Interviews: Tellers Scribe

On this new occasion, we had the opportunity to interview the Gothic Metal band Tellers Scribe from the UK. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name? Did you plan it or come out just like that?

When we pulled the band together before we wrote a single note of music, we decided to set out what the concept of the band would be and how we wanted to be perceived by people. The name was an important part of that, and we knew that we were going to be doing songs that related directly to stories or myths, etc, and we knew we were going to be obviously writing our own interpretations of those tales. We had a few ideas, but none really fit the concept, then the suggestion came out of Tellers Scribe (Teller of Tales & Scriber of Stories). We came up with the backstory of a society of collectors who gather tales through the ages, and we are this generation's incarnation.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

All members of the society have played in other bands or are currently playing in other bands. We are influenced by such a wide range of other artists that we knew we wanted there to be elements of groove, strong melodies, and atmosphere to each and every tale. Every musical beginning within the society has no boundaries, so any genre or style can be put forward, and the key for us is that it serves the tale.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Three members already play in another band, and the other two members played in a band together as well. We met at a Metal 2 the Masses event and got involved in a music video shoot, and after the video shoot, got discussed the concept of Tellers Scribe, it simply grew from there.

4. Each band member's favourite band?

There are simply so many bands to pick from and we have a vast range of cross over appeal but just some of the bands that influence our approach to music are Pantera, Alterbridge, Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, Limp Bizkit, Children of Bodom, Metallica, Korn, Sepultura, Fintroll, Queen, Meat Loaf, In This Moment, Blackbriar, Ward XVI, Alice Cooper, Demon Hunter, Halestorm and so many more.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Our song process starts with a concept. We decided what the concept for the next collection (album) will be and then aim to come up with titles and context for the lyrics. Musically, every member is writing ideas all the time. Sometimes it's just a riff, or sometimes it's a whole song. These go into a shared cloud folder for everyone to look through and see what inspires us. We then take an idea into the studio and see how it feels and develop it, change it, or sometimes even scrap it. We also have periods of nonwriting, as it should never be forced. Some days we might write a couple of songs musically, and then we might not write anything for a couple of months.

6. Where was your last gig?

We played at The Six Six Bar in Cambridge, UK. It's a great UK rock/metal venue that supports the grassroots music scene. We suggest that if you're in Cambridge that you go and check it out.

7. Where would you like to act?

We would love the chance to play anywhere people want to see us. It's less about the locations and more about the crowd.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

For us, we would like to feature on line-ups with bands that have a flair for theatrics and storytelling, like Blackbriar and Ward XVI.

9. Who not?

Extreme and Death Metal bands, nothing against them musically, but we simply wouldn't fit on a bill with them.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Not really, but we have all had off days where your head is not in the game on stage or you're feeling under the weather. The key thing to remember is to not worry about making mistakes, and if you do, just play through them and have fun. The worst that can happen is you have to restart a song, or your bandmates will have a laugh. It's meant to be fun, so don't put so much pressure on yourself.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Every single local band that we play with within the scene. They are all working so hard on social media, investing lots of their own money, slogging all over the country to play to 25 people in a bar on a Wednesday night. Being in a band there is so much that you have to do now that doesn't relate to the actual music, you could say that there are so many more tools to get your music out there but in the same breath, everyone has those tools so its alot harder to get noticed in the crowd.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Still waiting for a weird request, our fans seem to be normal.

13. What do you think of your fans?

We appreciate them more than you can put into words. They have so many amazing bands out there to support, so when they spend money to come to our show, we are so appreciative.

14. What do you think of our site?

Lots of cool bands that we had never come across before, which is awesome. Did find a lot of ad pop-ups, but guess you've got to earn money somehow.

15. Something to add?

Its such a challenge for bands, webzines, venues and all involved in the music industry to stay afloat in this day and age so we really appreciate your site giving us this bit of exposure and we ask all fans of music to visit these sites, grab tickets for local events of grass roots bands and keep these live venues in business and bands creating new music for us all to enjoy.