Pop punk metalcore band WE ARE SOVEREIGN have been around for sometime, releasing music including a recent single, forming in 2019, the band talks of covid, content, and more below.
1. Tell me about making the music video for "Nostalgia (Acceptance)".
Laura: Hey! First of all thanks for supporting our band it's a pleasure to do the interview.
The making of Nostalgia started with the idea of having clocks hung absolutely everywhere. I was thinking of how the whole Nostalgic theme is based on time so it'd be really cool to reflect on that throughout the video. With myself writing the music videos what I usually do is start with a small idea and then build off and stem from that. As times goes on it gradually comes together as I start to add things. My imagination is wild as people will say who know me quite well haha so my brain is always thinking of things or is inspired to write. We filmed the video with Loki Films in one day and actually filmed the main performance scene in our guitarists Seb’s sisters living room haha! She let us have free reign with it as she was due to decorate which she held off for us just so we could use the living room bless her!
When writing the video, I really wanted to bring home what the songs stands for, for example locking away the polaroid’s at the end is a visual representation that we can store memories but in reality the hardest part is having to let go and you can never relive or get those exact moments back ever again. We had some fire spinners which was amazing to film, all the stuff used in the video like the kerrang posters, ADTR hoodie, the school tie, the barbies it's all actually my exact stuff from when I was a kid/teenager haha! Josh who played the part of sneaking out the window we bought him a wig to really throw back and he actually had nostalgia tattooed on him in real life a few weeks before the video. We just added some ink to wipe away on the day to make it look fresh. We filmed at a clock shop in Nottingham, the scenes in the bedroom/stairs were filmed in our drummer Alfie's bedroom.
For the main performance room, me and Ash (clean vocalist) went down to decorate the room a few weeks before filming. We spent the day spray painting our logo on the walls, hanging up the clocks, sticking up the polaroid’s which if you look carefully you'll see they're pictures of us all from when we were younger. It was an amazing day and we absolutely love working with Shaun Hodson.
I feel like he understands my brain and exactly what we want to achieve visually as a band. When I'm writing the videos I have so much confidence that every time he's going to deliver. He's a talented guy and we work so well together.
2. Why did you decide upon this track to be made into a single let alone a music video?
After the pandemic ended, we spent a lot of time in the studio finishing up vocals and finalizing the material we had. I think with us a band we have the "it feels right" feeling when we make decisions. Might sound mad to an outsider haha but when we know we know haha! We always follow that feeling and with Nostalgia hearing it back as a final we just knew it was going to be the next one. I also planned all the themes of the songs before I met the rest of the guys so I'm constantly working on music video ideas for each track. With the Nostalgia video it just naturally fell into place and the ideas were flowing so with that we also knew it was ready to go as a single and video.
3. Where did the band's name come from and does it have a meaning to it?
In the early days in the creation of We Are Sovereign me and a potential band member sat together at the time and wrote down loads of band name ideas and that one ended up being the final one chosen that stood out and represented the band's story the most. The band name idea evolved from the concept of being in loads of bands previously and with us all getting older this realistically is our last shot of making our dreams come true as musicians. We Are Sovereign stands for the representation that this band we feel is the highest we’ve ever felt musically and visually amongst everything we’ve ever been a part of. The name represents power and being on top of your game and I felt this band is definitely the outcome of all the things we’ve learnt in previous bands so the name fits perfectly.
4. Why did you decide upon the genre choice that you did?
To be honest overall the genre thing naturally happened. When I started We Are Sovereign I never intended on a set genre it was more of a what feels right to make or what comes out when we're trying to express ourselves. I always feel when writing there should be no rules if it sounds good and it works then for me genres go out the window haha! You'll hear more of a variety of genres in our future stuff where we definitely mix it up. We have a blend of pop punk, soft ballads while keeping our metalcore roots throughout. I'm proper into adding samples into our songs which you will hear in our tracks and now it's naturally become a part of us. I think as a band we're so broad with our music taste so we'll definitely be continuing to experiment with our influences going forward.
5. The band has been a band for only 3 years, what has developed or changed since your forming back in 2019?
We've all definitely progressed as musicians and found our sound as a band and also as individual musicians. The main thing is our sound. If you could hear our demos from back in 2019 you possibly wouldn't recognize them haha! I started the demos musically and then met Ash co vocalist first. I'd say the demos have progressed and come along way as it took a while to find the final members but we also had a stall with covid and lockdown happening which gave us more time. In that time we definitely found ourselves and what worked for us. Me and Ash definitely have a different approach to writing vocals to what we did back in 2019 so in reality a lot has changed.
