Interviews: Shrike

On this new occasion, we had the opportunity to interview the Metal band Shrike 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?

Liam: Well we didn’t actually come up with it! It was actually Ste’s wife, Jen who came up with the name. After struggling to come up with a name that wasn’t pretentious as hell, we all heard it, researched what it is, and thought “Yep, that’ll do” Haha. Plus we always liked the Mastodon naming your band a cool animal thing anyway, so we thought if it’s akin to Mastodon, it has to be sick, right? Haha.

2. Where is the band based?

Liam: We’re from a small city in the North West of England called Preston. It’s officially been labeled the ‘wettest’ city in England. It rains haha. Our other Guitar player Danny resides in Blackpool however.

3. Why did you want to play this genre?

Ste: Metal is a genre I’ve loved since I was a little kid, back when Kerrang used to attach CDs to the cover. We all had that one with Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, and Rammstein on it! Metal drumming is one I have the most fun with, which is why I’ve been in metal bands for the past 14 years.

Liam: Yeah, I’ll kind of reiterate what Ste said, although initially, it was a mixture of all sorts. I got into music through Kerrang TV, Scuzz, and VH1 which I’m sure most can admit was their gateway to greatness if you were born in the 90’s haha. I loved stuff like Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and even The Strokes and that sort of wave of indie bands that blew up in the mid to late 2000s. But it was always the heavier stuff that held my attention longer and that I preferred. System of a Down, Metallica, Slipknot, etc. When I got halfway through high school, I rekindled a friendship and he’d just started playing guitar. He gave me a copy of some Iron Maiden and Metallica records and we started playing guitar together. That’s when I jumped down the metal rabbit hole fully and before you knew it I was listening to Carcass and Meshuggah. It was like a drug. I needed heavier and I needed more!

Danny: It was just a natural progression really, but I think it's the intensity and the challenge that comes with playing this kind of technical style.

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

Ste: No I met Liam around 2014 when my first band was looking for a replacement guitarist and our other guitarist Ryan met him on a night out and introduced me. I just vaguely remember being heavily drunk and accosting Liam and shouting at him asking if he was a guitarist. Surprised he didn’t run a mile. I then met Danny through Liam and knew him/met him once or twice before he joined Shrike at the back end of 2023.

Liam: Yeah I’ll say I remember the events of that night, but I definitely can’t hahaha. I do remember it happening though, if that makes sense! I remember being invited to our old band audition and it was a somewhat more formal affair haha. Danny was someone I knew through other musicians in the Blackpool area and it wasn’t until we met at either a Shrike show or a metal club night in Blackpool that we started working together. He mixed a single for us in 2020 and a few other bits and pieces and then joined Shrike full-time in 2023!

Danny: Yes, we met through mutual friends. and as Liam said, I mixed and mastered the single Mastiff for them!

5. What is each band member's favorite band?

Ste: Very difficult choice, I have about 10 #1s depending on what mood I’m in

The Black Dahlia Murder is a solid contender for the #1 spot though for sure

Had the pleasure of meeting Trevor Strnad a few times after shows, before his passing. An absolute legend

Liam: Yeah, condensing 20+ years of listening to music into one artist. I don’t know if it’s possible haha. It’s a toss-up between Metallica, Radiohead, and System of a Down…or Nick Drake, I don’t know haha. Sod it, I’ll just say Metallica haha.

Danny: The Black Dahlia Murder (or at least it better have been!)

6. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Liam: It’s always evolving as we get older. When we first picked our instruments up, I suppose it was a fun hobby and a dream to always want to be like our heroes. Nowadays, some existential crisis’ later, It’s our therapy I think. Or certainly mine anyway. It’s our way of journalling how we are feeling emotionally and we hope that it can connect with other like-minded people who feel the same. Using it as a healthy release and hopefully finding some sense of community along the way.

7. Where was your last gig?

Liam: The last show we played was at a venue called The Meeting Place in Barrow-in-Furness. That was in 2022. It was the last show we played with our old line-up, and in fairness, was a busy show and everyone went nuts. We’re really itching to get back at it!

8. Where would you like to play?

Ste: Bloodstock Open Air is a festival close to our hearts and encapsulates everything we love about the genre!

