Interviews: We Are Sovereign

We have had the opportunity to interview the Metalcore/Post-Hardcore band We Are Sovereign from the UK. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

Laura: In the early days in the creation of We Are Sovereign me and a potential band member sat together at the time and wrote down loads of band name ideas and that one ended up being the final one chosen that stood out and represented the band's story the most. The band name idea evolved from the concept of being in loads of bands previously and with us all getting older this realistically is our last shot of making our dreams come true as musicians. We Are Sovereign stands for the representation that this band we feel is the highest we’ve ever felt musically and visually amongst everything we’ve ever been a part of. The name represents power and being on top of your game and I felt this band is definitely the outcome of all the things we’ve learnt in previous bands so the name fits perfectly.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Laura: We’re a band that has musically taken a blend of many genres and influences from growing up, mixed the elements together and are bringing back that early 2000 alternative nostalgic feel on the scene. So I guess it’s being inspired by the bands we grew up listening to that have influenced us to end up with this sound. We love how energetic and unpredictable the genre can be so we have the freedom to really create our own spin and in a way create our own feel to the genre. What I will say though is our debut single definitely doesn’t define the sound of We Are Sovereign. Our debut single would sit in the metalcore genre and we all love and listen to so many bands in that. It’s just such an energetic and emotional genre and we properly enjoy performing it.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Laura (Vocalist): I didn’t know anybody before the band formed. I met Ash in April 2019 and have known him the longest but we all met through Join my band adverts and then Seb was introduced to us through Alfie’s Dad. Seb and Alfie knew each other as kids! Feels like we’ve known each other for years with how well we get on through it’s mad. If I could give join my band a curly wurly I would because they have a big part to play in We Are Sovereign forming.

Ash (Vocalist): No, I actually met Laura on a website called join my band. Laura found Sam, Sam found Alfie and Alfie found Seb so it's a bit of a knock in effect 

Sebastian (Guitarist): I only knew Alfie from when we were children as we used to ride at the skate park together

Sam (Bassist): No we didn’t, it was like going on a blind date meeting people for the first time. We obviously spoke on the phone but had never been face to face.

Alfie (Drummer): My dad's mate suggested a guitarist he knew for the band, Sebastian. When we eventually met we both realised we used to go to the skatepark together when we were 12!!! Such a small world!!! The rest of the band I met pretty much at the same time but we’re like a family.

4. Each band member's favourite band?

Laura: For me, it’d have to be A Day To Remember because out of all the bands I listen to they have the most albums and songs I like and there’s no skipping a single track. For Those Who Have Heart, Homesick, What Separates Me From You and Common Courtesy are mind-blowing albums. Every single song from them is amazing which is so rare for a band and years later I still blast them out and they still give me the same feel they did many years ago. AC/DC is a very very close second though!

Ash: A Day To Remember. Listened to these guys for so long and they've got me through some hardships.

Sebastian: my favourite band is AC/DC I’ve loved them ever since I was a little lad because my mum and dad used to play them to death

Sam: Enter Shikari without a second thought, their uniqueness and willingness to try different things inspires me to push our sounds further than people imagine.

Alfie: Bring Me The Horizon (older albums). That's pure nostalgia for me, I grew up listening to their albums every day and I still do.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Laura: Honestly it can be absolutely everything! The main thing is my life and the experiences I have encountered but overall for the concepts, it can be anything from a single word I see, a conversation I’ve had with somebody or something I’ve seen happen. In everyday life, I’m so aware of my surroundings so I’d say absorbing everything in every day inspires me a lot. I’d say as well my imagination is insane and runs wild so some inspiration can be from a thought triggered in my head that I then keep adding to the more I think about it. I’m constantly writing words, phrases, and notes on my phone because I’m inspired all the time! I’ll never write lyrics for the sake of it; everything that inspires me is always real life.

Ash: Song inspiration is hard to come by, most songs are written about how things have impeded you in the past and bad experiences. That's where a lot of emotion in songs comes from, especially when people can relate. When a song is powerful enough to give you goosebumps then you know its an emotional song

Sebastian: Listening to music that I enjoy and everyday circumstances like seeing someone in a bad situation and overcoming it is inspiring to me

Sam: The current songs are based on emotions, past experiences and self care. But nothing is concrete. Inspiration can come from anything. Yeah our current songs are emotional but it’s whatever we want to put our minds to. Also other musicians big or small, everyone puts their spin on something and it inspires me to try new things.