6. Would you say that your a covid band, since covid-19 began in 2019?
We wouldn't class ourselves as a covid band as the idea of the band and everything began before covid was even thought of or a thing. We would say that covid had it's positives and negatives for the band though haha! It was a nightmare finding final members as we couldn't leave the house or mix, we couldn't move forward and record etc. We were sat on these demos raring to go it was so frustrating. The positive was it gave us more time. We were sat on so much time which is so precious. It meant we could plan and make sure that when we came on to the music scene we had it right.
7. Has the band been out on the road for 2022, if so where have you been and played?
So as a band we have done everything backwards but not by choice, it's just happened this way! When the first restriction from lockdown was lifted we recorded our first single and music video we then had another restriction which stopped us from rehearsing or having 5 people
in the same room, it was a nightmare. Madly we only found a final line up in 2021. So as much as it might sound crazy that we've not played a show yet even though I started it in 2019, we've only had a full line up and been a full band for just over a year. I suppose we've done it a different way but it's worked for us. We're currently rehearsing and preparing behind closed doors for live shows. We have got a festival booked in, for anybody reading keep your eyes on our socials for updates. We can't wait to play shows! We're so excited for the future of the band!
8. Besides this single, you have another track released titled "Bridges Burnt Lessons Learnt (Betrayal)" tell me about it, video and song itself.
It was the first single and music video we ever did as a band and was definitely a special moment and experience. It was also special to me as it was the first music video I've fully written. We had Ryan Tuck O'Leary from Fit For A King guest on the cleans on the track which was also pretty special.
We came straight out of lockdown laid down the vocals and went for it and booked in the video. The song itself is based on the subject Betrayal and also based to some degree on a true story. The video was so fun to put together and all of it was filmed in Nottingham. It was a bit crazy carrying a coffin into a graveyard in the middle of the afternoon haha!
The concept of the video is to visually represent that human decisions and behavior's can have drastic consequences. We wanted to go really deep with it and really portray forms of betrayal. We filmed the performance part of it in the Savoy Cinema in Nottingham which was pretty cool. I got to smash plates and set paper on fire so it was a pretty mad day overall haha. It was also the first ever time we performed together as a band in that video. Also a fun fact for you it wasn't supposed to be our first single but once we stepped into the studio and heard it come to life we and laid down the vocals we fell in love with it so it felt right to be. It was the first ever song we are sovereign made and laid vocals to in the studio.
9. Does the band have any new music in the works like an EP or album?
We have loads of new music we can't wait to show you! There could be an big announcement for a release in 2023....can't give too much away though haha!
10. How would you describe your style?
We’d describe our music as a mix of raw story telling real life emotion accompanied by music created from every genre you can imagine
blended together. It’s not just music it’s a real life story but instead of being read out it’s being sung and screamed out. We have synth, we have emotional guitar solos, we have screams over pianos, electronics and no song sounds the same.
We’re a band with music you can listen to and walk away and think I’ve felt that I’ve been at that point in my life. If you imagine a mix of 2000 metal core, elements of pop punk and post hardcore along with synth strings and choir you’re about there.
11. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can listen to us on all major streaming platforms such as spotify, apple music, amazon we'd recommend heading to YouTube to watch
our music videos as there's fire spinning, smashing of plates, being left at the alter, madness really!
We have sexy merch available at - https://wearesovereignband.bigcartel.com/
Here's the quickest way to watch/ listen to our music:
Bridges Burnt Lessons Learnt (Betrayal) - https://found.ee/bridgesburntlessonslearntoutnow
Nostalgia (Acceptance) - https://found.ee/nostalgiaoutnow
12. Would you like to add anything more that you have planned for this year and the next or in general?
For the rest of the year we're preparing for a huge release, filming more music videos and rehearsing ready for hitting the road. We might go quiet for a little bit but we can assure you we're going to appear with a huge bang.
In the meantime you can keep up to date with us, watch/read our interviews and find everything We Are Sovereign here:
https://linktr.ee/wearesovereign
Thank you to anybody reading this who has supported our band so far and to anybody new, welcome to the We Are Sovereign family!
- Laura, Ash, Seb, Alfie & Sam
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