ZT INTERROGATION: CHRIS KEE JOINS CONJURER’S BRADY DEEPROSE DEEP IN THE MIRE

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CHRIS KEE JOINS CONJURER’S BRADY DEEPROSE DEEP IN THE MIRE.

“After the EP, the process for which was very divisive and tense, it’s a massive breath of fresh air to all be on the same page,” begins Brady as we look back at the creation of new album, Mire. “It’s a lot more cohesive and exciting, it certainly sounds a lot more like what we envisaged. I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to marry so many different ideas, themes, styles and still put out a record that sounds like Conjurer, maybe even define what Conjurer sounds like going forward.”

Defining Conjurer is no easy task. Sludge and Doom are tags quite commonly applied to their music, but on Mire they pull in sounds from all over the metal map, including some real blasting high velocity. So where do Conjurer fit into the metal pantheon? “This has been a quite a point of discussion for us,” replies Brady, “and it’s really quite funny. We’ve managed to fall into the UK’s sludge/doom/stoner scene which has been really accommodating and supportive. It’s an incredibly strong, underground scene that people really give a shit about and has been massively instrumental to everything we’ve been able to achieve – but… we’re not really that kind of band,” he laughs. “Song for song, we’ve probably got more in common with Lamb Of God than Sleep. I think that’s a good thing though,” he continues, “as we’re trying to pool more and more influences all the time and try and bring something new to the scene. It also means we can squeeze on to bills with a really diverse pool of bands and fit equally poorly on all of them! I think a lot of the most exciting heavy music leans more towards the hardcore end of the spectrum,” Brady muses, “which has definitely had more of an influence on this album – it’s a lot faster! In a world where Employed To Serve are Kerrang’s #1 band of the year, Converge have released one of the best albums of their career and Code Orange are looking likely to win a Grammy, hardcore is definitely starting to get the recognition it deserves as a creative breeding-ground.”

At the beginning of our conversation Brady mentioned Conjurer’s difficult first EP, I and we return to the subject of how the band has developed since those first faltering steps. “The new record is very different,” the guitarist/vocalist reiterates. “I think you can hear that our listening tastes have broadened, or more accurately, we’ve allowed ourselves to take a lot more influence from more places. The EP was very much a blunt instrument compared to the album. We’ve definitely taken a few more risks, but then that feels very natural to us. Since becoming a part of the Holy Roar Records family, we’ve been surrounded by bands and people that very much do things on their own terms and this has pushed us more than anything. When your record is being released alongside new music from Rolo Tomassi, Boss Keloid and Employed To Serve, you’ve really got to step it up.”

Holy Roar really does seem to be the perfect label for Conjurer and Brady is full of enthusiasm when he speaks about his band’s label. “I remember having a conversation that ended with our goal being to release a record on Holy Roar,” he grins, “we were thinking maybe album five, when we’d built up enough of a profile. When Alex [Fitzpatrick, Holy Roar Owner] got in touch to say he liked what he’d heard, we were blown away. Holy Roar is one of the most exciting places for heavy music at the moment,” Brady enthuses, “the UK’s Deathwish Inc. for my money. We are surrounded by proper musicians consistently putting out incredible music across a wide range of genres and Alex and Justine [Jones, Holy Roar/Employed To Serve) have had so much faith in us from day one, it’s been incredible – they agreed to put the album out without hearing a single note!”

Mire is out on Holy Roar | holyroarrecords.com

 

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