EMQ’s with GROOM LAKE
Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with UK based Metalcore band Groom Lake. Huge thanks to vocalist Will Mortimer for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
I’m Will, the lead vocalist for Groom Lake. We got together at the end of 2018, after I met Ben (guitar) and Josh (bass) at an Alexisonfire show. Ciaran (guitar/vocals) played in a previous band with Ben, and had been working on material for a while, and I grew up playing in countless bands with Alex (drums), so everything fell into place perfectly. We spent most of 2019 writing and rehearsing our debut EP “Fallen Earth”, which we recorded last year with Johnny Renshaw at Bandit Studios, and started playing shows in November 2019.
How did you come up with your band name?
The name comes from the official name for the U.S government facility Area 51. We’re all Sci-Fi fans, so the alien connection was something that really appealed to us.
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
We’re pretty spread out, but our two main hubs are Ipswich and Brighton, both of which have great scenes, with tons of great bands.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Our debut EP “Fallen Earth” is coming out 26/06/2020.
We’ve just released a video for our newest single ‘Leech’, which you can see here
Who have been your greatest influences?
As a collective, Architects and Northlane are probably our biggest influences, and are the common ground between us all musically. Individually we all have a wide range of influences, from 90’s boom bap Hip Hop to UK Post-Hardcore and everything in between.
What first got you into music?
I’ve been obsessed with music for as long as I can remember, but I think hearing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ when watching Wayne’s World as a 6-year-old is really what made me fall in love with guitar-based music.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
There’s a Brighton based Electronic-Pop artist called Maida Vorn who I would love to feature on a track, I think she could really add something unique to our sound.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
We’re a Metal band, it has to be Download! The pedigree of the bands, the history of Donington, it’s really the pinnacle for anyone in our world.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Nothing weird as of yet, but we’re still only new. If people like our music and want to give us weird shit, we’re totally cool with that!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Take a stand against hate, persevere through adversity, and buy our T-shirts because we’re all broke.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
I think it would have to be Lemmy, no one has ever been as cool as him.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Enjoy the most- playing shows
Enjoy the least – loading in for shows
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
At the moment it seems that everything is constantly in a state of change, and we have to spend so much of our time adapting that we don’t really have time to think about what we’d change.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
The one that has really been getting me through the lockdown is “Madvillainy” by Madvillain. It’s perfect East coast hip hop.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
The cool answer might be vinyl, but I pretty much exclusively stream and download.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
It’s gonna be hard to top our first hometown headline show in Ipswich. Sharing the music we’d worked so hard to create with some of our best friends was such a special experience for us all.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
I’ve always been really into acting and film, so it would be something to with that. In reality though I’d probably just play more video games.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Stanley Kubrick, Ghostface Killah, Leonarda Da Vinci, Janice Joplin and Michael Jordan. I feel the list pretty much speaks for itself.
What’s next for the band?
We’ve got our debut EP “Fallen Earth” coming out on all streaming platforms on 26/06/2020. You can pre-order physical copies of the record at.
www.welcometogroomlake.bigcartel.com/
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
We’re mostly active on Instagram and Facebook (both @welcometogroomlake).
Jaffa Cakes! Are they a cake or a biscuit?
They’re cakes dude, it says it in the name!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
You can pre-order physical copies of “Fallen Earth” at.
www.welcometogroomlake.bigcartel.com/
Thanks for reading!
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