Heriot: “It Feels Like The Go-to Brand To Play Metal On.” | The Jackson American Series Virtuoso Launch

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Last week, Heriot celebrated the launch of the Jackson American Series Virtuoso with an intimate set at Camden’s Dr Martens Boot Room, Check out what went down here. We caught up with Debbie Gough after the band’s set to discuss, festival season, Jackson Guitars, and more.

Hello I’m Fraser Kerr and you join me here in Camden with Debbie from Heriot. How are you?

I’m really good, thank you, mate. How are you?

I’m good, thank you. So, we’ve just come to the end of festival season. How was that for you?

We had a fantastic festival season. We were able to go to Europe for festivals for the first time, which was really, really cool. We did quite a lot of UK festivals last year, so to be able to go out and do Europe and then 2000 Trees in the UK and Standon Calling in the UK. That was really, really cool. We kind of hit some bucket list ones with Wacken and Graspop and things like that, so it’s really, really lovely.

And between all the festivals and the headline shows earlier in the year, the support slots with Lamb of God and Boston Manor, how do you find time to breathe?

It’s difficult. We have such a good time that even though we are really busy, we’re so grateful for everything going on that the excitement of it all just keeps you going.

And have you been able to work on new music in that time?

We have, I can’t share too much about it, but new music is definitely on the way. That’s all I can say at the moment.

And so you’ve just come off stage here at the Dr. Martens Boot Room. How was the show for you?

Yeah, really cool to be able to play in a venue like this. It’s not conventionally a venue. It’s really nice to be able to celebrate together, kind of thing. Yeah it’s been a really good night.

And during your set you said you were playing Jackson guitars since you were about the age of 14. What draws you to them?

I think growing up and watching a lot of metal guitarists play Jackson obviously plants that seed in your brain. It feels like the go-to brand to play metal on. Guitarists like Mark Morton I grew up listening to. And I think they’re just the metal brand.

And why does the Jackson American Series appeal to you?

I feel like it’s a very, very versatile guitar, the Virtuoso. The neck is incredibly thin as well, so it’s really good for soloing. Yeah, I think it’s just very versatile and easy to play as well, which is another big thing.

And so, the UK has, over the years, seen some of the biggest metal acts coming out of it. What excites you about the UK metal scene?

I think everybody has their own identity within the UK metal scene at the moment. I think there’s a lot of fresh music coming out of the UK at the moment as well. People are making heavy music but in a way that we kinda haven’t heard before and a lot of that is coming from British bands. So it’s really cool to be a part of that scene and watch it happen in real time and watch it unfold.

And looking back at the history of the metal scene, what bands have inspired Heriot and your sound?

Did you say from the British scene?

Not necessarily the British scene, but whoever has inspired you?

I think because we all listen to metal, but we all listen to quite different types of metal. We have quite a lot of maybe contrasting influences. Personally, I’ve always been really influenced by bands like Nails, Oathbreaker, Lamb of God, Cancer Bats, those kind of bands. But then Jake is kind of inspired by bands like Full of Hell, and Erhan is inspired by Nu Metal, and so is Julian. So it all kind of gets put into this big mountain point of inspiration, really.

So, because you’ve, like you said, everyone’s got their own inspirations in the metal scene, is that why you feel so free to support lots of different bands and like lots of different genres?

Yeah, of course, yeah. I think there are maybe accessible points from different genres within our music because it’s such a blend of different influences. And that’s really nice to be able to go out with different bands that hone in on our influence.

And finally, what was it like to collaborate with the other artists in the Jackson American Series Virtuoso?

It was amazing to be able to play with guitarists like Marty Friedman and Misha Mansour and obviously Dave Davidson and Clint. They are all actual guitar heroes, especially Marty. It was very surreal to be able to play guitar with them and also to kinda hear about their influences and be re-inspired from that experience as well. That was a big thing that I took away from it, being re-inspired. Not that I’d ever lost inspiration for guitar or love for it or anything, I just felt as though it opened up a new world again of loving guitar because I was just so deep in the projects with everybody and they’re all different styles of playing. It was really, really cool.

So you mentioned it was cool to see, like, collaborating with all these other artists. I don’t know if you know, but Ed Gamble is like a massive fan of your band. How does it feel to see him wearing your shirt, the shirt of the band, on Channel 4 and just wearing it about?

Very, very cool and very, very silly. Yeah, it’s really cool. He’s really cool, he’s been really, really lovely to us. When he played in Cardiff, I think Julian and Erhan went down to one of his shows. Yeah, he’s just been really, really supportive and it’s lovely to have support from somebody who doesn’t have to talk about metal but they feel as though it’s important. I think that’s really, really cool.

And can you tease any future projects from Heriot?

This is an answer, I can talk about this now, but I’m guesting on a song with End called ‘Thor’, which is out in October. So I’m really, really excited to be a part of that project with those guys. We’ve played some shows with them before and we’ve gotten really well, so it’s nice to be able to collaborate on something together.

Thank you for joining me.

Thanks for having me.

Enjoy your evening.

You too, mate, thank you.

Check out what went down at the intimate set at Camden’s Dr Martens Boot Room here!!