Since forming in late 2010, CONTINENTS have moved from strength to strength, making a name for themselves, first locally and now world-wide thanks to signing to Victory Records in 2012. Starting out as little more than a bedroom “jam” in just over 2 years, CONTINENTS have proven themselves as one of the most exciting UK exports since the likes of Bring Me The Horizon & Architects. Since then they have played shows, toured, released music and have further shows, tours, and newer music all underway! Guitarist Darryl discussed the band's last release and the future activity for the next release and more!
1. Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Continents.
Darryl: Hey, I’m Darryl and I play guitar and for Continents.
2. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Darryl: It’s a weird one. None of us really knew each other before we started Continents. Myself and Tom Weaver (who left the band earlier this year) spoke once over Facebook – I had written some songs at home and decided to put a band together. I got Tom onboard, then we started head hunting the local scene and trying some people out. It’s crazy when you think about it… if you knew Continents closely, you would know that the chemistry within the band is incredible and for 5 random guys thrown in a room to have that bond is very lucky. The band then stuck to its original line up until earlier this year when Tom left the band, no bad blood but we had just grown apart. Not long after we welcomed our new guitarist Rhys Griffiths who fitted right in.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
Darryl: We’re spread over the South Wales area (UK). We are all from small towns so when we were younger there wasn't much else to do apart from get in trouble or learn to play an instrument! There’s always been a very strong scene in this area and we’re proud to be a part of it, there are so many bands I couldn't list them all.
4. Do you think not being from a big city like LA or NY influences your sound?#
Darryl: I guess so, I mean we live not too far our counties capital, Cardiff. But I wouldn't necessarily say it influences us apart from the fact that there’s not a lot to do where we live so we’d often spend our time trying to learn our instruments.
5. How did you guys come up with your band name?
Darryl: I think Tom thought of it one day. When we started we went through so many AWFUL band names (not to say that our current is much better!). He just came out with it one day and it was the best of the crop, it stuck from that day.
6. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?
Darryl: Phil’s not here right now so I’ll try to answer on his behalf. I would of said he tries to avoid clichés that are typically found in our scene. I know a lot of his writing is focused on government conspiracies and such. Have a listen to the track ‘Land Of The Free’ and you’ll see what I mean. Since joining the band, Rhys has been heavily involved with vocals giving Phil good back up. We’re all really excited.
7. Why did you pick "Pegasus, Pegasus" as your single?
Darryl: Pegasus was one of the first tracks we wrote as a band. We all really like the track and it is great fun to play live because the theme riff has a sort of bouncy riff to get you going. Pegasus has also been one of those songs that gets an atmosphere going, people climb all over Phil to sing the chorus hook. He loves it!
8. Why did you want that single to be made into a music video?
Darryl: We wanted to capture our live performance. We love playing live more than anything, it’s when we are at our best. Pegasus really captures that vibe for us and where we were at the time.
9. Who produced Idle Hands and what was it like working with them?
Darryl: We tracked Idle Hands with Stu Mckay at Studio 6 (Wootton Bassett, UK). Stu was really good to work with – professional, but we still had good fun. It’s important to get the right balance. We’re the kind of band that can fuck about all day but we need someone to crack the whip and tell us get our heads down. Once tracked, we sent the songs to Pete Rutcho who mixed and mastered the tracks. Pete has worked with many bands of a similar style so we knew he would do some really good work for us. We’re really happy with how it turned out.
10. Is there any story or concept behind the Idle Hands title?
Darryl: Yes, however you’d need to Phil/Tom about that!
11. Who did the cover art for Idle Hands and how much input did you have on it?
Darryl: A very talented guy by the name of Richey Beckett. We've been fans of his work for a long time, it’s insane. Each piece is pain staking construction made from thousands and thousands of ink dots. The Idle Hands artwork is completely hand drawn. We had a rough idea of the concept which we present to Richey, he run away with the idea and came up with a masterpiece. Richey has done VERY well for himself of recent, he deserves it.
12. Select two songs from Idle Hands and what inspired the lyrics.
Darryl: Phil needs to answer this, sorry.
13. Do you guys have any new music in the works?
Darryl: YES! We are most of the way through writing the follow up to Idle Hands. Honestly, we are so excited to show everyone what the band has achieved. We’re really dug in and found our sound, its fast, its intense, it’s heavy. Think of The Ghost Inside meets Converge. It’s a step in a different direction for sure, it feels much more natural to the band.
14. What are your upcoming touring and show plans for the remainder of the year?
Darryl: The remainder of this year sees us playing a few festivals throughout U.K. & Europe but we’re not playing as many shows at the moment in order to concentrate on releasing the new album. We are extremely passionate about this new album and want it to be perfect.
15. Has Continents ever played in the States or plan to do so in the future?
Darryl: We haven’t yet unfortunately although we are planning to soon. Unfortunately the cost involved in getting over to the states at the moment is astronomical and we just haven’t been in the position to do so. We know we have a good fan base over the states and we will 100% be over very soon, but we need to time in right.
Darryl: Hopefully details on the new album! We’re hoping to get release dates, titles, artwork etc sorted over the next few months.
17. Anything else you want to say to your fans?
Darryl: We want to thank you all, massively, for your support to the band. We have ups and downs but your continued loyalty to the band has picked us up when we needed it. We've put everything we have into this new record as we believe we owe it to our fans. Hopefully you will love it as much as we do.
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