Norfolk based, progressive band Solestial are in preparations for releasing their upcoming E.P EXORDIUM.
Solestial are Liam – harsh vocals. Rob – guitar and clean vocals. Jesse – guitar and clean vocals. George – bass. Alex – drums
I managed to catch a chat with the guys to get the low down on things.
Yo! Fellas!
Introduce yourselves..
L: I’m Liam or Teg, I’m 27 and I am the screamer for Solestial.
A: I’m Alex or Perry, I’m 26 from Kings Lynn and I play drums.
R: I’m Rob, I’m 34 and I play guitar and sing.
J: I’m Jesse, I’m 26 and I play guitar and sing.
G: I’m George, although the guys occasionally call me Gorg I’m 27 and I play bass.
Thank you for taking the time out to chat with me, how are you all doing?
We are doing very well, thank you, how are you?
I am ace pie! Thank you for asking.
What inspired and motivated you all to start Solestial? How did you all meet and decide to just go for it?
R: After playing in multiple cover bands through the years I felt somewhat unfulfilled, like something was missing. After collaborating with George and some other friends we soon began writing original material. After a few months we had written four tracks and with continued development, they took their place on our upcoming EP.
Things were going well however the lineup was set to change. Initially, we recruited Jesse as the vocalist and our chemistry started to develop. Shortly after Jesse joined we parted ways with our original drummer and lead guitarist which resulted in Jesse taking up the spot as second guitarist.
Jesse recommended Alex as a drummer who he had worked with previously, he was a cut above the other drummers we had previously worked with and Alex joining the instrumental lineup for the band meant it was complete with talented musicians in every area. Everything seemed to be falling in to place.
After a while the four of us felt that something was still missing but we couldn’t quite put our finger on what. Eventually we realised that to take us to the next level we needed an aggressive, in your face vocalist but we didn’t know where to start with the search. It’s never easy recruiting for an original band because not only do you need to find someone who is a master of their craft, you need a personality that fits within the existing bonds that have already been created.
I reached out to a good friend of mine Jack from The Human Veil (they are incredible, if you haven’t heard of them you should give them a listen) and he suggested approaching Liam.
Liam turned out to be the final piece and just like that we had all the pieces we needed for Solestial to get up and running. I can comfortably say that without any one of the five of us being a part of this, we would not be going in the direction that we are currently.
A band needs to be a brotherhood to survive and that is exactly what we are as Solestial. The bond we have extends beyond the music.
G: So it’s been a long process but me and Rob started jamming years ago and eventually we created the perfect line up that we have now, we have all known each other for years and all have a love for the same music so everything just fell into place really and since then we’ve been working hard to perfect our craft playing shows and recording our first EP!
A: I Joined Solestial back in 2022. I had already played with Jesse and George in previous bands since 2011 and I had met Rob previously when he filled in for our bassist at a gig, we did about ten years ago. Jesse had suggested me as they were looking for a drummer, so I went to one of their practices and apparently I was good enough.
J: When I came on board Rob and George were going to a practice. George asked if I wanted to come and sing for them so I turned up to the practice.
L: So I was the last member to join. I was going through a bit of a rough patch in my life, and I hadn’t been involved with a project for about 8 years. I’d started to practice screaming again in my car and was doing the odd bit here and there on long journeys and decided I wanted to try and find a band and really commit to it again, music has always been something I’ve loved and for one reason or another I hadn’t actively tried to be involved with it for a long time.
I bumped into an old friend on a night out (Jack from THV) and told him this and he told me he knew someone looking for a screamer and I asked him to put me in touch. A couple of weeks later I got a message from Rob asking me to come down to meet the guys and then for a practice a couple weeks later and the rest is history. It was quite helpful that I knew Jesse and George from the last project I was involved with, so it was a pretty easy process to become re-acquainted and settle in.
Taking influence from a selection of sub genres, you twist and mould them to offer listeners a unique blend of metal. How would you describe your sound?
L: I wouldn’t really know how to describe it, we do tend to incorporate our influences and I think with the E.P there is a little bit of something for everyone on there. This is one of the hardest questions we face because we don’t really think we sound like another band in particular, we do get a lot of comparisons with bands and it’s always nice to see what kind of regard people hold you in musically, we just write what we enjoy and try to write songs that will make us stand out and will make people want to listen to more of our stuff.
