also they're not one of those wasted-all-the-time bands. It would be cool to hit the road with them for sure.
My favorite tour would be a long trip through Europe or North America with a huge tourbus, fancy hotel rooms and of course great catering everywhere, hehehe. But I guess that will remain a dream for now.
Any messages left to fans, friends or family?
There are loads and loads of bands coming from every country out there nowadays. We would like to thank those who chose us and took their time to check out our stuff. We are glad about every single one who has downloaded our EP. And we're stoked, that the feedback has been good so far! This really motivates us to do bigger things in the future and you can be sure that we will!
A special thanks goes out to the band "Bury The Sun" for sharing an amazing drummer and a great rehearsal room with us. You guys rule!!!
And, not to forget, a big thanks goes out to all parents, brothers, sisters and friends that are standing behind us and had hope for us since the beginning.
Stay tuned, check out our Facebook page, download our EP if you haven't done it yet (it's free!) and if you want to talk guitar stuff, feel free to hit me up on Facebook!
We appreciate every kind of support and you can be sure, that we will give you something big in return soon!
See you out there, guys! :P
All questions answered be Henrik H. , Guitarist of WTSLO.
Thanks a lot for that bro! I really look forward to 2012 to hear new stuff! Pretty impressing music you have!
Hendrik.
