Intervista Unleash the Archers (Brittney Slayes)

A few days ago has been released the forth full-lenght album of the Canadian band Unleash the Archers, entitled “Apex” (here you can find our review), a great event for the fans of one of the most talented bands that have come to the scene in these last years. Truemetal.it didn’t pass up the chance to have a chat with Brittney Slayes, band’s mastermind. Here it is what came out from our enjoyable talk with her.

Enjoy it!

Interviewed by Marco Donè and Davide Sciaky

Hi Brittney, I’m Marco, welcome to TrueMetal.it. How are you doing?
Hi Marco! I’m doing very well, thank you!  Super busy of course, but I wouldn’t have it any other way

Before talking about the new album, I’d like to ask you about Unleash the Archers’ line-up. After “Time Stands Still” Nikko Withworth replaced Kyle Sheppard, what happened?
Life in a touring band is very difficult; you are on the road for months at a time making no money, meanwhile the bills back home continue to pile up and the funds in your bank account dwindle down to nothing…  Straight up Kyle just could no longer afford to tour as rigorously as we do.  He is also the drummer in another band called Terrifier, and drums are his first love so, he wanted to take the time be able to focus on that project.

Since the beginning of the band’s career changes in the lineup are a common thing for you, how so?
All bands experience line-up changes as they grow.  Not everyone makes the choice to put music first and if you don’t, eventually real life gets in the way and you have to choose one or the other.  We lost our first two members when we decided to make the move from the small town of Victoria where we started, to the big city of Vancouver. Then in 2013 we lost our bass player and founding guitar player within months of one another, one choosing to join another band and the other leaving to go back to school for sound engineering.  Living life as a touring musician forces you to put everything else on hold, and not everyone is willing to do that.

Let’s talk about your new album,“Apex”. The album, compared to the previous one, sounds more classically heavy, with some epic and majestic atmospheres that bring to life the concept you sing about. Is this sound something you had clearly in mind before starting the songwriting, or is it the way the songs naturally developed once you started to write them?
There was a very clear vision right from the beginning; we knew it was going to be a concept record before the first note was even written.  I wrote the whole story out chapter by chapter (aka track by track) and explained what part of the story each song would tell and how it should sound and how it should make the listener feel, and we used that as a guideline.  Some tracks came easier than others, some were based around a single riff and some were written and re-written several times over.  There were entire songs that didn’t even make the record because they just didn’t fit the emotion of the story, but I am sure they aren’t gone forever [she smiles]

Can you tell me more about “Apex’s” concept? What were you inspired from?
The story was built around the main character, called The Immortal, and it just sort of grew around him.  He was inspired by a character from a comic book series I’m reading right now, but only in imagery; the rest came from somewhere deep in my mind, to be honest I can’t even pinpoint where exactly it came from [she smiles]! I also knew I wanted the antagonist to be a female sorceress type villain, inherently evil and egotistical and power hungry, and once she, The Matriarch, was developed the conflict was a no-brainer.  Basically, The Immortal was cursed at birth to serve whoever awakens him. The Matriarch figures out how to do just that and she tasks him with finding her four sons and bringing them to her so she can kill them in a ritual to achieve immortality.  The album follows The Immortal while he completes this quest.

For your first single, ‘Cleanse the Bloodlines”, you shot a video; I think videos are a strength of Unleash the Archers, I’m thinking of ‘General of the Dark Army’, ‘Tonight We Ride’, now this new one. How is an Unleash the Archer’s video created? Who writes the storyboard and who film it?
Both ‘General’ and ‘Cleanse’ were conceptualized and directed by Richard Olak, a great friend of ours from here in Vancouver. He has amazing vision, and never ending resources.  They were also both filmed by the Talbot Twins, great cinematographers from Vancouver as well.  They own a RED Weapon, which is a 6K camera, and that is how we are able to achieve that beautiful cinematic quality.  
‘Tonight We Ride’ was filmed and directed by Nathan Cox from LA, and it was pure chance that we were given the opportunity to work with him. We had to drive down to Nevada just for the shoot but it was so worth it.  We would love to work with him again!  We put a lot of heart and effort into our music videos, they are an important part of portraying to the world who we are and what we do. They are the most popular medium for applying imagery to the artistic vision behind the music so we always try to make them the best they can be! 

Between the 10 songs on “Apex” is there one you are more attached to? Would you explain us why?
I would have to say that the title track ‘Apex’ is my favourite.  We always save one track to write at the last minute so as to capture the atmosphere of the studio and the headspace we were in at that exact moment in time; Apex was that track on this record.  Scott [drums] actually had about 3 hours to learn it [she smiles].  Despite it being written on the spot I think it turned out really well and I love it!  The chorus is basically just me talking directly to our fans, asking them to join us on the adventure that is this record, this band, this whole damn endeavour to survive in an incredibly competitive music industry! I hope they are willing to heed the call  

Your voice is one of the most recognizable traits of Unleash the Archers; in the latest years, the Metal world got used to a lot of female singer singing an operatic style. You go in the opposite way with your powerful and biting style, what are the singers that inspired you the most?
My top three influences are Bruce Dickinson, Daniel Heiman and Geoff Tate.  
I love the way Bruce tells a story with every song, the way he weaves his words like poetry, and his stage presence of course has had a huge influence on me.
Daniel’s best work was Lost Horizon and in the early years of Unleash the Archers I listened to that band a lot, trying to find my own vocal style and taking Daniel’s extensive use of his range to heart.
Geoff has a perfect mid-range falsetto that helped me workout that part of my voice as well. Not to mention the emotion he injects into every phrase is just scintillating; my performance in the studio has really gained a lot from listening closely to Geoff Tate and studying how his words drip with emotion yet he remains in such calculated vocal control.

