Rising To The Masses: IL

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Before the first riffs echo through the fields of Catton Park, we are diving head first into the pulse-pounding world of the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock 2024. So grab your backstage pass, tune your senses, and join us as we explore the stories, inspirations, and the relentless drive of the bands who are rising to the masses! Introducing IL…

How would you describe your band to someone who’s never heard you?

I’ve been told we’re ‘Thall’ but I’m not entirely sure what that is. Basically very heavy and riffy with a lot of post metal flavour thrown in. Very aggressive vocals and very little respect for traditional song structure.

Tell us about your band’s origin story. How did you all come together?

Initially the band began as a time wasting exercise for Jesse and Nathaniel on drums and bass respectively but once it became clear that Jesse was a better vocalist than drummer Nathaniel’s long-time partner in musical crime James joined and took over on drums. Initially guitar was done by Dan but after he moved on it was taken on by Rob and Jacob on rhythm and lead respectively. With their addition the band’s sound has become that much heavier.

What song would you recommend for someone’s first listen of your band?

All Points Of Pain

Describe your songwriting process. How do you create your music?

Predominantly it’s a collaborative jamming process. Every so often someone will come in with a basically complete song but it almost never survives fully intact.

How do you handle creative disagreements within the band?

There don’t tend to be very many, the creative vision is surprisingly unified for 5 weirdos with ADHD. When they do occur we tend to resort to a vote on things.

What are your musical influences?

Quite diverse within the band but there’s some Isis in there, some Gojira, some Intronaut and just a sprinkling or classic funk.

What’s the story behind your band name?

Well initially the band went by ‘Psychic Insanity Lance’ but some cowards thought it was too wordy so we cut it down to IL after much wrangling. Every member of the band claims this was their idea.

What’s your guilty pleasure music outside of metal?

I have no guilty pleasures, only pleasures. Although that being said, my unironic love of early Kid Rock is quite embarrassing for the others.

Tell us about your most memorable live performance or tour experience.

I think we’d all be lying if we said anything other than the M2TM Final. The turnout at Corporation was massive and the atmosphere was just incredible. Constant pits and an honest-to-God wall of death.

What’s the most challenging aspect of being a metal band in today’s music industry?

Probably just the general lack of money in the scene. So many bands can’t get out of their hometown because they just can’t afford the costs to gig elsewhere when you can’t guarantee getting paid at all, let alone covering your expenses.

Any advice for other aspiring metal musicians?

Learn to DJ instead, you’ll get paid. If that doesn’t appeal then make sure somebody in the band can drive. I cannot overstate this enough. Driving essential, music skills optional.

What’s next after Bloodstock for the band?

Finishing recording album number two, currently titled ‘All Points Of Pain’ and featuring the new single as its title track.

How do you choose album artwork or visuals for your releases?

Our drummer James is a graphic designer so we tend to keep all of that in house. He draws stuff and we tell him it’s terrible, it’s a good system.

What’s the most unexpected inspiration for one of your songs?

Hmm, a lot of the subject matter is quite dark. It was certainly unexpected when a friend we all trusted got jailed for being a nonce having kept it a secret for years. He got a very angry song written about him.

What’s the best gig you’ve attended as a fan and why?

For me personally it has to be when I saw Primus in Manchester. They played 3 consecutive full-length sets with no support and absolutely smashed every expectation I had. Truly mind-blowingly awesome.

Have you faced any challenges as an unsigned band? How do you overcome them?

Sheer bloody-mindedness I think, although the fact we’ve all been friends for a long time helps. We’ve all had different times that we’ve been through the grinder but there’s full trust in each other’s intentions so misunderstandings are rare.

How do you stay motivated during creative slumps?

Honestly we just don’t have them. It’s an actual effort to not write more songs before we’ve recorded the current album.

IL are set to play The Hopical Storm New Blood Stage On Saturday 10th August 2024.