Interview with Tellurium, Progressive Metal Band from United Kingdom

Interview with Tellurium, Progressive Metal Band from United Kingdom

 Tellurium, Underground Prog Metal Band from United Kingdom. Tellurium are Ant Macia - Bass, Scott Weller - Drums, Mark Phillips - Guitars, Mark Collinge - Guitars, Catherine Finch - Vocals, and Mike Finch - Vocals.

Tell us about Tellurium?

Tellurium were created as a project by vocal duo Catherine and Mike Finch.

We first recruited drummer Scott Weller, we had worked with him before and saw him give a brilliant performance with another band.

We got in touch with Ant Mascia after Mike had an opportunity to work with him at an open metal session and was impressed with his skill, speed and unusual technique.

Guitarist Mark Phillips had been on our radar from the outset but when initially approached was working on other projects and therefore unable to fully commit to the band.

In the mean time Ant introduced guitarist Mark Collinge to the band and the business of song writing commenced in earnest. Mark (C), a classically trained musician and published music writer, brought a different set of skills and experience to the band. The band quickly developed a strong musical style combining explosive vocals with long progressive guitar passages. As the writing progressed Mark Phillips became more and more involved with the band finally becoming a full time member of Tellurium, bringing a fuller sound to the guitar tracks and contributing to the writing.

What are lyrical themes of Tellurium?

Lyrically we are an issues based band with songs covering themes such as domestic violence, alcohol abuse, sweat shops in the developing world and whale hunting in the Southern Ocean. With the exception of The Angel Maker which was from a poem by Frankie Finch, Mike has written all the lyrics and these were inspired each time by the developing music and drawn from personal passions and experience.

What are your influences?

We have found our music very hard to catergorise or compare to other bands. We are often asked who we sound like, a question we can’t really answer. There are many influences to be heard in the music but we can’t be said to actually sound like any of them. The influences run from Slipknot to Porcupine Tree, from Joe Satriani to Cradle of Filth and Megadeth to Tool!  This has led to the coining of the term Progressive Psycho Metal.

Can you tell us about Metal Scene in Your Town?

We have a small but active metal scene in Littlehampton - a town that is known on the South Coast for producing Punk bands – I don’t know why, it just seems to be what we do! That having been said there is sufficient support to run monthly live music events, we have an internet radio station Metal Mayhem Radio which regularly plays local bands run by a musician and metal DJ. There is a lot of innovation here which I think really deserves support!

Who are Your Favorite British Prog Metal Band?

OK, this brought on some fairly lively debate but in the end a rough consensus was arrived at with:  Tesseract, Aliases, Sikth and Biomechanical. At about this point the discussion headed off into other genres so we didn’t get much further!

How were the songs written?

All of the songs have been a full collaboration between all the band members. Often Mark (C) and Ant will come to the band with a musical theme or idea, Mark (P) will then help to develop the theme and structure and Scott works on the drum patterns which help to define the developing sound. At this stage Mike starts to get the feel of the track and develop the lyrics and we work on the vocal structure. When you look at it like this it does seem quite organised but it doesn’t feel that way! It has however worked well for us.

How did the recording process go?

We recorded the first four tracks of the planned debut album, Conform & Consume, at Ford Lane Studio but were delayed when Mike suffered a medical emergency. We went back to Ford Lane for several more sessions after he had recovered and the album was completed with the addition of the mellow instrumental Interlude and the track Angel Maker. We all love being in the studio and Ford Lane is a great place to be, tucked away in the Sussex countryside. Yes it is hard work and can be stressful but it is an amazing experience and to hear the music at the end of the process makes everything worthwhile!

What does the future hold for Debut Album?

For us now it is a case of PROMOTE PROMOTE PROMOTE and try to get the music into the public arena as far and as wide as possible – guess that is going to make us a complete pain in the backside!. We see this as a first step and hope that it can help us progress.

What are you future plan?

We would like to get out and gig more, we will be back into the song writing phase soon and be thinking about how we want to develop the music, perhaps starting work on a follow up album!

Are there any countries you’re interested in touring or performing in? Why?

Wow, yeah, loads of countries we would like to play in, France, particularly at Hellfest most of the band have been several times and we have all been blown away by the atmosphere and organisation! Eastern Europe, such a great metal scene with really interesting bands or perhaps India, an exciting and emerging scene with massive potential!

What bands would you like to play alongside?

I guess every member of the band would have a different list but if it were a dream line up of any bands in the world I would say System of a Down and Rammstein – boy, delusions of grandeur there! Lol. Recently we had a lot of fun playing alongside another local band 1 in 5, just a great gig with an amazing atmosphere!

Any last words?

Really, just a huge THANK YOU to the numerous people who have helped us, contributed, supported us, come to gigs, spent their hard earned cash on music and merch, bands simply cannot survive and do what they do without them! Thank you also for this opportunity to talk.

Tellurium:

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