In loving memory of Sophie’s life, ‘The Sophie Lancaster Foundation’ was set up by Sophie’s mother, Sylvia Lancaster. She commented on the formation of the charity:
“After consulting family and friends, we felt that a charity should be set up in Sophie’s name. The charity, known as The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, will focus on creating respect for and understanding of subcultures in our communities.”
To mark the importance of Sophie’s anniversary, rising Irish contemporary metal four-piece, WORDS THAT BURN have released a special track which is a fundraiser for the official foundation.
Taking on their own interpretation of Billie Eilish’s ‘Everything I Wanted‘ track, Words That Burn are urging that you donate to the charity via this link.
Sophie’s brother, Adam Lancaster commented on the project; We are excited for the upcoming Words that Burn release, a cover of Billie Eilish’s track “Everything I wanted”, the proceeds of which will be coming to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.
We are extremely grateful that in these trying times for the support from Words That Burn and their fans, new and old. They are asking fans to mime along to sections of the song and then send it over to them to be used in the video, so please help out, submit your mime and purchase the song when it’s released!
Please make a donation to The Sophie Lancaster Foundation via the links below:
Registered charity number is 1129689
Listen to Words That Burn, ‘Everything I Wanted’ via the link below:
Next week will see the band release an official video for the track which was created over the last month and features footage of their fanbase taking part via their own video footage.
We spoke to vocalist, Roni Vox about the track and their plans going forward…
OD – How did it come about that Words That Burn are covering a Billie Eilish track?
RONI – I think she is a great artist and a fantastic role model for the demographic she appeals to. There are others in the same game, with the same platform, sending terrible messages to, let’s face it, kids. She sends a much strong, more empowering message to her followers. So I respect that.
OD – In particular, why did you choose ‘Everything I Wanted’?
RONI – It’s a beautiful song. First time I heard it, I was straight on to the lads “I wanna cover this” and they were like “yep”. It was one of the fastest decisions we even made lol
OD – I understand that all proceeds for the track are going to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, how did this come about?
RONI – Yes, that’s right. When we made the decision to release it we didn’t really know what to do. Was it gonna be something to throw up on Facebook? Would we do a video? Because it was a cover we kinda thought that because it wasn’t our song, it shouldn’t be about us, and that line of thinking led us to try to do some good with it, so doing it for a charity became the goal and the Sophie Lancaster Foundation was on the table pretty much instantaneously.
Her story is heartbreaking. Being murdered for how you look? FUCK THAT! No-one deserves that, man. The metal community is renowned for looking out for each other and I think Sophie’s legacy has brought everyone closer. We wanted to be a part of that message with this song. Be kind. Be understanding. Live & let live.
OD – With respect to the memory of Sophie Lancaster, do you feel that there is still a level of bullying and profiling that happens to people that choose to look different in our society?
RONI – Yes. 100%…..What kinda a person do you have to be to hurt someone like that. Nobody –NOBODY gets to judge you for being you. If you want to live your life a certain way, if you want to dress a certain way, if you want to identify as whatever makes you happy – that should not concern anyone else, let alone warrant physical assault.
There is too much hate in the world. And it’s caused my people looking outward rather than inward. If we spent more time focusing on being the best us we can be there wouldn’t be any energy left to pick on someone else.
OD – Were there any other covers that you guys were considering or was this the first choice?
RONI – This was the first cover we’ve ever recorded. There are a few more knocking about that we were considering releasing. They might see the light of day at some point. We might throw one into the live set for a bit of fun.
OD – How did you get the song recorded during the pandemic and was this the first time you had created a recording like this?
RONI – We actually had the whole thing recorded just before lockdown, ready for mixing and then every single vocal take I did got corrupted somehow. So, we had to do ‘em all again and then we went into lockdown.
We normally do everything (bar drums) in Shane’s [Martin, guitars] studio so, when we knew this wasn’t going to be a one or two-week thing, I ordered all brand new mic equipment for my home studio and re-did the vocals. The universe must have wanted us to wait so we could bring it out now – if you believe that kinda stuff.
OD – Do you think this has influenced you in any way with regards to the way Words That Burn can create new music, or do you feel that it’s very much an old-school approach where you are all in the same room?
RONI – With our own songs there is a different process. There is more jamming involved. But because there was no real “figuring out” to do we just did it all as if we were doing a demo. We did, however, learn a few things about ambients & melody lines from this project.
OD – There seems to be a more ‘relaxed’ approach for heavier bands dipping their toes into other genres these days. Do you find that the elitist attitude about metal is changing with the times?
RONI – That answer would almost certainly change with the individual but I can definitely see the elitist mindset ease off with the younger generation. Genre-mixing isn’t new though. It’s been happening for decades although there are more and more bands experimenting with blending sounds now I think.
It totally has its place as long as it is in the interest of being progressive and not following a trend.
OD – Fingers crossed that 2021 will see live shows resume once again. Do you guys have big plans for next year?
RONI – We do. We have got a bunch of shows already booked in the UK and we’re in the process of booking some European dates at the minute. Assuming things will be back to some sort of normality, 2021 will be busy.
OD – When can we expect a new EP or album?
RONI – We were just talking about this over the last few days. We’re writing again so we’ll have something new out, possibly a single, in the coming months with the view of having an album maybe end of summer 2021.
OD – If you could pick one album that you’ve been listening to the most over the Pandemic, what would it be?
RONI – I’ve been listening to Korn’s The Nothing a lot. The songwriting & production on it is superb. I kinda fell out of love with them for a few years but the last 2 records are, in my opinion, their best since Issues.
Words That Burn’s re-imagination of Billie Eilish’s ‘Everything I Wanted‘ is out now and can be accessed via the bands official Spotify link [here] and on iTunes [here].
Words That Burn are:
Roni MacRuairi – Vocals & Guitar
Ger Murphy – Bass & Vocals
Shane Martin – Guitars & Vocals
Jason Christy – Drums
The latest studio album ‘PYRES‘ is out now via the bands official BigCartel store as well as a new line of merchandise. Please visit here for more information.
Photo – Down The Barrell Photography
Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie 2020
Band Photography – Down The Barrel Photography 2020