Alfie: Usually painful events inspire my passion to create or play music, it's important finding things to express your pain and energy into, or you’ll express them in negative ways.

6. Where was your last gig?

Laura: For me, it was a few years ago now haha which is crazy thinking about it! It was with my old band in Manchester. I honestly can't wait to get back out there and play some We Are Sovereign shows because playing live is what I live for. When I’m on that stage I’m a different world man

Ash: My last gig was in my old band and we played in a venue in Stoke Called the underground. It's a place where up-and-coming bands would go and play to make a name for themselves.

Sebastian: My last gig was at my uncle's wedding. I and my brother did an acoustic set for the family and friends. It went well apart from the fact that the DJ was not a sound engineer and didn’t know what she was doing so we got a lot of feedback and it sounded shocking at points but apart from that we really enjoyed ourselves haha!

Sam: My last gig was with my old band at a local pub in Nottingham.

Alfie: We’ve not played gigs yet as We Are Sovereign…but this year is gonna be crammed full of gigs EVERYWHERE, watch this space!!!

7. Where would you like to play?

Laura: It would have to be the main stage at Download Festival. It’s my favorite festival I’ve ever been to and it would be a dream come true! Slam Dunk Festival is definitely a close second.

Ash: A festival-like download. Thousands of sweaty unhygienic people in attendance, muddy mosh pits, boozy brawlers and I can't wait!

Sebastian: The dream is to play at the Download festival but anywhere would be amazing as long as people enjoy themselves and the alcohol is flowing then we’ll all have a great time.

Sam: In short, everywhere, I want us to travel the world and play shows to anyone that would have us. In England I’d love to play download, it’s THE festival for metal. 

Alfie: I would love to play vans warped tour, the live videos are so good and the venue is crazy. Such a sick crowd and We Are Sovereign are gonna bring insane energy.

8. Who would you like to support?

Laura: It’d have to be Little Mix hahaha me and the lads can all get some dance routines on the go I can guest some screams on Shout Out To My Ex. We’d all pop up from the stage on risers. It’d be called the Bridges Burnt Sweet Melody and Twerk Tour haha if they wouldn’t have us it’d have to be Bring Me The Horizon. The incredible band who just keep growing and evolving.

Ash: Probably Bring Me The Horizon. As one of the biggest UK bands not only would we hightail off their success, but I could say we opened up for bringing me (internal fangirl screaming)

Sebastian: My dream is to support Slipknot or Metallica because the energy of the crowds is immense and the atmosphere is electric and I would like a slice of that

Sam: Honestly anyone, bands as I said earlier each have their own styles and techniques. These skills are passed through like-minded people sharing a passion. I once played a gig with a band that had support. The support eventually gained more fame than the band and invited them as support on his tour. That’s what I love about musicians helping each other.

Alfie: I would love to support Enter Shikari, I feel like We Are Sovereign and Enter Shikari would be an insane collaboration!

9. Who not?

Laura: Probably Vengaboys just because they’d give us a run for their money with their naughty synth hahaha can’t have them stealing our limelight can we.

Ash: Such a hard question to answer really, bands with high egotistical attitudes which is all of them really haha! But if I had to choose one, even though they’re not together any more it'd probably be Oasis. Of course, I love every song ever but genre wise I don't think it would fit very well haha!

Sebastian: Guns n Roses because I’m really not a fan of them and the way they conduct themselves on stage sometimes is so unprofessional it’s unreal it should be about the music not hissy fits

Sam: I wouldn’t not want to support anyone as I say above musicians help one another.

Alfie: I wouldn’t like to support little mix, would be an anti climax after hearing We Are Sovereign as the support band. Or maybe I would? Who knows what could happen in the future.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Laura: Definitely yeah! Every time I play a show I get stage fright before I go on no matter how many shows I’ve played over the years it never leaves. You wouldn’t think it or be able to tell because once everything kicks in I transform into somebody else and go absolutely mental. It’s like everything you were worrying about just disappears, it’s mainly just a psychological thing. Best advice I can give is make sure you’re confident in your skill and practice hard. Don’t try to wing things and if you put every ounce of energy you have into every show, once you’re on that stage you won't even have time to think about being scared. I’d also say warm up and listen to your band's tracks to get you in the mental state of what you’re about to do. It always works for me!

Ash: I thought on my first ever gig I'd break down in tears but when you’ve got 4 other people relying on you to turn up you really to have to suck it up and spit your emotions out on the stage. A tip? Sing for your life, like a rock battle with the devil you sing for your damn life son!

