We had the pleasure of chatting to Welsh metalcorers Scratch One Grub the other day about their recent debut album, plans for the year and the state of the scene. Check it out below!
How would you describe your sound?
The Grubman – “Energetic, aggressive, furious, heavy, in your face. Elements of many genres combined.”
What inspired the release of an album practically to start with over an EP or more standalone singles?
Lewis – “Me and Grubman wrote an EP’s worth of material together and in the meantime, I had an EP’s worth of material. It just made sense to combine the 2 and create a full album. We could have released everything as singles or EP’s, which would have been good to keep up the streaming engagement. However, having an album to your name is something to be proud of and quite rare for grassroots bands to say these days. I think going forward, it will be more single and EP focused just so we can maintain listener engagement.”
Grubman – “Also gives the audience more to listen to and gives us a chance to tell a story and have more songs for the crowd to know before seeing us live.”
Is there a particular story or theme around the album, or is it more a story for each individual track?
Grubman – “Individual based as a whole. We feel like the album in its entirety is showcasing the songwriting abilities. The album is paced very well and that takes you on a journey in itself.”
Lewis – “I like the idea of a concept album, but in my opinion, the idea for one has to be truly solidified and consistent. I’m not sure if we have the patience for that. Lyrically there are some cross cutting themes I suppose.”
What is the writing process like for the band?
Grubman – “Lewis and I come together with ideas and build upon them. They are passed onto the band for them to contribute any ideas they might have.”
Lewis – “Sometimes the initial ideas are very basic and brief which I love, as it leaves plenty of space for creative opportunities. My approach specifically is to riff around with a drum track and piece things together. Sometimes I set myself up to write something with a specific sound, otherwise sonically, we might lack diversity.”
Do you have a favourite track on the album? And if so, which is it and why?
Lewis – “‘Ysbryd’. There are so many layers to that song in every element of the music and it’s just a beautiful track in general. Full of emotion, heaviness and melodies.”
Grubman – “‘Absolution’. It’s the first song we wrote together over 5 years ago.”
Busy year planned promoting the album with live shows?
Grubman – “We did an album launch show and have an anniversary gig coming up too. We have other gigs lined up across South Wales with some amazing bands. The friends and connections we’ve made over just a year’s time are great and we love hitting local venues.”
Lewis – We’re constantly looking for shows, especially to follow up from the batch we already have that lead into the spring and summer. Can’t get enough of it!”
What do you think the scene is like these days? Welsh scene seems especially good!
Lewis – “I think the South Wales metal scene is awesome! There genuinely is a great selection of gifted artist here and we are proud to say that we have made strong connections with a lot of them. I think South Wales will remain this way forever.”
Grubman – “We are proud to be a part of the Welsh metal scene!”
Do you have a dream tour lineup you’d want to be a part of? Any bands you’d want to support or friends you want to bring along?
Grubman – “Playing with Slipknot would be a dream, also playing some major festivals such as Bloodstock and Download.
Lewis – “Agreed, especially Download since we have attended many. Metallica is an easy and unoriginal answer, however my reason is that it’s because they play stadiums. Don’t get me wrong, I love Metallica and being a part of their lineup would be an honour alone, but not many metal bands can play the stadiums that they do.”
If you could have written one song from history, what would it be and why?
Grubman – “‘Money for Nothing’. Best riff ever.”
Lewis – “My answer used to be ‘Happy Song’ by Bring Me The Horizon. Now though, I don’t really know. Does that mean that music history would have to be re-written to some degree? That can be considered a consequence to this wish and I wouldn’t want to do that. I am grateful that all the music we have now exists, no matter who wrote it. If you want a short answer then it would be this: History is constantly being written. Now that Scratch One Grub are here, we will create our own part.”