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Unleash The Archers - We’ve found out we've sure grown closer through this time, as a band Aanbevolen

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Unleash The Archers - We’ve found out we've sure grown closer through this time, as a band

Unleash The Archers were formed in 2007 by front-woman Brittney Slayes, together with her partner and the band’s drummer Scott Buchanan, while attending the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. One of the highlights on the first festival day of Alcatraz Metal Fest 2021 was the Canadian band Unleash The Archers. Afterwards we had a nice conversation with frontwoman Brittney Slayes, about this performance, the hunger to play live again, the latest album 'Abyss' and further future plans.

The band has been around for a few years now, what are some of the highs and lows so far?
For every band these times are one of the lows I guess, but that’s ok. The highs? Of course the wonderful festivals we have played, and this festival Alcatraz Metal Fest is an amazing way to come back, after the corona virus. The lows? I guess back in 2013 when there was a huge lineup change going on; that was a difficult time for the band.

You are on stage since 2007. In music way, that’s a pretty long time. What has changed the most in the scene over the years in your opinion?
Definitely being a female in the scene has changed a lot. It’s nice to see that more and more women play heavy metal, and not just vocalists, they play all instruments, so to me that’s maybe the most important change in the scene. When we started there were very few women for me to hold as inspiration, and I am happy to see that is not the case now.

But when I look around I still see the metal scene it’s still a man’s world, I wish it was different, but you see it differently?
You’re right in a way, but the whole world is still a man’s world right now, you see it in all things; movies, business, sports. There is of course still a long way to go, but things are slowly getting better.

I See you on stage at Alcatraz Metal Fest and I don’t think it’s only power metal what you guys doing. But why does it be named Power metal then?
I think it has something to do with my vocal style, there is much power metal influence in my voice. There is also this energy of guitar playing associated with power metal, but when it comes to writing songs? We have a very different influences. We are big fans of Black Metal and Death metal, but also some pop and rock, so when we write we are not putting any boundaries on ourselves. We write what we feel, and if we feel like writing something super heavy we write that, if we want to include synth, we do.

Last year you released the new album ‘Abyss’, a conceptual sequel to Apex (2017). (If I'm not wrong) , how were the reactions?
We got very good reactions. The record came out during COVID in a time that everyone needed something new and fresh. A lot people where excited because it was something to look forward to, something to be a light in the darkness. So it was very well received.

Why release an album in the middle of a pandemic? Why not wait till this was over?
In the early days of lockdown I was listening to Spotify every day, and was excited to find new things, new bands and new albums. I was constantly searching, and I knew that we had the chance to be that for others.  When napalm suggested we push the album back to 2022 I said no, we need to release it now, we need to let people hear this album.  We also were very much in love with the record ourselves, and I don’t think we could have held out much longer!

Hasn't it all become a little bit more down to earth compared to the old days? Less more rock’n’roll then it use to be?
I think you are right in this; bands are not so aloof anymore, we are regular people and we connect so much more with the fans than the old ‘rockstars’ used to.  The industry doesn’t work the way it used to; you have to connect with your fans on a more personal level otherwise they won’t invest in you.  You are just another piece of music with no face, and there is too much of that now thanks to digital technology, so you have to be down to earth.  You find success through how you treat your fans, and no other way, not anymore.  You must appreciate them and make them feel loved!

You guys yourself jokingly called it a "blackened folk-infused melodic power symphonic death record" on your Facebook page; tell us more about it?
Hahahaha yes, this comes back to our influences, we have so many, and we always try to incorporate them all.  We have tracks on the new album that are very synth heavy, and some that are more death-metal influenced, and some that have folk-metal elements, and some that are straight-up power metal songs.  We never like to put ourselves into a certain genre, so often we just say we play ‘heavy metal’, but as a joke on this newest album we decided to include all the genres, because everyone in metal seems to take them so seriously lol.

