A Dirty Dozen with WILL WRIGHT from PAST THE FALL – January 2024

Photo credit: Joe Brady Photography

According to the band’s bio: “There are few things more powerful than an inspirational shared vision. For bassist / vocalist Will Wright and guitarist / vocalist Tom Cope, friendship and creativity have collided in a shower of brilliant sparks with the arrival of From Insanity’s Ruin, the debut album from UK-based metal ingenues PAST THE FALL. A formidable display of modern metal braggadocio, refined classicism and subtly progressive flair, it is an album that has been a very long time in the making and which represents the long-awaited achievement of childhood dreams.” We get Will to discuss new music, influences, and more.

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Hmm well I guess in terms of layering/instrumentation and such like not a lot! We’re a pretty direct band and we try to produce a record that we can play live (we don’t use playback apart from the intro music).

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

For me personally it was Grunge and indie rock when I was around 10/11 years old like Nirvana / Pixies / Longpigs / Marion and that inspired me to pick up that old classical guitar that was under my parents bed!

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

I have pretty vivid memories of Nirvana’s VHS ‘Live! Sold out!’ and it had little interview snippets in between and that hit me pretty hard about the ethos of being a musician.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Probably Mastodon as there always evolving their sound with there personalities and there a metal band that I can feel has some grunge influences in the background.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

Me personally I love climbing outdoors! I’ve just taken up ju jitsu as well which is challenging but I’m finding really rewarding.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

We like to say we’re epic groove metal with grungy sleaze. Well its kinda weird sometimes when people say we sound like bands we’ve never heard of for a completely different subgenre- they must hear something we don’t!

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Well when it comes to cooking its probably me, drinks is probably Thomas and Sebastian, and I’ve only ever seen Thomas whip out the guitar when he’s pissed on downtime so honours to him I guess!

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Probably saying hello to Adrian Smith from Iron Maiden at an after show party, he seemed a little annoyed as he was mid flow talking to a nice lady, but to be fair I was pretty off my face so probably thought who is this idiot!

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

I think it’s as simple as just playing and performing, that’s the bit that makes all the other stuff worthwhile. If I could no longer be a musician anymore? Uff that’s a tough one, I seem to be attracted to things that are hard to turn into a living haha, I guess the only way to answer that would be generally – something that I felt like a valued part of a team and the work we did helped people/relieved suffering, and was in the physical world.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

Nothing springs to mind but I like challenging questions and I can be quite whimsical/philosophical in my nature so anything on that wavelength goes over well. The question I’m most tired of answering? Probably ‘How did you come up with the name!’ I guess it’s a needed question if people ask it so much!

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Probably some early management decisions, we lost a lot of money and it was quite demoralizing- but there were lessons learnt!

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

I guess to go back where it all started- Nirvana Nevermind!

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Category: Interviews