With 2015 coming to a close, RESIN have had a rather productive year which saw them undergo a line up change and release their new E.P. “Persecution Complex”, at the end of October. Overdrive is greeted by Mr. Yarwood via his home in Leicester in the UK, by phone to get stuck into all things RESIN.
OD -The band went through a bit of a dismantling and almost a rebirth, can you talk a little about exactly what happened during this time?
SIMON – Yeah! Well basically what happened was, we’d been together in the original lineup for probably three to four years, and different people, different for different reasons called it a day at around the same time. Outside-looking –in, it looked like a massive Guns n’ Roses-type fallout, which couldn’t be any further from the truth. There were people having babies and that kind of thing so it was a natural end. It was kinda left to myself and Chez, to we had a bit of a chat. The two of us started it years ago and initially we were doing acoustic and covers and stuff as a two-piece and when we started writing our own material, that was really 95% us two. So we had a bit of a discussion and it was like, if we could find the right members, and the songwriting partnership is still there, the sound wouldn’t really differ in total from what people had come to expect. And it was a case of if we find the right people, we’ll carry on, if we can’t we’ll put it to rest. And luckily we found the right people.
OD – There have been some radical changes in the band with the arrival of Dave (vocals), Mark (Guitars) and Stu (Drums). How has this felt in terms of song writing and recording? Is there a big difference with the energy when your all playing together when compared to the earlier line up with James, Sev etc?
SIMON -Yeah it was quite interesting, because we’d been quite a solid unit with quite a solid line-up for quite some time. So to get into a room with new people, the three new members, Stu on drums, Dave on vocals – we’d known those two from a previous band that we’d done a few little tours with. So we’d done kinda 10 gigs with them, like – they were personal friends, and Dave was my personal favourite singer as well from all the other bands that we’d gigged with. So when Dave got in touch and offered himself with Stu, their band had split, it was quite a no-brainer. And then Drask on bass, who myself and Chez had known forever, it was just a case of “Oh we need a bass player, so let’s have a chat with Drask“, so he was like, “I’d love to do it!”. So the were no strangers going onto the rooms, so all that side of things didn’t happen, you know, when you’re getting to know people who are new into the band, we knew them anyway, so we just got straight into making music.
Dave on vocals is also a very accomplished lead guitarist, so we have the extra dynamic of a 3rd guitar on a couple of the songs, so it’s just really exciting. We’d written our first song and recorded our first song for the EP within about 6 weeks of getting in a room together.
I think I read a quote by Dave Grohl where he said “If you’re looking for band members, before you play a note, go get drunk with them first because it’s more important that you get on as people, and maybe you’ll like their style of playing and writing”, and we’ve done that plenty of times, so that definitely did stand true. Most bands come together with people when are like, relative strangers and over time you can kind of work out whether you like their personality or not. But that hasn’t happened here, the personality side of things. We know each other inside out anyway. You can fall out, but you’re like brothers. And brothers fall out, but the underlying feeling has gotta be that you think a lot of each other.
OD – Now the EP, Persecution Complex cam out at the end of October of this year, can you talk a little about the title of the EP and its meaning?
SIMON – Yeah it came out on the last day of October. We were looking for a title, and we’d picked the 3 tracks for the showcase, and our songwriting from day one has always had that kind of self-deprecating feel to it. All the songs kinda have been about picking yourself up when you’ve been knocked down, and I was just after having a chat with somebody on Facebook whilst we were looking for a title, and he was a radio DJ and he actually said to me “I think you’ve got a persecution complex”, and my comment that was “You’ve just named our EP!” I’ll take no credit for it other than reading what he’d typed, because that was perfect for our style of music. We couldn’t have named it better ourselves, but we didn’t!
OD – When writing the lyrics, is this a collective thing by Dave or are there ideas submitted by other members?
SIMON – There’s an evolutionary process – there’s always been a sort of 80% of myself with the rest added from other band members. On this EP, it’s a really nice mix. “Angel” was written entirely by Chez, lyrics and music, so one of the long-time band members, and “Open Heart Trauma”, music by Chez and lyrics by me, and then “Printing Money”, the 3rd track, the lyrics are written by Dave our new vocalist. So musically, it’s a collection of all the new members and lyrically it’s nearly 100% by Dave. It’s a real good showcase of how our new guys work together.
OD – In terms of writing, how long did it take for the EP to come together as I’m sure there was a time when you were all exploring each others techniques and musical ability. How soon was it that you all felt comfortable with each others style?
SIMON – Well it was 6 weeks learning the back catalogue for the new members and then obviously we wrote continuously, which was the brand new track of the band, and that was recorded as well within that 6-week period. I think it’s still a progression. I think it takes a long time for that sort of complete solidity to come across. We’ve done four or five years of a pretty solid line-up. We knew each other inside-out; we could start songs without having to look at each other. Everything was 100% natural, and that’s still building with the new members. But we gave the lads a couple of new songs to learn before we got into a room and halfway through the first song, Chez looked at me and gave me a wink. It was that ‘this-is- right’ look, you know? And in some ways, some of the older stuff, listening to it being sung by a completely different voice, was in itself quite a breath of fresh air as well for us too. Because, we’ve been doing this for quite a long time – it’s nice to bring something new to the table. It’s a first for us as well.
