We had the chance to sit down for a chat with the amazing Tooth & Dagger the other day, talking about their latest single and tours and their sound in general. Check it out below!

How would you describe your sound?

Inadequately. People need to listen for themselves because there is a lot more than good old heavy riffs going on: we love blending genres and a lot of what we are writing now is peppered with electronic elements and an orchestral score – playing with a live orchestra would be a dream come true. We’ve had a lot of comparisons to Architects, especially with our new single ‘Drift’, and no doubt they’re one of the bands we all vibe with. Linkin Park has been another name mentioned. Our lead singer Dante is an incredibly diverse vocalist so people don’t quite know what to make of us as it’s hard to tie us in to any particular genre. Although we are under the metal umbrella, and looooove breakdowns, there’s a lot of groove and bounce in what we do, we try to have fun, and we try to keep people guessing as to what will happen next – three of us already sing and growl live, but there’s been a lot of talk about Phil Collins on this last tour…

You’ve just put out a new single, it seems to have gone down well?

We’re delighted with the response to ‘Drift’ so far. People who know our back catalogue might be surprised at what they are hearing: orchestral arrangements, acoustic guitars, synths… an attempt at dubstep!… That made us a wee bit apprehensive before we put it out, but the positive feedback has put that out of our mind. This is us, and we’re proud of it. We’ve put down a marker with ‘Drift’ as it was a big turning point for us as a band.

Would you say your writing has evolved on it compared to your work couple of years ago when you first started out?

Hugely. Like night and day. It’s pretty typical for bands to have very strong shared influences which naturally guide their sound in the beginning, but we didn’t have that at all! A friend of ours described our approach as like “driving with 5 hands on the wheel”, because we have such a diverse range of influences, styles and tastes. Imagine trying to get Fall Out Boy, Elton John, the Prodigy and Gojira to collaborate and you’re starting to get an idea of what we are up against! Knitting all that together has been…challenging, but worth it. We’ve developed a better understanding for each other so the writing feels more collaborative and unified even if, like ‘Drift’ did, it started out as one person’s brainchild.

Is this new single the start of an album or EP cycle? Or is the plan to stick to singles for now?

There is a lot of creativity bubbling away within the band at the moment just desperate to burst out. It’s time we harnessed that, so we are currently blasting through all the little ideas which we squirrel away in voice notes, half memories, rehearsal recordings, napkin lyrics etc and turning the best of those into our first full-length album. We’re already gigging some new unreleased material and it has been going down really well on this tour, so we’ve got a feeling another single or two will sneak out soon. It’s no secret we are excited about where our music is right now and what is coming next, because we truly feel a Tooth & Dagger ‘sound’ is emerging and we just want to ride that wave and see where it takes us.

What would you say the state of the underground music scene is in currently?
Seems to be better than it has been in a while!

The sheer number of bands is astounding. We can’t keep up! Clearly there is an appetite for people to create music which has to be a good thing. We would all like to see more of those bands making it to the very top but there are encouraging signs for sure. South Arcade are smashing it right now; Acres are going out to the US too; Native James will be huuuuge this year; AltBlkEra have worked hard to build massive hype for their new album; our friends Nameless are on Alyx Holcombe’s radar… the list goes on. It’s tough for venues of course, but we saw excellent examples of how it can be done successfully on our recent tour with Away With the Seas.

Got a busy gigging year planned? You’re on tour with Away with the Seas, right?

Our busiest so far and we’re having a blast! The tour with AWTS was wicked. A big success. 4 cities we’d never played before, so many new friends, incredible crowds and some great memories. Friday in Chelmsford and Saturday in Cambridge were near enough full capacity and we feel honoured to have been a part of that, especially since many small venues are struggling to stay open at the moment. In both cases, the management and staff were top notch, with a clear goal to grow their local scene by being an entertainment hub. It’s only the beginning though; we are back out at the End of Feb in the midlands and hitting the South West in July. We’re also taking part in Birmingham’s metal 2 the masses so you never know…Bloodstock?

You’re pretty active on social media, do you have any advice on a band just starting out on how to use it to their advantage?

We’re glad that you think so haha. We are still learning how to best utilise the various platforms, but are enjoy connecting with our fan base which although small, is growing. Advice? It’s a cliche, but be yourself. People need real connections in life and that’s not going to happen if you’re not authentic, so try and showcase who you really are and what the band is about. Unless you’re a dick, in which case just be nice! Seriously.

Do you have a dream tour lineup you’d want to be a part of? Anyone you’d want to support or bring along with you?

It’s got to be Sleep Token. We all went to their Birmingham show with Bilmuri supporting…unbelievable. We’re all obsessed. Obviously Archtitects, BMTH, Bad Omens are at the top of their game. As a smaller band, the ideal is to play with bands whose fans have a good chance of enjoying our music too. Don Broco springs to mind, but of the more up and coming bands: Blackgold would be a lot of fun to see night after night, Conquer Divide have so many elements that we adore, Dreamstate have mad energy and Defences definitely have a strong sound. Over in the USA, it’s got to be Aurorawave, that would be an incredible tour!