Interview: AxeWound

Supergroup AxeWound have without a doubt treated the metal world to a fantastic line up of musicians. Consisting of the mighty Matt Tuck, Liam Cormier, Mike Kingswood, Joe Copcutt, & Jason Bowld, the five-piece are set for huge things after receiving an overwhelming response since their announcement as a band in May.

Here at Already Heard we were honoured to chat to drummer Jason Bowld about how the band was formed, how the name came about and their debut album ‘Vultures.’

 Already Heard: Hi Jason! So AxeWound are a metal supergroup, how did the formation of the band come about, were you just friends to begin with?
Jason (drummer): Matt and I made friends from me filling in playing drums for Bullet [For My Valentine] at the end of 2010 and then the rest of the guys really we knew from touring and stuff. Liam we knew from touring and playing gigs together, same with Joe who was in Rise to Remain. Mike was suggested from our engineer ‘Ginge’ who recorded the album. So yes it all came together nicely really. 

Already Heard: Who came up with the name? Was it a joint effort?
Jason: (laughs) Matt’s girlfriend. Yes and at first we were like ‘hmm not sure about that’. But then you know, we just kind of needed something that best described the sound more than anything and it’s a pretty violent word isn’t it?

Already Heard: It is a pretty violent word!
Jason: (laughs again)

Already Heard: So let’s talk about the album ‘Vultures.’ You recorded the album a track a day without any pre-writing or rehearsing which is pretty phenomenal, was this a really new experience for you guys? How did you find it?
Jason: Well we kind of pressured ourselves to do that because I think as long as you can play well as a musician you should just do what comes out instinctively you know. You don’t want to over think it we just wanted it to be…we wanted it to sound organic, raw and aggressive and natural and I think that we succeeded in that. I think it’s just really enjoyable you know its great working on impulse I think. Because normally your first instinct is correct.

Already Heard: Yes definitely, I can also imagine you guys have obviously never written together before either, was that quite challenging or was an easy and smooth process?
Jason: It was pretty easy really, we had a little jam a few months prior to writing the album to get to know each other a bit, and obviously played together on stage so that put us at ease with each other’s playing. I think that’s why we wanted to get together more than anything because we sort of locked in well you know, but yes it was fun.

Already Heard: As individuals do you all have similar musical influences or do you have different ones and that plays to your strength?
Jason: Yes well we all like heavy music but I mean Liam is into a lot of hip hop stuff and punk stuff, I’m into sort of anything from Uncle [Slam] to Nine Inch Nails to Slayer, Matt likes his metal as well and rock. We all like different stuff really but I think it was all about getting a  focused sort of vibe you know for the album and because it was written in a short time we were able to do that and not get distracted. Not like ‘Oh you know let’s make it sound like this’ which is what you do after two months in the studio.

Already Heard: You originally released ‘Post Apocalyptic Party’ as a free download and you’ve recently released your single and coinciding video for ‘Cold;’ was there a particular reason that you went with releasing these songs first compared to others on the album?
Jason: I don’t know really, we didn’t over think it. I think ‘Post Apocalyptic Party’ was a good first single because a lot happens in the song. It best represents us musically I think.

Already Heard: I think that it was an excellent choice of song to initially put yourselves out there with.
Jason: Cheers! I mean it starts fast and it’s got a mid pace and it slows down at the end. Then ‘Cold’ I guess that we wanted to release something that had Matt singing on it as well to show the two different sides of the band really. ‘Cold’ is also the first song that we wrote as well.

Already Heard: I’ve been listening to the album this morning, but what can fans expect from the record as a whole?
Jason: I think they can expect a very brutal, aggressive album that also has a lot of variety, which is unusual for a metal album nowadays. I think people get bored of an album worth of songs that are 100mph. What we’ve got is an album that has variety but sustains an element of darkness and aggression.

Already Heard: Yes because ‘Collide’ is quite slow in comparison but works well on the album.
Jason: Yes it sounds massive and the way it works live it sounds huge and it has piano in it which is cool.

Already Heard: You’ve played quite a few festivals over the summer, but what are you most excited about in terms of heading out on your first UK tour?
Jason: Well for me I just can’t wait for people to know the songs. The album is out on the 1^st [October] and the tour starts that day so obviously it’s going to be a bit early for people to learn the lyrics but when that time comes, when people know your songs at a gig you can’t beat it it’s amazing. It means that everybody’s connected then.

Already Heard: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Jason: Come and check us out at a gig as soon as possible!

‘Vultures’ by Axewound is out now on Search And Destroy Records.

Axewound links: Website|Facebook|Twitter

Words by Hannah Gillicker (@HannahGillicker)