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FOLLOWER TALK UPCOMING EPWRITTEN BY: MEGIt’s safe to say that the UK has a pretty great music scene, especially when it comes to local music and up-and-coming bands who are just getting their start in the scene. One of many of these newer bands is the Guildford-based alternative rock five-piece FOLLOWER. The band formed in 2016, with the members initially meeting through the internet and using the same platforms to find other musicians until the lineup was eventually complete. The beginning of 2019 saw the band release their debut single and announce their debut EP, and the release for that is right around the corner. “The writing process began with me and Luke discussing what kind of sound we wanted to go for whilst bouncing ideas off each other. Once we felt we were on the same page we decided to make some demo’s so we could hear what we sounded like recorded,” lead guitarist Ollie Moor reveals about the writing process for the EP, “Me and Luke were the only people in the band at this point who wanted to contribute to the writing process so it was very refreshing when we met Joe and Damien, because they were both able to chip in with their own ideas. We all met up every week and recorded the songs in my bedroom and after two years, we finally felt like we had a solid line up and had the EP fully written so we hit the studio to get the songs properly recorded.” In mid-January of this year, Follower dropped “Voices,” the lead single for this EP and their debut single as a band. “Being a new band we felt it was essential to release a record in the form of an EP. As we had no previous material we wanted to give listeners the chance to hear more than just one song from us and with it, have something to sink their teeth into,” bassist Joe Durrant explains about why they chose that particular track for both of those things, “When writing the EP we had many more songs to possibly use than the ones found on ‘Against The Ropes’. After picking the ones we wished to use, we knew we needed to pick the right song for the lead single. ‘Voices’ eventually stuck out as the song to go with due to the fact we wanted our first single to set the tone on what to expect from the rest of the EP. Voices Isn't the fastest or the slowest song on the EP, nor is it the heaviest or the lightest. But it contains a mixture of input from all members and gives listeners a small taste of everything they can expect from the EP and with it, hopefully a strong introduction to us as a band.” The themes and messages found on the EP are shown pretty clearly through the titles of these tracks and the lyrics in the songs themselves. “The theme of the EP relates directly to the name ‘Against The Ropes’, which came from the first song on the EP ‘Fallen Down’,” Luke says regarding what the EP is about, “We’ve all spent time in darker places and music has helped all of us through that, so when we started writing lyrics to this EP we all put in our own personal experiences as we wanted to put out an EP that we felt people could relate to and help people in some way, even just by knowing they’re not alone in their feelings.” “THE MAKING OF THIS EP SHOWED THE POTENTIAL OF WHAT THE BAND IS CAPABLE OF.” As far as the music goes, the EP shows a wide variety of genres and styles, and the various different influences and elements that make up the band’s sound. “I think the EP has quite a diverse sound,” Ollie explains about what people can expect from the EP in regards to the music itself, “We have songs like ‘Someday Soon’ that sound very mellow but we also have some heavier, more intense sounding songs like ‘Dreamer’. In terms of influences there are lots of bands we would have to acknowledge like Bring Me The Horizon, Underoath and Finch to name a few but for this release we wanted to make sure we released something unique which meant we had to find our own sound. We did this by taking inspiration from a variety of difference styles and writing as many songs as we could. After a long process of writing, rewriting and banging our head against a wall we finally ended up with this EP.” With each song being a bit different from the rest and having their own influences and elements, they all stand out in their own way. That being said, there’s still one in particular that stands out amongst the rest for one of the members. “We are proud of every single song on this EP as they all have different influences and mix a varied style of genres, if I were to pick one song that stands out to me personally it would be "Hurricane’,” rhythm guitarist and vocalist Damo McVey says, “I love how we contrast mellow verses with punchy choruses filled with vocal harmonies and catchy hooks. The outro is a personal favourite of mine, and the amount of guitar and vocal layers in the outro creates an incredible atmosphere on the record and also on the stage.” With the EP about to drop, what is the band hoping to achieve with it and what are they planning to do next? “The making of this EP showed the potential of what the band is capable of. We put our all into everything we do and we strive to improve with every step in our sound and interaction with everyone supporting,” drummer Cody Jones states, “In the future we plan to push our band not only in its sound, but in our efforts to create an interactive community with our supporters.” FOLLOW FOLLOWER ON SOCIAL MEDIA HERE:FOLLOWER’S DEBUT EP “AGAINST THE ROPES” WILL BE RELEASED THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 22nd, 2019. LISTEN TO THE LATEST SINGLE “FALLEN DOWN” BELOW:
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