Seemingly emerging out of nowhere, Vulgaris has caught us off guard with their new album, “Seat of the Fire”. With this exceptional release, Vulgaris has firmly secured their place among the top extreme metal bands from the UK. Here at Myth of Rock, we are thrilled to present a captivating conversation with the members of the band. Dive into “Seat of the Fire” and enjoy this exciting interview!
by Christina X
Can you introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about your background and how you formed as a band?
Jonathan: Firstly, it’s lovely to be interviewed by a Greek publication, as someone who is Greek Cypriot themselves!
Vulgaris are a 4 piece black/death/sludge/thrash band from London, UK. I formed the band in January 2017 as I wanted to form a heavy metal band, having primarily been in indie/punk bands for years. Plus playing bone crushing heavy metal definitely seemed more attractive than the intricacies of the above, even though I have great affection for those styles.
Initially we formed as a 4 piece with a bit of a revolving door and evolution in style, but having met Jess through our old bassist, we recorded the “Ex Igni” EP together that we released in January 2019. From there, we found Matt and George on bass and drums respectively, and have had a steady lineup ever since!
How did you come up with the name “Vulgaris” and what does it mean to you?
Jonathan: Absolutely love answering this question, haha. The name Vulgaris derives from 2 things that were really pissing me off at the time when I formed the band. Firstly the “Era Vulgaris” during which we were living, which was in the immediate aftermath of Trump/Brexit and a real shift globally to an overly right wing mentality. The other was that I was having really bad acne at that time, which medically is known as Acne Vulgaris. So I decided to take the two words in common from that and associate them with something more positive. It’s also a great name for a metal band.
What inspired you to start making music together?
Jonathan: The initial members of Vulgaris weren’t quite keeping up with the direction that I wanted to take the band in (I remember the introduction of black/death vocals being quite a bone of contention), and also the commitment really wasn’t there. Rehearsals were constantly cancelled last minute and writing was an absolute pain in the arse.
As I said, I met Jess through our old bassist, and he was a real swell fella. All jokes aside, when he suggested recording the EP of the material written up until then to help find band members, it was a great shout. Also we spent about 3 months every Saturday for 8-10 hours hanging out and recording and really bonded over that. That friendship has continued to this day.
Matt: I started learning bass in 2016 after a few years away from music (I’d learned classical instruments while in school), and after building some confidence as a bassist and writing some music by myself, I was keen to play with other people and play the style of music that I love in front of other people. I started looking for a band to join when I moved to London at the end of 2018, and met Jon on a ‘find a band’ site – after a couple of practices with them, I was keen to join, and as we played together regularly and started working on new material, I found myself excited over where we could go as a group.
George: Matt found me on an online musicians site. I was deep into a new love of horrible blackened sludge and after seeing my musical influences, Matt and I connected over several bands. A lot of people I know enjoy listening to this stuff, but not many bands actually play this style so Vulgaris fit the brief for me.
Your music is a unique blend of different styles – can you tell us about your influences and how they’ve shaped your sound?
Matt: My main songwriting interests before I joined Vulgaris were more towards post-metal and sludge, particularly the likes of Neurosis and Cult Of Luna; as Vulgaris had a clear blackened heart to their sound, I challenged myself to work that into my writing by digging into bands in the style I enjoy such as Enslaved and Regarde Les Hommes Tomber. I think each of us has worked to bring our own respective preferences to the table while still trying to keep that blackened element significantly in our sound.
Jon: Our style is mental, we still don’t know how to define it. I’ve deleted and re-typed my answer to the first question numerous times and I’m still not 100% on it. I think I’d echo what Matt said above.
George: We all meet in the middle of a venn diagram on a large proportion of influences but we all have our own niches. I came from playing in tech metal – so Dillinger Escape Plan, Between the Buried and Me, Sikth etc. Our music isn’t predominantly phrased for that style but I do like to weave in the style where possible.
Jess: I agree with Matt that the core of the Vulgaris sound is that black metal heart, it’s what initially bonded us as musicians and friends. I am a very eclectic listener but I suppose for me there’s a real thrash, maybe death and slightly techy guitar riff energy I’m trying to bring along to our songs to add the groove and headbanger energy. I think we work best where those ideas get funneled through each other. The real magic is how we always try to serve the song and we let the best idea win.
How do you approach songwriting and what inspires your lyrics?