A: I think it’s hard to describe our sound, we all have inspiration from a wide variety of bands, hopefully in the future people will refer to our sounds just as ‘Solestial’s sound’.
R: This isn’t a question that can be answered with a simple “oh we sound like these guys”. I was in high school during the 2000s and was exposed to an explosion of diverse metal for example system of a downs toxicity album and slipknots debut to name a couple, and I loved it. During that time there were so many amazing bands around that resonated with me and the sound from that period has definitely influenced my style of writing.
There is a bit of everything in our upcoming E.P from Killswitch Engaged, Trivium, Bullet for my Valentine, Slipknot, Funeral for a Friend, it’s all there in our own twisted format. My goal is to write music that is anything but boring for the listener. I like to think that each of our tracks will take you on a journey and if you can make people feel something from listening to your music then you have something special.
J: I think our sound currently is very early 2000s, along the lines of Killswitch Engaged but you can’t really define it because we all take influence from different places.
G: I’d say we try to change it up as much as possible mixing between melodic moments and pure heaviness to keep things interesting for us and everyone listening. There is something for everyone to enjoy within our music!
Who inspires you most as musicians and why?
L: My biggest inspiration has always been Oli Sykes from BMTH. Pray for Plagues was the first really heavy song that I listened to when I was about 11 years old and I was instantly a fan. I think I was around 15 when I thought there’s no reason I can’t do that so yeah, I can also respect the transformation and development of Oli as a vocalist over the years and how they’ve managed to continue reaching new heights whilst being experimental.
A: Personally, I have been inspired by a lot of great drummers from different Genres such as; Danny Carey, Kerim Lechner, Greyson Nekrutman and most of all the Rev from Avenged Sevenfold.
J: My biggest inspiration is Avenged Sevenfold. I’ve probably spent the best part of the last 15 years listening to them. The reason I really got into playing is because Alex tabbed out St Anger.
G: I can’t listen them all as honestly we’d be here forever but we all have a variety of different influences and the same ones all together. Personally it has to be guys like Periphery, mudvayne, old school bfmv and recently Polaris have been a big one! Just all very talented musicians who we all aspire to be like!
SQUEAK!! Exciting times ahead! You are in preparations of dropping your E.P soon (The appreciation of getting a sneak peak was very welcomed)
Which track is your favourite? Why?
L: For me Control is my favourite track. I genuinely think it is the best track on the E.P but it is also probably the heaviest track on the EP. It is so fun to play live as well and probably the song we get most crowd interaction with.
A: My favourite track would probably be Backwards, it’s fun to play especially as we usually open with it, it also has my favourite Chorus. Stay would probably be a close second.
R: Honestly, I couldn’t pinpoint a favourite track, I’m attached to each of them equally for different reasons, when I write I’m usually in a dark place and the best art comes from a place of despair, right?
All I can say is each track differs in sound, style and emotion so to say I’ve a favourite would be stretching the truth.
J: Backwards. I think it’s a good blend of everyone’s inspiration in one song, it reflects each members best qualities and the chorus gets stuck in your head.
G: Control – this song always pushes me to tighter my playing and focus every time, music is so awesome because everyone can relate to songs in their own ways but to me it means breaking free of control of a situation after enduring the cycle of it for so long, trust me it’s a long story haha!
What’s the message behind it?
L: I honestly couldn’t tell you. Rob has written the majority of the lyrics on the E.P and I probably interpret it differently to the meaning it had when Rob wrote it however, that allows me to put my emotion into it when I perform.
J: I can’t go forwards, everything is in reverse.
What does Exordium mean to you and what have been the processes behind developing the E.P?
L: For me Exordium is the beginning. It is the culmination of years of hard work, and this is our announcement into the UK Metal scene and our way to really make a statement. We played our first show in April 2023, although we have been hammering socials and trying to play as many shows as possible, there has always been that selling point missing in terms of demonstrating our sound. Now that the EP is on the horizon it gives us that tool we have been missing to up to this stage.