You just said you listen to Spotify. Just like streaming, I think Spotify it’s a good thing to find out new music, but the artists don’t get paid much. Is in these days still needed to make a new album then? If people listen to Spotify and find your music there, they don’t need to buy a new record. Why make records then?
You have to adapt, you have to change with the times.  With the advent of Spotify it has become more about singles and constant content than it has about albums.  That being said, I still think records are important, they are just created in a different way now.  You release one single a month for ten months, and then at the end voila, you have a record.  Then you can tour that record and your fans get to see it live, but the excitement lasts for much longer and you can consistently sell merch around the idea.  I think we are going to embrace this new way of making music, it’s new and exciting, it inspires a new form of creativity, I think it’s great.

I guess it was your first concert since long time. The hunger for 'playing live again' is huge I suppose; How big was the hunger to play live?
At first I wasn’t sure I would remember how to do it, it had been so long, but it only took a song or two and we were back in the swing of things.  Not being able to play live has definitely been the worst part about covid, and I don’t think a lot of people realized how badly it affected live music and live performance in general. We are so excited to be back at it though, it is what we have waited so long for!

There were some streaming, but very few in the metal scene. Did you do any, why not/well? And what is your opinion about it?
Yes, we did one live stream for the album release back in August 2020.  We set up at a venue just like a regular live show, but instead of people in the audience we had eight cameras filming eight different angles.  It was a lot of fun and our fans really enjoyed it, but it was not even close to performing live.  There is something about connecting with an audience that can’t be replaced.  A lot of people think that livestreaming will have a permanent place in the industry but I am not interested in doing that without a crowd ever again.  It was necessary for the times but nothing will ever replace a live show.  Nothing.

What are the further future plans for the band? As far as that is possible? Continue touring after alcatraz? New releases?
We return home to Canada for a week and then we are immediately back on the road through the United States for all of September, then we have a few shows in Canada in October, and then we return to Europe in November and December.  We play Aarschot on December 17th and hope to see some of our fans from Alcatraz there!  Hopefully nothing gets cancelled, things are not looking good right now but hopefully we can get it all sorted by the end of the year and the tour will go forward.

Not new songs? In these days of corona I hear much artist compose new songs, you not have composed new songs?
Unfortunately no, we were so busy with releasing ‘Abyss’ that we did not have time to write anything new.  We want to focus on this album and tour it as much as we can and then once we’ve done that we will settle down in 2022 to write something new, but not before then.

Did you found out you become stronger as band after this times?
Yes, absolutely. We all know a few bands who did not make it, and that is really sad to hear, but yes I think we have grown stronger through this. We all embraced the band even more through COVID and continued to practice and play together and stayed in constant contact with our fans.  We have always been close friends but we are even more united in our ambition for this band now.

That’s something I found out at your concert too, you of course in the spotlight, but I see a band who is looking at each other and playing together as one. It’s important.
That is indeed very important. I would not be where I am now, without my band members. It’s not about me or any individual, it’s about the whole band. If anyone ever forgets that, that’s when the problems start to come. We are one team, we are a family.

What are the further ambitions? is there something like a goal that you want to achieve? or are you not working on that?
A lot of festivals that we were booked for that ended up not happening were milestones for us, like Wacken, so that is still on the list. That’s a big goal for us. We also want to play in Russia, South America, Australia, all of the places we were supposed to tour with the ‘Abyss’ record before COVID happened.  It’s always about touring as much as possible, we want to go everywhere.

Your ambition is not become world famous and play at very big avenue or make a lot money with your music? To give an example? I ask this, because every time I ask that they say ‘it’s not my ambition’ but there are artists who are doing that..
I mean, if we could make money by doing what we love, I am not going to say no to that, but that is not the reason we do this.  We love to play heavy metal, we love making music, it’s about the creative outlet.  When you see bands that do it for money or fame it’s obvious, that insincerity comes out in the music, you can feel it, and you feel no connection with the music they create.  At the end of the day, we love that people enjoy our music, but really we don’t create it for them, we do it for ourselves, because we would go crazy if we didn’t!

Thanks for this nice interview, I wish you much good luck in the near and further future. And hope to see you back on stage soon
Thank you so much for having me!  Hope to see you later this year! - Brittney Slayes

Alcatraz Metal Festival 2021 - Eindelijk nog eens los, de metalfanaten zijn U dankbaar voor dit schitterend 3daags feest! (musiczine.net)

www.unleashthearchers.com

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