OD – The sound of the band sounds very much as if it were immersed in the late 90’s grunge explosion as I can hear huge influences and elements of Soundgarden, Mad Season, Alice In Chains and Soundgarden, would I be right in saying that there is a very strong connection to these bands?
SIMON – I think it’s just a case of we all have the same albums – we all have the same love of that style of music. That is a random thing, but that’s obviously because we’ve done a tour with Dave’s old band, and our two bands sat together nicely. Because of that, they obviously had very similar tastes musically. But Chez, who writes most of our music, as big of a grunge fan that he is, is also a stupidly good metal guitarist. So when the solos come in, they’re always more than what you’d expect in a grunge song. The song structures are more than a basic kind of layout. We got termed as ‘intelligent grunge’ one, which we liked a lot (laughs), but we’ve always called ourselves ‘munge’, metal grunge! But at the end of the day we’re a rock band and however it branches off from that is fine with us really.
OD – You have played Bloodstock Open Air Festival, 3 times now, how have you managed to appear so many times at the festival?
SIMON – Yeah we played Bloodstock in 2013; we entered Metal 2 the Masses and played the final and from that we got an acoustic slot on the Jaeger stage. Last year we entered again because, you know, suckers for punishment, and we won so we got to play the New Blood Stage, and we got a second invite to do the Jaeger again because it went down so well the year before, so last year we did the two sets; the New Blood on the Saturday and the Jaeger on the Sunday.
OD – How important do you think a festival like Bloodstock is, as it’s run independently from the all the others?
SIMON – It’s absolutely THE most important rock/metal festival in the country. I also put gigs n in Leicester and I’m actually hosting M2TM myself next year, because I want other bands to have the same opportunities that we’ve had from not only playing BOA, but also from laying the competition itself. It’s much more than, heats – final – festival spot: it’s so much more than that. I booked Metaprism, they came and played for me this year after they got back from Wacken, and they played Wacken off the back of playing BOA. It’s just a MASSIVE opportunity for any grassroots band.
OD – So the E.P. is now available and has been since the beginning of November, I’m sure there has been talk among yourselves about an album?
SIMON – Yeah before the split, we almost had enough material for the next album. We released an album originally, and we done it on a budget. It cost us 80 quid, and everything was done in a kitchen or a toilet, and it got mixed reviews, from ‘amazing’ to ‘what a pile of shit!’. So then we brought a single out ready for Bloodstock in 2013, produced properly in a studio, to show that we are capable of doing more than garage music. We’ pretty much been writing and we’d put a lot of songs together and the band split up! So the main thing was, for the new lineup, to get something out as quick as we could so people could listen and decide whether they still liked us, or whether they didn’t before but they do now, or they did before and now they don’t. It was important to record something and release it so that people could make their mind up as to what they felt about how the sound was now that the band has changed. It would have taken too long to do an album to do that. I think the public or our fans deserve something quickly but not to rush it, so that they can make their mind up.
OD – What are your plans for the remainder of this 2015 and 2016?
SIMON – Well we’ll be recording next year and we’ve got a couple of meetings coming up with our producer etc., to lay down studio times and sort out the funding, so that is probably in the top three priorities really for the next 12 months. We’ve got a couple of weekenders and stuff to play at the beginning of the year, so we’ll probably be looking at Easter time before we get to the studio. But we’re not gonna rush the recording, we’re gonna make it as good as it can be, and we’ve still got another couple of songs to write, we’ve got a good choice to choose from. We can’t look at the first album because we had 10 songs and we recorded them, so this time I want 20 songs to record 12. We have some cool gigs coming up including a special X-Mas bash with some of our friends on December 17th, at the Firebug venue in Leicester (Click on graphic below for more details), as well as a whole host of stuff happening in 2016!
OD – There are a huge amount bands that, just like yourselves are trying to break out of your local scene and get recognition. For you personally, what would you like to see change to make things a little easier?
SIMON – I don’t think things should be made easier, because when things are difficult it separates the people who mean it. I mean if it was too easy, everybody would be doing it, and there’s already too many bands, too many venues, too many gigs, too many of everything. Everything is already saturated. To me, a little bit of difficulty, having to wait for those good slots, having to wait to get on to those festival lineups, it shows the depths of your band, and I think that’s a good thing really, that things aren’t too easy. Everything is too easy at the minute. I’d make it more difficult and then I’d play Bloodstock (laughs). Like if you wanna play the O2 and support a big band, and if you got it straight away, that means that the shit bands would be getting gigs that they shouldn’t have. You’ve gotta be good; you’ve gotta be professional. You’ve gotta earn your stripes really, just like anything else. Knuckle down, don’t be a twat, be professional, work hard and write some good music.
OD -If you had the opportunity to tour with any band at all, who would it be?
SIMON – I suppose Alice in Chains is the obvious answer, but the real answer is Faith No More.
For more information on Resin, just click on the links below!
To buy a copy of “Persecution Complex” E.P. just click on the graphic below!
Interview – Oran O’Beirne
Transcription – Shaun Martin
Photography – Stock images © RESIN 2015
Interview content © OVERDRIVE 2015
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