A: Exordium is just the start for us, when I joined all the songs had already been written but I was given creative freedom to change the drums, all the songs have evolved a lot since they were first composed as we have all added our own touch along the way.
R: Exordium to me is the birth of something special. We are also actively working on our first album and we are pulling on the experience of every member to create a record that is going to be raw and will be more reflective of the direction we wish to go in as a band. I can say that the music will be a lot more complex that what we have already done.
Exordium is the first step on our journey to establishing ourselves and I am very excited for the release. The process has been long and drawn out for reasons I wont go in to but we are nearly ready to announce the release of our debut single ‘Backwards’ and the release of the full E.P.
J: It’s a good introduction to the direction we are looking to head in. The longer we’ve played together the more we’ve evolved and that will become apparent with future releases.
G: Exordium has been a long process for a varying number or reasons, but in general the meaning behind it is varied and tackles a number of subjects people can relate to in their own lives. It’s been a long process for sure but it’s helped us grow as musicians in many ways.
Photoshoots are fun, yay! Are you guys going to do a cheeky video?
L: The idea of shooting a video has been thrown around quite a lot but it’s not something that is on the radar currently. However, that’s not to say that in the future there won’t be and we are definitely planning on releasing some videos once we are in the release cycle for our album.
R: I mean, we’ve done a few photoshoots, I’m glad about it but I always feel awkward. It’s odd getting my picture take and I never know where to look and think am I standing in the right place, do I need to go more to the left, more to the right etc. I would love to be working towards a music video eventually there is just a monumental amount of planning that is required before we commit to that although I’m sure it would be a fantastic experience.
G: we absolutely love doing photoshoots it’s always a good time! And hmm a cheeky video you say? I’d say keep your eyes peeled for the future 100%!
You have a decent run of some excellent shows coming up, bobbing about and being noticed, sneaky tour maybe? Or E.P launch show?
L: Again, a tour is something that has been spoke about at the absolute earliest stage. For now it is more a ‘we would like to go on tour one day’ than a ‘let’s plan a tour for x’ but we will see what happens the remainder of this year. It’s a similar thing with an E.P launch show. We had a lot of unexpected delays with finishing recording the E.P which really skewed our idea of a release plan and to be quite honest, we didn’t really know what we were doing. Although it would have been nice to do a release show we are too eager to release the E.P to push it back again to compensate for a release show and we have a nice run of shows in April that hopefully, we can use to promote the E.P. With that being said we have taken a lot from this experience which will put us in a good position with future releases. We’ve done it once, we’ve made the mistakes and we know how to avoid the same mistakes in the future.
R: We do have a decent run of shows on the horizon and I am really excited to be support Once Awake for a couple of dates on their UK Tour (April 11th in Norwich and April 15th in Cambridge). Those guys are special and absolutely not to be missed.
G: I should think an E P release show will be in the works first but a tour is all in our minds for the future. Tours are awesome but a lot of work and planning over time is necessary, all in good time definitely!
Is there a band you would like to tour with?
L: For me personally, it would be BMTH. Like I’ve said they are my idols, they’re the reason I took an interest in metal and learning to scream in the first place and I am still a massive fan of theirs so that would be the dream.
A: There are a lot of bands I would like to tour with too many to name but Avenged Sevenfold would probably be top of my list as they got me in to metal music when I was younger and have been a big inspiration.
R: If I could tour with any band, it would be Polaris, hands down, that would be an insane opportunity.
J: It would have to be Avenged.
G: After our recent shows with Once Awake (awesome btw!) I’d say them hands down. Great band and great guys to work with and such friendly dudes in general, check them out!!
Let’s talk about festivals! Ooop!
Which one would you like to play and why?
L: God there’s so many. I think you have to look at your Downloads, Bloodstock, RockAMRing, Grasspop etc. I just think it would be crazy spending a weekend playing music and mingling with thousands of metalheads whether that be in the UK or in Europe or elsewhere in the world.
A: There are so many festivals now it would be amazing to play at Download or Bloodstock but there are plenty others outside of England it would be great to play one day.
