Aliases
In a male-dominated metal scene, finding an accomplished female guitarist is a rarity.
We chatted to Aliases guitarist Leah Woodward about the scene and the band.
-Safer Than Reality was released this week. How did it feel to get it out there?
Oh it was fantastic really. We've been wanting to get it out there for ages it seems. As it was finished when we went on tour in April, we've had to wait to release it to everyone.
It's just fantastic to have it out there. People are getting back to us with their feedback, and it's all been good so far.
-If people haven't picked it up yet, what can they expect from the record?
I think there's a great range of things. It's probably the most accessible technical metal that you're gonna hear. It's got its crazy moments, its chilled out moments. It's got insanity...I don't know, it's a little bit of everything. It's just us.
-You've been sitting on these songs for so long, has that been hard?
Yeah. It's been hard keeping them behind closed doors. We've been shouted at by all sorts of people for being too secretive.
I think it's been worth it, because it is a short CD and we've had to keep a lot of it behind closed doors, otherwise it wouldn't have been a surprise to release it.
It's been a bit rubbish sitting on some of the songs, because the one's we've had to sit on are generally my favourites. It's definitely been worth it just for the reaction we've been given, really.
-What sets the band apart from other acts in the genre?
I don't know, I think as far as we're concerned we write what we want to write, really. We don't try and write anything different, or particularly better than anyone else.
It's quite an organic process as far as we're concerned. We sit down, it all falls together in a way. We try and keep everything as...accessible as we possibly can. Keep the songs there amongst the chaos.
It's probably just that we keep things memorable, even though it's insane to try and bring people who aren't used to tech-metal into listening to it.
-Things have moved quite quickly for the band. How's the last year been for you?
The last year has been the entire band, to be honest. We got together a year ago, and we found Jay, our singer, last April. Everything has gone manic for us since April.
We ended up releasing our first tune in July, then playing our first show in Germany in October. We got signed to Basick when we were in Germany, and since then it's just been cracking on.
We've been writing, recording and releasing things, doing videos and all sorts. It's just been madness, really. Busy times.
-How was that first show in Germany?
Germany was really good fun. It was great. The guys who put the show on were fantastic, and everyone we played with were brilliant. A lot of our friends played as well. It was wicked.
The downside was we ended up going to Germany in my Polo because our van fell through. That's always interesting. It was good, because it was our first show.
It was our first time that we'd ever played with Jay. We'd never actually had a rehearsal with vocals! So, for us it was a vocal audition at the same time. We were playing the gig going...that's good, I like that!
He went down really well, everyone was really impressed with Jay. Nobody noticed that he'd never actually played with us before. It all went fantastic really, as far as we were concerned.
-Have you been in many bands before this?
Just a couple, just a few local bands. It seems to have got more crazy and more over the top every time. It's just been a case of finding the right people to work with.
The last few local bands that I've had, it was bad singers or the people haven't worked too well together. Things have come together slowly and you feel like you're just hitting your head against a brick wall.
When this came together, it just came out of nowhere really. It just fell into place, everyone was pulling their weight and it was clear we'd found the right people. It's the first one that I've done anything like this with, to be honest.
-Metal as a genre is quite male-dominated, so are you glad there's people starting to break down those stereotypes?
Yeah, definitely. You get typical reactions, people who are really shocked. You get people who are like...it's a girl playing guitar! Isn't she meant to be in the kitchen. Stuff like that. Generally, I am in the kitchen, but I'm eating.
I don't know, you've got people who are shocked, people who are impressed, and people who are inspired. Even if you can inspire one person to pick up a guitar who wouldn't have usually, then it's great really.
It's great to see a few people breaking the mould and doing a few new interesting things. It's rare to see girl guitarists. I've seen a few popping up online, not any of my doing.
They've obviously gone off their own accord, but there's some good players popping up. It's just a case of getting out there really, cos it's low key.
-Is it something you think about, or do you just get on with the music without considering it?
I've never really considered it at all. I know it's there, I know people don't expect it. I've just always done music, it's just what I want to do.
I love doing it, but I seem to be into the wrong things for the girl stereotypes. I'm into guitars and motorbikes, I'm pretty much a parent's worst nightmare!
