EMQ’s with ICARUS

Icarus Logo

EMQ’s with ICARUS

Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Greater London, England based Hard Rock/Metal band, Icarus. Huge thanks to guitarist, Matt Say, 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?

My name is Matt Say, I play guitar in the UK Hard Rock/Metal band Icarus. We’re a 5-piece hard rock band including Ritchie Howlett on vocals, Matt Say and George Elvin on guitar, Will Tyrrell on bass and Ben Porter on drums. We all met on the first day of a music course at our college, and the band was formed on that same day. Our first EP was released back in March 2020, and almost instantly the country went into lockdown. We’ve been promoting our music and remotely writing music from home, and now we’re finally getting back into playing awesome shows again.

How did you come up with your band name?

We rehearsed without a name for months until right before our first ever show. Eventually we decided on calling ourselves ‘Icarus’ and that’s what’s been on our posters ever since. The inspiration came from an Iron Maiden song called ‘Flight of Icarus’.

What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?

We’re from the UK and we’re based in Greater London, the scene is awesome around here as there’s tons of cool independent venues and a thriving local band scene, with plenty of opportunities going everywhere. Especially when you get into the London scene, there’s countless wicked Metal/Rock bands playing everywhere and everyone knows everyone else, it’s really wholesome.

What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)

Just over a month ago we released our latest single ‘Castaway At Best’, a dark, brooding song about how those struggling with mental health and personal distress are cast away by everyone else, left to medicate themselves and feel abandoned. The song is about how it doesn’t matter how everyone perceives you, you’re going through your own hell, and no one has the right to judge you for it.

‘Castaway At Best’ (Lyric Video)

Who have been your greatest influences?

As a band our biggest influences are Slipknot, Bullet For My Valentine, Blink-182 and Juice Wrld.

What first got you into music?

My dad indoctrinated me with classic rock from an early age, bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd were pretty much the soundtrack of my childhood. From the first time I played onstage at the age of 13 I was completely hooked; I knew that’s what I wanted to do forever.

If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?

Metallica, because they’re Metallica and they’re fucking awesome.

If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?

Download Festival here in the UK, always such amazing vibes there and has such a legendary history that we’d love to be a part of.

What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?

A phone number.

If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?

You clearly have excellent taste, congratulations.

If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?

Dimebag and Vinnie Paul, I’d sell my kidney to see a Pantera reunion.

What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?

My favourite part of being a musician is hearing the crowd singing the words back to you at a show. There’s no other feeling like it. The worst part is having to load the gear out the venue afterwards haha.

If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

The biggest thing I’d change (or more accurately bring over from pop/rap) is how unwilling a lot of rock/metal fans are to accept new artists. The legacy bands like Guns N’ Roses, Mötley Crüe etc that are still going are so freaking great, but there’s a lot of newer bands who are making the genre fresh again that don’t get heard because everyone’s looking out for these bands third farewell tour. Love these artists as much as the next guy, but they attract the attention of the entire scene without doing anything new.

Name one of your all-time favourite albums?

My all-time favourite album has to be “All I Was” by Tremonti, it was the first metal album I heard and the riffs + solos still get me pumped to this day.

What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?

As crappy as they are in terms of making money for the artists, as a fan I love how convenient downloads make it to listen to my favourite songs with just a few clicks.

What’s the best gig that you have played to date?

Our best show came quite recently actually, we headlined a venue called the Spice Of Life on 30th August to celebrate the launch of our newest single. It was the first proper show we’d played since the first lockdown and the atmosphere was incredible, and the feeling of playing to a packed room with our fans jumping about with us again was just indescribable.

If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?

If I wasn’t a musician, I’d be very bored and probably have a much healthier bank account.

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

The cast of Monty Python.

What’s next for the band?

Next up we have an amazing show planned at Camden Assembly on October 30th, right here in London, cannot wait! In the meantime, and after the show, we’ll be writing new music as always and booking as many shows as we can, gotta make up for lost time!

What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?

All our news is posted on our Instagram page. Links to our music, gigs and everything else can always be found here.
www.instagram.com/icarusukofficial/

Other Links:
www.facebook.com/icarusbandofficial/
www.open.spotify.com/artist/3SItfPL6AP4i1AmgbeRis
wwww.youtube.com/channel/UC1sbnlew7cc1oEbdjjZI4Dw

Jaffa Cakes! Are they a cake or a biscuit?

Who cares, either way I’m still gonna eat them all day.

Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Thanks for having us here on Ever Metal! Our latest release ‘Castaway At Best’ can be found on all streaming services, show it some love!

Icarus Promo Pic

Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

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