Sometimes we like to spread our wings a little and bring you something a little different from farther afield. Left In The Wake seem to fit the bill with their mix of Spanish and English hardcore and they sound like... well why don't we just let them tell you:
LITW: Left in the Wake are 4 guys from Madrid and me from London, I know random combo... we have 2 EP's and an Album we just released and they're all very different.
We have always set out to make music that we want to make, you can probably hear our influences in the music but in terms of genre we just make them up so today we'll be speed fusion trance reggae.
But in terms of bands we sound like, I would say we sound more like the English hardcore bands more than American. Makes sense I guess as I'm English and England is 2 and a half hours away.
R13:Your new album 'The Banner We Follow' was released in March, were you pleased with the reaction that it got?
LITW: So far yeah, everyone who has heard it have been really positive, I understand that these days there are a lot of bands around and it's hard to get people to listen to a small band from Madrid over a new album by a huge American band, but I just hope that new generations of metal lovers still check out local bands like I did when I was younger. We are proud of what we have recorded and are just hoping that we can show the world what we can do live!
R13:Do you feel that the band has progressed on this album compared to 'Blind To The Tragedy'?
LITW: Definitely, I mentioned before about the fact that all our releases have been very different from one to the next, 'The Banner We Follows' to me just sound more mature, I have improved both vocally and lyrically and we're now more comfortable writing and playing as a band so I think that comes through in the album.
R13:You used the same producer for both records in Álex Cappa; how much influence has he had on the recording process and the final sound of the album?
LITW: He had a big part in it because he knew us from the previous record and had seen us changing musically over the years and therefor he seemed the perfect fit for the recording, in terms of production, we basically told him the sound we wanted, the tones of the guitars, the effects etc and he mainly facilitated requests ha ha.
We managed to get Will Putney to master the Album, he's done stuff with Counterparts, The Acacia Strain, The Human Abstract and loads of other bands so we were chuffed about that!
R13:How hard has it been for you to break through in what has been a pretty saturated metal scene in recent years?
LITW: Not too bad in Spain mainly because there aren't too many bands like us over here, in the beginning it was a bit of a risk making the music we make because Madrid always had a more of a Metalcore / Thrash / Death metal scene up until recent years so I like to think we're a breath of fresh air some audiences. In terms of world wide, we are looking to tour Europe this Summer so we'll hopefully get our name around, if only for our live shows at this point. The whole thing is just a big learning experience for all of us and we're just going along with it.
R13:Most people in the UK have no perception of what the music scene is like in Spain as we never hear anything about it so is there much of a market for metal over there?
LITW: That's a very good point that I have been trying to get across to metal fans across Spain, I have always been a firm believer that it only takes one big band to break through before it opens the doors for the rest of the country, It happened with Bring me the Horizon which, whether you like it or not, showed the world that the UK has a good metal scene, in France you have Betraying the Martyrs that have now opened the doors for bands like As they Burn and Merge to be recognised on a global scale. Spain needs its hero band to get people intrigued about the Spanish Metal scene. But yeah there is a decent scene over here, more so when big bands come over obviously, but the Crisis doesn't help.
R13:Does Left In The Wake satisfy your creative urges or are there other projects/styles that various members either do, or would like to get involved in?
LITW: For me it does, the other guys in the band have other projects ranging from Ska Funk to Jazz so they have that outlet for their other talents. I have other projects personally like 'Alt Words' which is a Facebook page I set up to help non-native English speakers with lyric correction an pronunciation... I really want Spain to make its mark on the world!
R13:How much pressure is there on you as a band to attain a certain level of success?
LITW: I have put pressure on myself to succeed, I'm 30 and have passed up job opportunities because I didn't want to take any time away from the band. I know that it's a difficult road and balancing a band and full-time job is never easy, but until things happen for us I'm going to put my blood sweat and tears into making it work.
I work for a Video games publisher so luckily they're understanding to having creative hobbies.
R13:Have you met or played with any of your musical heroes since playing with Left In The Wake?
LITW: Not yet, but we have played with some awesome guys who I can now count among my friends, we have always wanted to come across as nice and approachable people, my philosophy in life is lead by example and that means writing back to everyone who writes to us, sharing other bands music on our page and just being as nice as possible at gigs. I have no time for bands that think carrying across an "image" means acting like an arsehole to other bands, fans or sound techs.
R13:Will you be touring the UK to promote the new album or any festival appearances over the summer that we should know about?
LITW: We're looking into it, We're getting a van soon to go across Europe but going to England so soon is risky, we're not known enough over there yet and with the costs of doing anything in England, we would probably lose money. If things look up for us money wise or we get invited to tour with someone then we will!
R13:What's the plan for the band for the next 12 months?
LITW: Tour, Write and promote. We already have some ideas for a next release that we'll be working on whilst touring our current material. We're looking to get some endorsements because maintaining our equipment with limited money gets difficult, our drummer had his Cymbals stolen after a gig the other night as well so that's 1000€ to replace them before we can get the Van... the more accurate plan for the next 12 months is just to survive as a band and hope for some good luck ha ha.
You can listen to The Banner We Follow here.