Metal is not always synonymous with distortion and growling vocals. Here is Cypher16 from United Kingdom, whose music is defined by a unique blend of Trash, Classic metal, Industrial and a bit of Electronica. And this blend is displayed surprisingly wonderful in their new EP “The Metaphorical Apocalypse”. Front man Jack Doolan opens up in a freewheeling chat with NXg .
How did the band start? What was the common point among you guys?
The band's beginning was really back when I was 15 or so. I was still at school but formed the blueprint of what would later become Cypher16 and started experimenting with how to write songs and music. The band really didn't begin until around 2008. I guess the common point among the three of us at least was that we studied at the same music college in London, which is where we met, and consequently started playing together. Chris came on board first, with Carl coming next in time for the band's first tour to India in 2009. Stu joined shortly after that!
Why do you call yourself Cypher16?
Ha ha! That's a long story. If you can catch me at a show and ask, I'll tell you. A dictionary, a teenager and Myspace are all involved!
What is the band's major inspiration or influence?
We wouldn't say that there is just one thing, but I think the desire to do something just a little bit different musically is a big part of what drives the band. The music is subtly different in style to most genres of metal, and that's something that we are proud of and look to continue.
Tell us about recording inside Battersea Power Station?
When we recorded Lonely Road it became clear that it was the most epic sounding track that we had written so far, and that shooting a video in a “normal” location simply wasn't going to cut it. I don't live too far away from Battersea Power Station in London and had always been fascinated by it, so the idea was put to me one day that I should at least get in touch with them to see if there was any possibility of being able to shoot inside. We never thought that they would actually let us do it, but a year of negotiations and work later inside we were!
The shoot took place on one very long day, at the same time as a lot of the riots in London were happening. We did as much as we could do to show off the scale and grandeur of the building while at the same time trying to make a great video that would reflect well on the band. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Can you tell us about the transformation of different genres in the U.K.?
Metal in the U.K., like everywhere else, is going through a funny patch, where a lot of the older bands and styles are re-emerging. I think we're at an interesting time for music as a whole across the world at the moment so we'll have to see where things lead!
Tell us about the Rock scenario in UK. What is the main stream music in UK?
Rock and Metal in the UK on the whole are still not on the same level as mainstream Pop music but it does enjoy a healthy following and bands can do extremely well, especially when they get bigger. The main problem with the music scene is generally to do with over-saturation – there are too many bands all trying to achieve the same thing and when you have an international music hub like London, which will see every big name coming through it on tour, it means that people are spoiled for choice. The smaller bands get pushed down because people would rather go and see the big name act, which then of course makes it harder for that small band to become well known.
According to you which is the biggest Metal band from the U.K.?
Well the biggest, current metal band would be Iron Maiden! I think their specialty is just being a truly excellent live band who put on a great show, with songs that anybody can get into. They aren't too heavy and they aren't too soft, and importantly they have clean vocals, which don't alienate those who might not be so into heavy music!
Your view on the Indian Rock scene…
Over the last few years I've come to know the India metal scene quite well and there are some great bands operating right now. Obviously, Demonic Resurrection and Bhayanak Maut are doing great things for the scene and inspiring a lot of younger bands to come through. The Indian metal scene is slowly becoming more well-known. I think that although it's difficult to do, some of the bigger bands really need to work hard on taking their music abroad for the word really to spread!
Tell us about your last India tour experience?
The last tour was actually more of a weekend trip, which we took over when we were invited to headline one of the stages at The Great Indian Octoberfest in Bangalore. We actually only got confirmed for the show a few days before it happened so we were a little bit worried that no-one would know that we were actually playing. However the tent was completely packed out for the set and the reaction we got from the fans was amazing — the Wall of Death topped it all off and made it a great second trip to India!
Your future plans?
Our video was recently premiered on a U.K. rock TV channel here so we're excited to get it out for everyone to see. We do India and then we're back in the UK for some shows, which will most likely take us up to the end of the year. After that we have a writing period coming up and then we'll back in the studio to record the follow-up to “The Metaphorical Apocalypse”.
Catch them live