It's never really crossed my mind, I've never wanted to do it as a genre-breaking thing. Bring it on, really.
-There's been a lot said lightly about the mainstream press and the Mercury Music Prize ignoring metal music. What do you think about that?
The mainstream press ignore metal. I think it's just the accessibility for a lot of metal, really. I feel it's the vocals that put a lot of people off.
The second you show it to your gran, she says it's rubbish, you think it's good. It's that kind of crossing over into different areas. As far as we're concerned, we probably listen to a lot more pop and rap things than metal anyway! We're probably the least metal metal-band that you'll ever find!
I don't know, it's a hard barrier to break because pop's such a mainstream thing. It's written to be catchy, hit the masses and be absorbed by it, whereas with metal you write what you want to write to get somet kind of message or your something across.
It's just music written for a different purpose, really. If you can get it accessed by more people, then fantastic, it's a good thing.
-What's next for the band now that the mini-album's out?
We're just trying to press on as fast as we can. We had to keep people waiting for a few months while we got this released, so in the background we've written another three or four tunes.
We're trying to press on and do a full album. Things are getting busier in terms of touring. We'll be touring with Vision, who are part of Basick Records, in September.
In November we'll hit the road with Textures, who are friends of ours.
The main aim is, before we get this CD on the road, is to get the bulk of our next album written so we don't have to leave to big a gap between things. We like to keep things moving fast.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge
In a male-dominated metal scene, finding an accomplished female guitarist is a rarity.
We chatted to Aliases guitarist Leah Woodward about the scene and the band.
-Safer Than Reality was released this week. How did it feel to get it out there?
Oh it was fantastic really. We've been wanting to get it out there for ages it seems. As it was finished when we went on tour in April, we've had to wait to release it to everyone.
It's just fantastic to have it out there. People are getting back to us with their feedback, and it's all been good so far.
-If people haven't picked it up yet, what can they expect from the record?
I think there's a great range of things. It's probably the most accessible technical metal that you're gonna hear. It's got its crazy moments, its chilled out moments. It's got insanity...I don't know, it's a little bit of everything. It's just us.
-You've been sitting on these songs for so long, has that been hard?
Yeah. It's been hard keeping them behind closed doors. We've been shouted at by all sorts of people for being too secretive.
I think it's been worth it, because it is a short CD and we've had to keep a lot of it behind closed doors, otherwise it wouldn't have been a surprise to release it.
It's been a bit rubbish sitting on some of the songs, because the one's we've had to sit on are generally my favourites. It's definitely been worth it just for the reaction we've been given, really.
-What sets the band apart from other acts in the genre?
I don't know, I think as far as we're concerned we write what we want to write, really. We don't try and write anything different, or particularly better than anyone else.
It's quite an organic process as far as we're concerned. We sit down, it all falls together in a way. We try and keep everything as...accessible as we possibly can. Keep the songs there amongst the chaos.
It's probably just that we keep things memorable, even though it's insane to try and bring people who aren't used to tech-metal into listening to it.
-Things have moved quite quickly for the band. How's the last year been for you?
The last year has been the entire band, to be honest. We got together a year ago, and we found Jay, our singer, last April. Everything has gone manic for us since April.
We ended up releasing our first tune in July, then playing our first show in Germany in October. We got signed to Basick when we were in Germany, and since then it's just been cracking on.
We've been writing, recording and releasing things, doing videos and all sorts. It's just been madness, really. Busy times.
-How was that first show in Germany?
Germany was really good fun. It was great. The guys who put the show on were fantastic, and everyone we played with were brilliant. A lot of our friends played as well. It was wicked.
The downside was we ended up going to Germany in my Polo because our van fell through. That's always interesting. It was good, because it was our first show.
It was our first time that we'd ever played with Jay. We'd never actually had a rehearsal with vocals! So, for us it was a vocal audition at the same time. We were playing the gig going...that's good, I like that!
He went down really well, everyone was really impressed with Jay. Nobody noticed that he'd never actually played with us before. It all went fantastic really, as far as we were concerned.
-Have you been in many bands before this?
Just a couple, just a few local bands. It seems to have got more crazy and more over the top every time. It's just been a case of finding the right people to work with.