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Starting off your Thursday with an interview featuring Boston, UK based The Ultraviolet. The band's sound is reared somewhere between the alternative and pop-punk genres with a heavy dose of melody injected into their music that makes the guys hot tickets right out of the gate. With all of these diverse bands coming from across the band, there is definitely a musical revolution that were in the midst of coming over from the UK, and The Ultraviolet are just beginning to get swept into it. The guys were nice enough to do a quick interview as we find out more about the band's origins, their creative process, the making of their upcoming EP "The Tales of Our Youth", and what life is like away from the microphone. Here is the transcript from our chat:
Give us your names and roles in the band?
Ben – Vocals
Sam – guitar
Emilio – Vocals
Russ - Drums
How did The Ultraviolet form and where did you guys all meet?
We've all had keen musical interests since we were at school. Myself (Sam) and Ben used to spend
a lot of time at college together writing music but never actually took the next step in forming a
band. We'd both known Emilio since school but it wasn't until we'd come together at a drunken
house party that we decided to ask him to join. Russ has only been in the band for about 10
months but since he joined we have come on leaps and bounds as a band!
Describe the sound of The Ultraviolet for those who aren't familiar?
Alternative rock with a bit of pop punk thrown in there. We like to mix a wide variety of
genres into our music but I feel this probably a good way to describe us overall.
Who were some of your earliest musical influences that helped shape you when
you were younger and to this day?
Nirvana and AC/DC played a massive part of my musical life when I was in my early days
at secondary school. I’d literally just spend my days learning their songs on guitar.
Give us an idea of what it's like to be a British band and what bands are popping up
around your area?
Some of the cities around us like Nottingham, Sheffield and Hull are thriving with music!
We’ve been to and played many gigs in these places and they haven’t disappointed!
What's a typical show like for you guys, have you seen more fans paying attention
to your set as time rolls along?
Definitely, especially within the last year we’ve seen a lot more people paying attention to
who we are and showing up to shows. Most shows consist of Ben climbing some of the
staging equipment at some point.
Tell us about the recording process of your new EP "The Tales of Our Youth" and
what was it like to put it all together?
We actually started recording recording the EP back in 2015. We recorded 3 songs which were
‘Wake Up Dead’, ‘I Wrote You A Letter’ and ‘Signal Flare’ and planned to release them alongside 2
other songs we had previously recorded the year before. However, we felt we had since written
stronger songs which would complement the other 3 more appropriately so we went back to the
studio about 9 months later and recorded ‘You’re Better on Your Own’ and ‘All I Need Is To Be
Needed’. This is the main reason it has taken so long to release!! Some of the songs are based on
past experiences, some good, some bad. Sharing these experiences in song form accompanied
with our musical style is really the essence of this EP.
What is your favorite song off the new EP that you look back fondly on?
Personally I think "Wake Up Dead" is my favourite song on the EP. Lyrically its pretty hard hitting and
i feel the light and shade of the verse and chorus really compliment this. It was the first single we
released off the EP too so it definitely holds some sentimental value to us.
Besides music, what do you like to do for fun in your spare time?
Ben has a keen interest in the fashion industry and Emilio spends a lot of his time trying to
wire up plug sockets.
Lastly, how has being in this band enriched your life?
Being in this band definitely gives you something to strive and reach for. We always like to
set ourselves targets and reaching these is always more rewarding than the last.
Thanks once again to Ben, Sam, Emilio, and Russ for being so rad in doing this interview! I always have a blast interviewing bands from across the pond in the U.K. as they're always delightful chaps who go about their music in a very dedicated fashion much like here in the States, and the music always connects with the audience in a very straightforward fashion that touches off a wave of emotions inside the listener that will make them lifelong, devoted followers in the process. For more on The Ultraviolet, please 'Like' them on Facebook over here, and follow them on Twitter right here to stay in tune with all of the band's musical happenings.