Sebastian: I have had anxiety before a show but as soon as I get out there it clears up. My advice would be don’t overthink things. I just remember you’re going out there to do what you love and to embrace it

Sam: Hell yeah to this day I am still jittery before a show but remember when you go out, play the songs you know because you wrote them and have fun with the crowd. It’s not just the music people came for, it's the live experience as well.

Alfie: I suffer from an anxiety disorder daily so the smallest of tasks can be extremely stressful for me, music is my life and I couldn’t ever let my mental health stop me from doing this. It is important to have supportive people around you and to have a band like family, if you feel understood you feel better, and after performing you will feel 100x stronger.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Laura: There’s so so many to name but I’d say the main ones that have inspired my writing for music and vocals would be AC/DC, Bring Me The Horizon, Blessthefall, Killwhitneydead (they made me discover samples in songs), Bullet For My Valentine, A Day To Remember, Blink 182, My Chemical Romance, The Used, Wage War, I Prevail, Enter Shikari and Attack Attack! I could go on forever 

Ash: So many inspirations, so little words. I'll start with Bring Me The Horizon’s UK success which proves it’s not all about the other side of the pond but from that side it'll be A Day To Remember, whether I love bands with 4 words in their names I don't know but these have inspired me from childhood

Sebastian: Bullet For My Valentine, AC/DC, Slipknot, Killswitch Engage and Iron Maiden These are some of the biggest bands that inspired me as a kid to pick up the guitar and learning their riffs made me a better guitarist.

Sam: Enter Shikari definitely has inspired me on the sound. Similar to these Angels and airwaves, again another band which uses synth and I love adding this over the instruments

Alfie: As an individual my main inspirations as a drummer are Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon, Bodysnatcher, Bullet For My Valentine, Knocked Loose and Hunt The Dinosaur. Slipknot was the reason I began drumming (RIP JOEY), the rest have morphed my drumming style into a mash up of joey fills, hardcore grooves, and crazy breakdowns!

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Laura: My home address hahahah when I was in my old band a fan managed to get hold of my personal email and contacted me asking if they could have my address to come and meet me in person. It was a bit overwhelming haha I had to politely say no as flattered as I was by it all.

Ash: Unfortunately I've never had the pleasure of meeting a fan yet but I hope they ask for something crazy like my kidney or something

Sebastian: not really sure haha

Sam: Weirdly someone asked for a sock at one of the gigs I played.

Alfie: Nothing yet…can I answer this question again in 6 months?

13. What do you think of your fans?

Laura: To the fans of our band, I want to kiss all of your toes! I welcome you all to the We Sovereign Family where everybody can be themselves and we can all relate to one another in the comfort of knowing we all go through sh** times but we’re not alone in it. Thanks for supporting our music and our band and I CAN’T WAIT to meet you all in person at shows. Your support means everything!!

Ash: These are the people we do this for, these are the people who inspire us and feed the hungry fire to fuel the music we make and wanna thank everyone for their encouragement and support, enormous heart for you guys!

Sebastian: They’re amazing for supporting us and joining our journey and just the constant support and the love people shows just pushes us harder to make this a success

Sam: I love them, they’re what makes a band and gives us the opportunities to play around the country/world.

Alfie: OUR FANS ARE THE BEST, they are the reason we do this and they are the reason we portray our pain and love through music. We want to create an environment where people like us can all come together as one. We love you guys and this family will only grow bigger. 

14. What do you think of our site?

Laura: I think it’s brilliant and I absolutely love how you're supporting independent and upcoming artists on your site. Keep doing what you’re doing!

Ash: An amazing way to find new bands and upcoming music I urge anyone and everyone to check this site out as it could enlighten you to your next favourite band

Sebastian: Really interesting! And structured well

Sam: I love the design and layout. Thank you for giving us the time to talk about it.

Alfie: Love it, my dudes! Platforms that help expose new/existing bands are so important, you guys help expand people’s music knowledge and discover new bands!!!

15. Something to add?

We Are Sovereign: Our debut single is called Bridges Burnt Lessons Learnt (Betrayal) feat. Ryan Tuck O’Leary from Fit For A King will be released alongside our debut video on the 20th of August at 9AM (UK)

If you're reading this after the 20/08 get yourself to youtube and watch our debut video now including you BreathingThe Core! :

https://youtu.be/or-sYi5EOzM

In the meantime follow us for updates on:

Instagram- @wearesovereignoffical

Twitter : https://twitter.com/W3AR3SOV3R3IGN