Among our readers we have many aspiring musicians; can you tell us more about your voice in technical terms? What is your vocal range? What techniques do you use to valorise and preserve your voice?
When I’m in top shape I can do about four and a half octaves, I am not sure what my highest or lowest note is because it changes.  When I come off a six week headlining tour I am at my max potential.  Taking care of your voice on tour is difficult, but if you are willing to take the time and find a routine that works for you then it definitely gets easier.  Number one is to stay away from iced water. It is the absolute worst thing for your tender little vocal chords!  Never drink iced water, at all in life actually, if you want to be a vocalist. Also it sucks but you have to do your best to stay away from the partying, it can be really hard to fight that temptation but if you get to bed early then your voice and body will thank you for it.  Warm up extensively as well.  At the beginning of a tour I will warm up for as long as two hours sometimes, starting out quiet and easy and working up to full on belting and wails.  Once we’ve been on the road for a while I need less time, but I will always be singing to myself and humming and whatnot so I’m kind of always ‘warm’  😉  Lastly, if your voice is feeling tired or sore then boil a kettle, and huff the steam, it will moisten your vocals folds and soothe your airways.  Add a drop of peppermint oil if you have it as well.  Make sure not to just shove your face in the kettle right away though that steam can burn  😉  I always have hot water with lemon or a honey lemon tea if my voice is feeling rough as well, and I take lot’s of vitamins to boost my immune system.  I have a huge bag of Vitamin D and C and B12 and Oil of Oregano and lot’s of others that I take every day, because getting sick on the road is way too easy so you need to take preventative measures as much as possible!   There’s so much more but I would be writing forever!

Let’s go back to Unleash the Archers: after two self-released albums “Time Stand Still” came out on Napalm Records as is the new one. How is your relationship with the label, and how did you get to join them?
We are honoured to be a part of the napalm team, it was very unexpected and to be honest we had given up on trying to get signed when they contacted us but we are very happy with how things are going so far.  
We had ‘Time Stands Still’ already written and the videos were filmed and were just about to head into the studio when we got an email from Thomas, VP at Napalm.  He asked us if we had a new album in the works, we sent him the demos that we had recorded in order to get the videos filmed, and they sent us the offer.  It was pretty surreal.  Once we were finished in the studio we sent them everything and then began the contract negotiations!  That took a while so it was hard to sit on the record for months after it was done but definitely worth it in the end.

You are from Canada, a nation with a very interesting music scene with many new powerful bands.  From the outside it seems like these bands are working together, teaming up, struggling to reach a common goal. Can you talk me about the Canadian Metal scene?
The scene here is extremely supportive; we are always donating to eachothers’ kickstarters and voting in contests to help fellow Canadian bands be noticed out there in the wider world of metal.  I’m not exactly sure why but bands from the US and Europe gain recognition so much faster than bands in Canada or Australia or other outlying countries, it just seems no one (and I mean no one, not labels, booking agents, media, no one) is willing to give independent bands a chance when they come from countries not really known for their metal, so we have to work that much harder just to rise above the bullshit.  Labels like Napalm are changing that though, they are giving everyone a chance, and they are signing a lot of great talent and helping Canadian bands make their mark!  Fans in Canada have always been aware of how rad the talent is coming out of this expansive country, and they will always mean a lot to us. They are the ones that have been there from the beginning!  There is a special place in our hearts for the fans that have been there for us since our first cross-country tour in 2009  

What are the next plans for Unleash the Archers? Will you tour in support of “Apex”? Will we see you in Italy?
If all goes as planned, then yes we will finally play our first shows in Italy this fall!  We are currently working on tour dates in Europe and are doing our best to include as many countries as possible.  Europe is definitely our first priority as there are so many places we haven’t played yet.  Secondly we will book some dates through North America, and then hopefully South America, Asia and Australia!

We’ve reached the end of the interview, Brittney. Thanks for your time and, as is our custom, I’ll leave you this final spot if you have a greeting or a message for your readers on TrueMetal.it
Thank you so much for taking the time to hang out with me and learn a little bit more about Unleash the Archers!  If you would like to get in touch then Facebook is definitely the best place to do that (https://www.facebook.com/UnleashTheArchers), we always answer all of our messages.  Also if you are interested in our old albums or t-shirts and other merch then we have our own Big Cartel store (http://unleashthearchers.bigcartel.com), and I package everything personally!  So don’t be afraid to ask for something to be signed. Lastly, make sure to check out the videos for Apex on Napalm’s Youtube channel!  Thanks so much TrueMetal.it!