Matt: For the most recent album, a lot of the songs were built upon either initial riffs or full song outlines from Jess, who also imagined the album’s concept, so lyrically it was about taking his ideas and finding a way to flesh out a story from them. For songs that I’ve written in the past, the overarching theme of the song has usually come reasonably early in the process, either based on the vibes the song is giving me or by being inspired by something else, and then I’ve built the song out with vocal phrasing and a sense of narrative flow partially in mind, but ultimately it’s more about feeling whether or not musical ideas fit well together as to how the track ends up taking form.
Jess: I usually tackle differently the music side of writing and the story side, which both interplay but tend to happen separately initially. Riff writing tends to start with me trying to recreate a style from something I’m listening to, drilling practices to get it under my fingers and then stumbling across something new, it’s very organic and always lucky if I record or remember it! I’ll then be inspired to flesh that out which slowly becomes song sections and then improve and refine etc. I tend to prefer bringing starts or parts of songs to the others so we can push that through the full band into something even better, but other times I get into a flow and it comes out as a more or less finished tune. The concepts for songs or the album always start so small as well, the title for seat of the fire came about from reading about fire fighters and swarm from locust populations. As a big fan of conceptual albums and soundtracks I really love telling a longer story, as we started to touch some themes around Greek Mythology in the debut album I wanted to create a sequel and dig more into those stories I love, without being too literal and losing the fans that love big singles. So each song is a self contained little story but all together hints at something bigger, or at least that’s the goal.
How do you balance the different creative visions and opinions within the band?
Matt: There can be upsides and downsides to working on a song that comes mostly formed from one person vs. one that is collaboratively built off of a smaller idea – the latter gives more freedom for everyone to bring ideas to the table and is less likely to inspire pushback, but can sometimes end up with ‘settling’ on an idea that we practice the track with for a while, only to revamp a lot later down the line when we find inspiration for something better. We have encountered conflicting visions for songs on several occasions; in general, if there’s a particular approach that appeals to the majority of the band, we usually gravitate towards that, but it’s important to leave the door open for a veto if someone really feels strongly against it, and that has paid off in the past – the introduction to the title track of our new album was an eleventh hour addition when one member was very unconvinced by how the song’s start was written, and what he came up with instead ultimately made for a big improvement.
Jess: As Matt says we do sometimes have to debate the best course of action when we have different feelings of where songs can go. I think blending the ideas we do in songs like “Black Gold Baptism” gives us the space to also devote certain songs to a more specific creative vision for example “Swarm” is much more of a straight modern black metal tune and “Goat Bong” much more sludgy. I’d say it’s a challenge to let all of our interests have a time to shine but that challenge also tends to find us some unique and interesting ideas.
Do you have any secret favorite artists or bands that might surprise your fans?
Matt: I’d imagine that there’s enough adventurousness in metal fans’ listening habits these days that not too much would surprise – my enjoyment of certain power and folk metal bands might be more shocking than my non-metal listening given how our music sounds! Outside of metal, I probably gravitate more towards neofolk, electronic music and certain styles of rock, but there are also some art pop musicians that I’ve got some real enjoyment out of.
Jon: Big time. I LOVE Eurovision, which is like Christmas when it comes round every year for me. I love a lot of British indie rock from 2003-2008 with my favourite bands from that scene being Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys and Babyshambles. Jess has got me into hip hop like Run The Jewels, JPEGMAFIA and Kendrick Lamar also.
George: I am true metal only… and I play in a wedding band so sometimes it’s Shania Twain and Lizzo.
Jess: Yeah as Jon says I’m a big hip-hop and industrial fan as well, which I think you can probably guess from the interludes and weirder moments on the album. Slightly embarrassing one which annoys the lads could be that I have listened to that RATATA song from BabyMetal and Electric Callboy a lot this year… sorry.
Can you walk us through your creative process when writing a new song?
Matt: I find that my writing inspiration comes in waves; I’ve had a few instances when an idea has come to me at random, even literally within a dream on a couple of occasions, and I can use that to either start a new song or progress one that’s been lying unfinished. I’ve also tried brute forcing part-completed songs to try and get them finished, usually with middling results – it’s in those situations where being able to bring an idea to the rest of the band and try to build from there can make a breakthrough.
