Anyone within the underground rock and punk scene in the UK knows that town of Kingston upon Thame is a hot bed for DIY music. So it’s no surprise that when the members behind Life Undone met at the town’s University, they quickly formed the band.
Now having honed their sound whilst balancing their time studying, Life Undone recently released their debut EP – ‘Clandestine’. Over the course of five songs, Life Undone produce an atmospheric brand of alt rock with a strong punk rock undertone. On the title track and ‘Blessed The Coward,’ the quintet keep their composure, riding on heavy guitars, dense percussion and thriving melodies.
With ‘Clandestine’ now out in the open, we recently caught up with the band to find out more about how Life Undone came to be, the influence of Kingston and their future plans.
AH: Let’s jump straight into the EP. For those who have yet to hear ‘Clandestine’, how would you summarise it?
Life Undone: It’s an EP of fast paced, heavy alternative rock with dark and ambient undertones.
AH: I know you all met at Kingston University. How did you all come together to form Life Undone?
Life Undone: We all met within the first week of being in Kingston and then just through our similar interests and ambitions we became quite a close-knit group. A few of us played in other outfits for a while but in the end it was inevitable us coming together as a band.
AH: Did the common connection of being at University together and studying music/music technology help you become a more cohesive unit?
Life Undone: Definitely. When you’re thrown into a group of musicians like that it becomes clear pretty quickly who you do and don’t want to work with. It was our mutual understanding of music that ultimately brought us together.
AH: I understand you kept the band quiet for a while until you were ready to play shows. How vital was that period to perfecting the bands sound?
Life Undone: It was more about perfecting the music we were writing rather than the bands sound. Our overall sound and image comes quite naturally to us when we’re together, but we wanted to make the music a little more complex in certain areas whilst also being accessible and listenable. Stuff like that just takes a little more time when you’ve got as much on your plate as students do.
AH: Individually your music tastes vary, how did those various influences help shape ‘Clandestine’?
Life Undone: I think it’s ultimately what makes us enjoy playing together.It’s helped shape the EP into what it is now. We all have a certain understanding when it comes to what we want the band to sound like, but at the same time any individual could suggest something that the other four of us would never have thought to add, it helps keep things fresh and exciting.
AH: We know Kingston offers it’s fair share of venues like The Fighting Cocks and The Cricketers. How has Life Undone benefitted from being based in the area?
Life Undone: It’s a really great area of London to start gigging. As you’ve already mentioned, the Fighting Cocks is exactly the sort of venue we’d aim to play and are very hospitable towards new bands and hearing new music. There are also great labels and promoters. Take banquet records for instance – seeing small labels like that do such great work for a local music scene really inspires us to work harder and be better.
AH: You’ve been playing shows around Kingston and London. Do you have plans to go further afield?
Life Undone: We’re looking into some small UK tours this year and also a small stint in Europe could be on the horizon.
AH: You’ve already begun writing new material. How is it coming along and how does it compare to the ‘Clandestine’ EP?
Life Undone: For the moment, the material we’ve been working on recently hasn’t strayed too far from the style we developed when writing the EP. We’re just looking to develop each track in the same way we did when writing ‘Clandestine’, combining individual ideas and new influences.
‘Clandestine’ EP by Life Undone is available now on Bandcamp.
Life Undone links: Facebook
Words by Sêan Reid (@SeanReid86)