Aaron Stainthorpe – My Dying Bride

In this day and age, very rarely do you find bands with a sound and style that make it near impossible to compare and for me, Bradford’s very own doom outfit My Dying Bride are one of those bands. Haunting atmospheres, powerful leads and mournful melodies are just a select few elements that set apart the musical ingenuity of this band. The band have returned in 2015 with a powerful work of art, their 13th album ‘Feel The Misery’. Metal Obsession caught up with the charismatic front-man, Aaron Stainthorpe in an insightful interview to talk about their latest release, and all things My Dying Bride.

“Yes, it has been quite busy actually, more so than usual. There has been a lot of promotional work; I’ve done more interviews for this album than I have for any of the previous albums which is good but it’s hard work. Rewarding nonetheless because people all over the world are so interested in this new record. After 25 years, you start to wonder whether you may begin to fade away and become irrelevant but clearly not which is good news.” Much to Aaron’s delight, there has been nothing but good reviews coming their way as a result of this album. “The response has been really really positive which is amazing considering the wrong album was actually released which nobody seems to know but the label and was announced on our Facebook page and label. The album that released in the shop was a mis-pressing”, he continued, “it was the one  released  for journalists because we hadn’t finished the production on the album yet. You can go to the Peaceville records website and send it back and you’ll get the full finished version but what it means is, weirdly the version that’s out is going to become quite rare because its being recalled so even if it’s the wrong one I’d urge people to keep hold of it because it’s a misprint its only embellishments keys some sort of Gregorian chanting church bells. the song structures haven’t changed at all its just these additional things we added at the end that for some reason never got pressed.”I was curious as to whether this hindered the whole process of releasing the album but Aaron didn’t seem to think so. “Well we’ve announced two days after it happened and I’m sure a lot of people started to wonder if they’ve got the right version. Nevertheless the reviews and feedback have been  absolutely incredible so things have all worked out for us.”

However, the recording process this time around took a lot longer as the band were striving for ultimate perfection. “We actually began working on this album almost two years ago, so we spent a long, long time trying to get it right – going over songs, moving away from them and returning to it months later. We’d analyse whether any of them needed to be tweaked and if so we’d rewrite and rearrange and although this was very time-consuming, I think it was worthwhile because it seems we got the formula just right. The clock is ticking and time is money but we’d probably do it this way again because like I said, it’s good to analyse your music and make sure to iron out the creases.” That being said, he also gave due credit to their label for being so patient, ” It’s remarkable how our label Peaceville has supported us 100% through and through and given us the space we need to create what we have. They’ve been great backing us up and I doubt that with another label, we would have gotten away with some of the things that we have with this one.”

In talking about the creativity that went behind the writing and making of ‘Feel The Misery’, he added, “We had a vague idea of what we wanted to create –  we study the melancholy and the kind of emotional passion we deliver is not everybody’s cup of tea which is why we’ll probably always remain a cult band which is fine by us. We didn’t form a band called ‘My Dying Bride’ and expect to make a lot of money – it was always going to be very somber and that’s why we have lasted as long as we have. There’s no agenda about making the charts or playing arenas; we just wanted to create this art form in our own style without being pushed around or told what to do. I  doubt we’ll be around for another 25 years but definitely another decade at least because we’ve still got things we want to say, we need to say and that we’re going to say.”

Musically, My Dying Bride have stepped into darker realms, proving that they do not shy away from experimentation,  creating a more crushing atmosphere on this release, but not without their signature sounds. “I think, yes, this album ticks all the boxes for anyone who expects all the right ingredients from My Dying Bride – the really slow and heavy chords, that deep dirge, doom tugging at the heartstrings kind of music on ‘I almost loved you; and then the more death metal vocals . ‘And My Father Left Forever’ is one of our most commercial songs to date because of how accessible it is than some of the other material we’ve done. We would have never allowed a song like that to our repertoire because we were always into just being the most perversely dark and doomy metal band but as we grow older you can always be creative with your melancholy. It doesn’t always have to be punishing – it can be colourful so to speak and that’s exactly what I think this album represents when you look at it. There’s something to represent everything that we’ve done in our career in this one record which we’re very proud of.”