Liam: Yeah 100% Bloodstock Open Air and Download main stages. The holy grail really, isn’t it!

Danny: I don't have any specific place I wanna play, just so long as the sound's good and the crowd goes hooray

9. Who would you like to share stages with?

Ste: I’d love to play a show with Darkest Hour, I’ve seen their live shows and they look insane. Such a good band

Liam: I’d personally love to tour with Sylosis or Bleed From Within. Having followed both of their trajectories since 2011 and always checking the social media posts/stories, they look like insanely fun people to tour with haha. That, and they’re two of our favorite bands in the Shrike camp!

The Black Dahlia Murder, Cannibal Corpse, Necrophagist, Opeth

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

Ste: Yeah I get pre-show anxiety every single time.

Sometimes it’s worse than others, there’s no rhyme or reason, whether it’s a big venue or small venue, big crowd or small, it can and does happen.

As for ways to deal with it, the only thing that’s ever worked for me is asking “Did I practice to the fullest before this show?” If the answer is yes then I couldn’t possibly be any more prepared, which means I must be at my best.

It’s a difficult one to deal with, sometimes it disappears the second the show starts and I can fully enjoy playing, other times it completely stops me from getting into it and I spend the whole time worrying about getting everything perfect. Another thing to remember is that absolutely nobody cares if you mess up

I did the ultimate screw-up during a section where it was meant to be just guitar and drums for a small section, I completely forgot what was coming so I stopped playing, Nobody noticed and someone mentioned afterward that it sounded cool with just the guitar on its own anyway!

Liam: I used to get it like Ste does when I was a lot younger. I can still get it occasionally depending on the size of the show, but for the most part I think a sort of exposure therapy helped me. The more I did it and chucked myself into the thick of it, the less scary it became. The more I’d plan “back-ups” for gear breaks or playing mistakes, I think in a sort of OCD ritual kind of way, that actually used to make me worse, because it would keep the cycle of anxiety and intrusive thoughts there. So I now make sure I practice the set before, make sure my gear is ready, and then whatever happens on the day happens. It’s completely out of my control until it’s happening in real-time.

Danny: I’ve personally never had stage fright, but I imagine it's like anything you're scared of, best thing to do is just feel the fear and do it anyway

11. Which bands/artists have inspired you the most?

Liam: Mine personally have been the ‘Roadrunner’ classics of the mid to late 2000s (Trivium, Machine Head, Gojira, etc.) and the melodic death metal giants also of the same time (The Black Dahlia Murder, At The Gates, In flames, etc.) However, some of my non-metal influences include Radiohead, The Smiths, and The Beatles! For playing live, bands like The Dillinger Esc Plan, Converg,e and Every Time I Die always stood out way more to me. The energy is so infectious and that really bled into my own personal playing style.

Ste: Chris Adler formally of Lamb of God definitely had an influence on me particularly during the writing of the first EP. Since then I have tried to remain as original as possible to create my own stamp, but some of my favorite drummers (& bands) include Mastodon’s Brann Dailor, Gorjira’s Mario Duplantier, Ex-Slayer’s Dave Lombardo, Meshuggah’s Thomas Haake and Tool’s Danny Carey

Danny: Mine would be: Megadeth, Necrophagist, The Zenith Passage, The Black Dahlia Murder, Between the Buried and Me, Job for a Cowboy, Cannibal Corpse, Strapping Young Lad

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

Liam: Nothing weird yet! Just inquiries about merch and where the bar is usually haha

13. What do you think of your fans, how important are they to you?

Liam: Not to sound clichè, but if it wasn’t for people coming to shows and supporting our music, We’d be nothing without them. I mean, we always write the music for ourselves first and foremost, and that won’t ever change. But when people come up to us at shows or members of other bands we play with come over to hang, that’s the cherry on the cake for us really. That’s the community aspect that we love about what we do!

14. What do you think of our website?

Liam: It’s very well put together! It looks very professional! We should probably make one like yours ourselves one day! Haha

15. Anything to add? New music, gigs etc?

Liam: Thank you for featuring us! Thanks for reading. Our debut album ‘The Divine and the Serpentine’ comes out next year 21/02/25. Please pre-save it and run those streams up! Thank you!