R: That is something that has always been on my bucket list, to be on a stage that big, to be in front of all those people, it’s something I’ve dreamt of and I know with the boys in Solestial it is a very real possibility. Download would probably be the one that would make me feel like ‘you know what, I fucking did it.
J: It’s got to be download, that would be a really cool one to do, or RockAMRing because it’s fucking massive.
G: Download without a doubt! Probably one of the biggest in the UK with a mental variety of artists each year and in general the atmosphere looks amazing and somewhere I’d absolutely love to smash a set out at!
It’s not easy managing time and getting your creativity vibes on! Is there any advice you can give to aspiring musicians?
L: My advice would be to just let it happen. I cannot force myself to sit down and write lyrics and if I do it just feels too forced and I don’t think I’m at my best. I find most of my best ideas will come when I’m in the shower, driving, at work, you just need to let it come to you.
A: My advice would be to stick at it if you enjoy it, there have been a few times I haven’t been in any band but I have still played drums at home just as much as it is just something I enjoy if I didn’t enjoy it I wouldn’t play them.
R: Time management and finding the right vibe. We are quite lucky in the sense that we have a home studio and we have access to the same software and cloud services that allow us to share between devices so if any of us feel a spark we can get it down and share with the other guys and continue to develop it without needing to be in the same room.
My advice to any upcoming musicians is to make sure the people you are sharing your craft with are like your brothers and never give up, if you want something bad enough you make it work.
J: Don’t try and force it, just let it happen naturally. Always make sure you have vapour rub handy.
G: Most of our ideas tend to happen in the moment, always keep pushing forward and in general enjoy the process! We are all learning constantly and when in doubt practice, practice, practice!!
Has there ever been a moment where you’re on stage and something random or weird has happened? One you will never, ever forget?
L: There isn’t anything that majorly sticks out outside of your usual run of the mill things, although I have accidentally pulled my mic cable out mid verse twice (at different shows) and had to steal Jesses mic until I could plug it back in again. We also got a noise complaint when we were playing a set at a meet for a motorcycle club, that will stick with me forever.
A: Theres nothing that comes to mind yet but we have only been gigging about a year now so I like to think I’ve just been lucky, there are plenty of shows I have played in the past where something on the drums has broken part way through that always makes it memorable.
R: There have been a number of times I’ve messed up on stage. One that sticks with me is the transition period going from the 4th to 5th song in our set. The 4th song ends with a clean guitar and the 5th begins with my guitar having distortion that really hits when it comes in, should be a pretty simple transition right? Well I forgot to change off my clean channel so there was a short amount of time that the distortion was missing. That one will stick with me but part of being a musician is making adjustments on stage and when you play live anything can happen.
J: I can’t really think of one, I’ve got a couple of big notes that my voice hasn’t done me any favours for a couple times but that’s about it.
G: There’s quite a few crazy moments to be fair but off the top of my head having a complete power cut at one of my older shows years ago was a really confusing and weirdly hilarious way to start off a show, here’s to hoping that never happens again for sure!
Plug, plug PLUG!!!! Anything else you would like to add?
L: Go and check out our socials at linktr.ee/solestialband We are on all major socials, and we have a website, it’s the best way to keep up with what we’re doing and to see if we’ll be popping up nearby!
R: if we are ever nearby please come and check us out. I love the experience of playing live and seeing people enjoy the music that we are playing and people really going for it. It is absolute bliss.
J: Wear on that ass boxers, you’ll never look back.
G: Our debut E.P will be available on all major streaming platforms on April 29th and we really love to hear what people think so please let us know what you think! We also have merch available and be sure to check out our Facebook for all upcoming shows and you can also book tickets in advance easily! We all look forward to seeing you at our future shows!
What question would you like me to ask the next band I interview?
R: Sure, what to come play a show with us?
J: Jesse Lynch or Howard Jones?
G: Hearing how different musicians compose is always interesting so I’d ask have you ever struggled with writers block and if so how did you overcome it as this is something I know a lot of musicians struggle with.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer these.
Definitely check Solestial out, they are one to watch!
https://www.facebook.com/Solestialband
https://www.instagram.com/solestialband?igsh=Ynh0aW13NTFpbWdp