My Dying Bride are not only known for their soulful, emotive and brooding doom metal but their mystic album covers. However things are different with this new album, ” It is nicely colourful which is very unusual for us, yes and it is also quite a personal piece as well as it incorporates elements of mine and Andrew’s personality.” But where did the idea for a beautiful and eerie stained glass window on the cover come up? “We’ve wanted a stained glass window in our artwork for many, many years” said Aaron, “and I’ve been photographing them for ages but you can never quite get the lighting right or the window art itself never really has the elements you want as a part of the story. But that being said, we were definite about this particular idea when we realized that the album was going to come out on our 25th anniversary. So we worked with Matt, told him what we wanted and got the result we were hoping for. There are certain symbols hidden in it as well which adds to how personal the artwork is. Again, it does seem unusually colourful for us but it is somehow very representative of who we are. Also, we’ve always touched upon religion in our music and having a cover that’s associate with the Catholic Religion shouldn’t be a huge surprise to our fans. The Bible is a great source of material for stories on the madness of humanity as well as to find inspiration. It’s incredibly dark but despite that, it’s rather uplifting.”

‘Feel the Misery’ out now via Peaceville Records.

Linking the artwork to their lyrical themes, Aaron further explained the inspiration behind the ideas for this album. “Well at the risk of sounding dull and boring, it’s the same thing that has inspired me for every album. I listen to a lot of music that is not metal, read books, write about sex, pain, religion, suffering and romance and not nearly in the same style as other heavy metal bands. Every death metal artist sings about death and gore and mayhem – it’s generally just a spatterfest but I dwell much, much deeper into the emotional side. This is not to belittle other bands but I’m very passionate in my thought process – it’s not the act of dying but the grief of those left behind must endure which I think is heartbreaking.”

2015 also sees the return of Calvin Robertshaw to the band after 15 years and they’re very happy about it. “It’s great, to be honest. When he joined, the album was 95% finished so he couldn’t really contribute that much and I haven’t  really seen his work. He did contribute with a few harmonies and melodies but we will have to wait till the next album to hear what Calvin’s really got because he’s got some great music. Right now, he’s also focused on promoting this album as are we but I’m certainly looking forward to the next one already just so I can work with him. It is going to be a challenge though, Calvin’s going to have to up his ante because the bar has been set very high. Inferno in Oslo this year was actually his first live performance with us after such a long time and it was great.”

These lovely people are quite literally the personification of the phrase ‘Once in a blue moon’ when it comes to performing, ” I agree, we only choose the offers that are feasible and unfortunately turn down others merely because for one reason or another, we can’t get there. This includes the Southern hemisphere because we don’t seem to be able to get a large enough audience requesting us to go down to Australia, New Zealand or even Japan. (come on ‘straya!). But the moment a venue owner or promoter is interested we’d be more than happy to come along – maybe even team up with a few other European bands and go as some sort of package but really, we’d love to play anywhere in the world. We’re playing 70,000 Tons next year which seems completely out of character for us but it is going to be amazing.” I had the pleasure of seeing them in Norway earlier this year and trust me, watching My Dying Bride live is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience because the kind of intensity, passion and musicianship this band puts into a live show is unmatched and incredible. ” It’s almost like we’re the band that people can relax to and take a break from the party atmosphere” he joked when I brought up their performance at Inferno Metal Festival in Oslo earlier this year, “All that blisteringly fast black metal that pounds your ear drums and then there’s us. We often wonder why we’re invited bit it’s like they need a band to calm everybody down before the mayhem begins once again.”

Again, it’s still fresh in my mind the kind of impact the band and their music had on me the night I watched them. Aaron is not Aaron anymore and disappears into his world of doom. ” I almost become the characters that I’ve created in the lyrics and generally speaking, most of those characters are having a pretty torrid time. I can’t help but take on those motions as well and I become a mess on stage. I rarely interact with the audience, I don’t tell jokes – I’m lost and in a different world and I can’t break that connection within myself. It’s a different emotional state that I’m in. It’s because I have to push and punish myself 100% like this, that we only play a handful of shows every year – it’s physically and mentally exhausting for me. But what this also means is that, as you know, the shows are very rare and that we focus on the audience which is special. We’re not playing 10,000 more gigs after that night. The shows are few and far between. With the kind of music we play, you know people won’t just listen to it and think it’s a good tune – they’ll feel the music and I think that’s very important to move people with your music.”

Aaron passed on one last message to fans and music lovers alike as to why ‘Feel The Misery’ should be on your playlist, “Well, it’s quirky and it will touch you in some emotional way by tapping into something which is within us all.I think our music should take you on a journey so you should close your eyes and let yourself be taken on that musical journey, far away from the 9-5 life and normalcy.”

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