Jess: If I’m playing a new riff and just can’t seem to get it out of my head I know I’m onto something, personally as a guitarist I start there with what will eventually be a chorus or a bridge section. Then it’s all about where the song is calling you to, should that energy continue or grow? Does it need to cut back and breathe? Work out from there slowly pulling the thread of the idea with no wrong answers and keep testing things, you’ll know when it’s right trust me! Eventually you’ll have the barebones of a song at which point I record it and add some harmonies or a beat and see what inspiration that adds. I’m lucky if/ when I get stuck I can always bring it to the lads and they’ll be overflowing with suggestions to bring the idea to life. Just take writing slow and keep it fun, it won’t be perfect at first, it won’t be perfect when it’s first played, but if you keep practicing it as a band it will all come together.
How do you prepare for a live show, and what’s your pre-show routine like?
Matt: I don’t have too much of a routine – I normally watch the bands playing before us (if any), and will duck away 10-15 minutes before the end of their set to warm my hands up. A couple of drinks before our set can help to loosen up a bit, but by now I’d say most of the nerves of playing live have gone by now – we’ve done it enough times successfully to know that it’s going to go well unless something out of our control occurs (the house bass amp did go up in smoke at a recent show!).
Jon: I do some stretches, make sure my guitar is in tune, make sure my amp works, and a couple of drinks. I don’t like to overthink it.
George: I try to avoid the others because they cramp my style. But seriously it’s warming up on a pad a bit, stretching my hands, fingers and thumbs and then getting all my hardware in the most convenient position ready to rush it on stage for a stressful changeover! I will usually drink a lot of water and 1x pint to loosen up.
Jess: Preparation is the weekly rehearsals and sitting at home loving playing, that’s boring but true it’s all about us in a room drilling it. On the day make sure to stretch and warm up, jump about and get excited, maybe have a beer and check out the other bands. It’s all about confidence and engaging with the audience on the day! Look out at the crowd and give them the energy you would want to see from a band yourself.
What’s your favorite part about playing live shows, and what’s the most challenging part?
Matt: I feel that most of the challenge comes from the crowd energy; it’s probably not surprising to hear that it’s easier to play to a visibly lively and keen crowd than a sparse and quiet one! Persisting with crowd interaction when you’re not getting anything in return is probably the most challenging part for me; in contrast, I still get a kick whenever a moshpit gets going in one of our songs.
Jon: I’m a bit different to the other 3 in so far as I’ll play anywhere, anytime, I’m legit not picky at all. I absolutely love playing live and like Matt said, love seeing a moshpit. Sometimes I get off the stage and go into the crowd during a pit which is always fun.
In terms of challenging, I’ve had a couple of people who’ve overstepped a bit in that regard; one crowd member thought it would be a good idea to start smacking her hands on my guitar neck. But no harm, no foul – a glare and a “what the fuck are you doing?” stopped that from going too far.
George: I love when I know the sound is taken care of by a good sound tech, and then, if on form, playing hard, high energy and confidence. It’s the best when I know the others are ‘feeling it’ too and we feed off each other. The most challenging part is bad sound techs, rushed changeovers and setting up/packing down.
Jess: The lads have said the most of it, I suppose one challenge is being present and avoiding stressors, getting out of my head and being present enough to enjoy myself has been difficult on occasion. But the best parts of playing live is the longest list, seeing a crowd explode to the drop you wrote?! Hearing our lyrics yelled out?! We get to party with new exciting bands, talk music all night and get on stage and play our instruments, as much as we love the album and writing the real magic is sharing those songs with a crowd live.
What’s been the most surreal or unexpected moment in your career so far?
Matt: For me, it was being recognized when I was at a Karnivool gig in Brighton – I didn’t expect the first ‘fan in the wild’ interaction to be outside of London!
Jon: Supporting Conjurer in 2023 was pretty wild. Also some of the openers we’ve had have been both surreal, and unexpected.
George: Indeed playing with Conjurer was pretty great. Recently being asked to sign a stick that I gave to a fan. filming “Goat Bong” in the woods at sunrise on the first foggy day of the year <3.
Jess: Playing all the venues I first saw bands at around Camden and playing Tunbridge Wells Forum were pretty crazy moments, I’d also add seeing wild Vulgaris shirts around on fans is so cool.
Are there any particular goals or milestones that you’re hoping to achieve in the near future?
Matt: I’m always very motivated by the prospect of producing new music and recording new albums, so every new release is a new milestone I’m excited for. However, probably the most obvious goal will be to move to the next level as a live band, whether it’s getting on festival billings, arranging a tour or playing some more prestigious venues.
