aaamusic | On 24, Apr 2012

Daniel Cairns chats with Sulpher about their up and coming new album and their amazing warm up show that is happening at the London Purple Turtle on May the 4th, the band havn’t played for a longtime so this will be a unique opportunity to see them in a small venue in the capital city.

AAAmusic: It has been a long absence for the band, can you tell me why we had to wait so long for another Sulpher album and what is the feel and concept for it.

Sulpher: As you know I’ve been extremely busy over the past number of years with the prodigy and Marilyn Manson. That took up so much of my time, Monti became a dad too so it’s been a pretty difficult procedure writing and recording and trying to get the 2nd Sulpher album finished, but were so close to completion now. It’s very exciting for us to get to this stage and also very exciting to go out and play live again. The feel of the record is as it was always meant to be with this band, very changeable, there is of course the same power and intensity as there always was. Lots of emotion and depth, this time its way more melodic. I think it was a natural progression to take the band and the songs into a new area.

AAAmusic: I think your sound comes across best when you are live, have you got anything special in store for your show at the London Purple Turtle?

Sulpher: Were just gonna let the music and the power of the band speak for themselves it’s a pretty small and low key show. Sulpher isn’t about gimmicks, Sulpher is about honesty.

AAAmusic: All the members have been off doing other projects, do you think this has affected the sound and dynamics in Sulpher. If so what do you think your experiences have brought to the band?

Sulpher: I Personally don’t think much about what affects the sound of sulpher – We operate in our own little head space, we try not to let anything or anyone on the outside influence how we work.

AAAmusic: ‘You ruined everything’ is one of your most popular songs and has an intensity and dance floor feel behind it, but what was your most intense song to work on and how did it effect you emotionally?

Sulpher: From the first album I think ‘Scarred’ was one of the most intense songs we’re recorded back then, we really wanted the verses to sound quite creepy and strange but the chorus idea had to be really full on. It ended up sounding exactly how we wanted.
Off the new record the most emotional was a haunting ballad type piece called ‘Tomorrow’ it was and is a very emotional subject and very personal, that song means a lot and it’s such a departure for us musically, it will be interesting to see what people make of it. It’s going to surprise people I think.

AAAmusic: Can you tell me what some of the new songs are about on the new album?

Sulpher: Some of the songs are personal, some are not. That’s the way I’ve always approached lyrics in general, it’s kind of weird trying to explain songs that are personal, songs that actually mean something or hit a raw nerve, or bring back feelings that you have tried to bury away. A few of the songs off the new album are, ‘You threw it all away’ the title is kind of a giveaway, someone, who could’ve been the one … wasn’t the one, they weren’t the person i thought they were, they threw it all away in my opinion, ”Used,” this is a song about giving everything you have to someone. Your heart and soul, your trust, trust is a very very hard thing to give. No one ”will ever know” people have a way of presenting themselves to others, sometimes this isn’t the reality, sometimes the person is actually something completely different a fake.” Endure” it’s worth it in the end, is it ….” I fell through ” just when you think everything has gone totally wrong like there’s no way out ,no way to make things better, something or someone comes along and changes everything.

AAAmusic: What equipment have you mostly been working with on the new album is there anything unusual that you can tell us about?

Sulpher: Basically anything we can get our hands on -pretty much the same as everyone else is using i assume? Monti is running Cubase. V drums, live kits as far as guitars etc Gibson and E.S.P guitars, Spector Basses, Line 6 gear, Laney amps, Virus keys as far as plug ins go we use many many things Spectrasonics, Contact 5 to name a couple.

AAAmusic: You haven’t toured for a long time are you looking forward to doing that and do you think you could produce the sound of your new album with intensity to a large audience at a festival?

Sulpher: Yeah we actually can’t wait to get out again. May 4th seemed a long way off, but it’s snuck up on us really fast there’s some nerves but I think it’s gonna be killer were looking forward to it, the new material is sounding great some of it is pretty anthemic so it’s perfect in the live situation.

AAAmusic: You all have worked with some of the best musicians in the business but is there anyone that you haven’t worked with that you would like to work with and what kind of project would you like to work on with them?

Sulpher: We have a lot of artists and bands we respect, Depeche Mode … Deftones. are just a couple that immediately come to mind.

AAAmusic: So what is next for Sulpher and how are you going to go about making it happen?

Sulpher: The immediate plans are to put the finishing touches to the album that’s the priority after the warm up show on May 4th.

Sulpher is about as underground as you can get. Started by multi-instrumentalist Rob and drummer Monti in the early part of 2000, Sulpher presents a distinctly gritty style of industrial rock, prevalent in the mainstream practitioners of the genre as Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, mixed the more urbanized and experimental sounds of such groups as Curve and The Prodigy. Sulpher were hailed in many rock magazines as the genre’s new hope after the release their debut single ‘Spray’ was released in 2002, s a result secured national tours with the some of the scene’s biggest and best. They received an award for “Best British Heavy Metal band.” their track ‘ fear me ‘ was used for the U.S.A 2002 winter Olympic games promo ads throughout movie theatres and prime time TV in the states.
The band toured throughout Germany in 2002 at various festivals, special guests of The 69 Eyes, Sisters of Mercy. One of the bands highlights was supporting Marilyn Manson in Dresden, who played to sell out show of 12,000. The band consists Rob Holliday (Marilyn, live guitars to Gary Numan and The Prodigy) Monti, (drums / programming) and Tim “Mud” Muddiman, along with new member Andy Spillane.
After a long break from the limelight, the bands second album is near completion, and expected for release summer of 2012.

Author: Daniel Cairns