Jess: I think some new music is always exciting I think we’ve become stronger and stronger over the last few years and I’m excited to see what we can make next, but as far as goals go I want to see us at some of the larger festivals and get out of the country to gig for some of our fans abroad.
What’s next for Vulgaris – do you have any new music or projects in the works that you can share with us?
Matt: There are several songs that have been in the writing pipeline for a while, and now that the new album is out, we’re beginning to work on bringing those to life as a band – as it’s been a couple of years since we’ve integrated a new song into our live sets, it’s something I’m especially keen to move forwards with!
George: My aim is to contribute more to the writing process so the drums influence what the guitars and bass write. We also want to push the new material to be as mature as possible.
Jess: We’re getting stuck into writing again yeah, and we’ve got lots of cool ideas of how to improve the live show, new merch, some fun new shows to come… can’t spoil too much but we’ve got lots of fun ideas of where to go as the dust settles on Seat Of The Fire.
What’s the most important thing that you’ve learned as a band, and how has it shaped your approach to music?
Matt: I think for me it’s recognizing the balancing between reveling in a riff or section that I find enjoyable vs. it going on too long and not clicking with the audience; the first time we played the first song I wrote for the band, Asundre, I did notice that a section need the end felt longer when playing to a crowd than it did when we were practicing together, and I’ve been conscious of that since when writing subsequent material.
Jon: Previous bands I’ve been in have relied on me, and me alone, directing things or moving things forward. It’s great that I don’t have to do that anymore, but with that, I’ve had to learn to relinquish control of things, which has happened previously more than I’d have liked, but now I’m very chilled about it. It’s nice now to not have to ask when we are next rehearsing/playing/writing. I know the others have got it locked down and I can slot in nicely.
Jess: Playing live so much since lockdown I think we’ve all really clicked and improved as an act, the reaction of a crowd has certainly informed my writing and being on bills with incredible musicians has had me sat at home improving in ways I never expected. I think being part of Vulgaris taught me how to better collaborate, be a stronger musician and given me more confidence in general!
How do you think your music reflects your personal values or worldview?
Matt: While we’re not blunt with our lyricism, and will also write tracks that delve into unserious subject matter, the new album in particular does reflect some of our own sentiments towards the declining state of the world at present, and the alarming eagerness of people en masse to follow leaders of almost antichrist-like nature to an entirely avoidable oblivion.
Jess: I agree with Matt and we don’t want to alienate anyone or beat people over the head with our ideas (we’re just a group of metalheads!), but the core of the song ideas, at least for me, do tend to come from my personal experiences or worldview. “Seat of the Fire” is bleak but that’s how it feels right now, our songs about plagues of locusts, or storming the gates or a burning world are grand and mythological but they come from the news stories we see and the life we feel right now.
How do you handle the business side of the music industry, and what advice would you give to aspiring artists just starting out?
Matt: It’s tough! There’s an extreme amount of competition out there that means you’re going to need to either be very good or very lucky (or more likely both) to make any kind of significant inroads. I feel it’s important early on to weigh up how much you’re able and willing to put into the band in terms of time and financial resources, and set some early achievable goals to work towards: write your first full song, get 30 minutes of music you could play live, reach out to bands and find opportunities to play an opening slot, and go from there. Ultimately, you need to be excited and motivated by the prospect of just practicing and working on music together, and to be able to maintain that motivation for however long it takes to start getting gigs and begin making some kind of impact on the local scene.
George: If you get to play live with other bands – be friendly, be interested in their music and show it, exchange details (Instagram has been the most successful) and follow up with engagement. Hopefully it won’t have to be forced and you’ll make friends in bands that will help you get a lot further.
Looking back on your journey so far, what do you hope people will remember about Vulgaris?
Matt: I hope that people think that we’ve written music with a distinctive identity; the metal scene is very saturated with bands in pretty much all genres that are happy to replicate well-established sounds, and for me it’s usually the groups that manage to find some way to sound a little bit different that end up grabbing my attention, so that’s what I aspire towards. We struggle a bit with fully categorizing our sound, which I consider to be a positive, and it’s been validating to read reviews that similarly struggle to pigeonhole us.
Jon: The feedback we get is how heavy we are, how good a live act we are, and how interesting our style is. That’s enough for me!
