Aine Brewer from The Metal Saloon interviews Santorum UK's guitarist; Cole Walsh.
'Loud, Heavy, Disgusting Music', Santorum UK have breached the crest of the mountain of the stagnant, gig-less 'writing' phase and are gaining speed on the road down into the flaming abyss they have sought for so long. Wheels are turning, the shows are coming faster and harder and each day we grow stronger.
Aine: Start by introducing yourself and the rest of your band, how long have you guys been around for?
Cole: We're all from around west London and have in one way or another been working with each other for the last 2/3 years. We've got Jamie Frost on the drums, Benjamin Sathitaya on the bass, Me (Cole) on guitar and Ian Williams torturing microphones. Our current line up with our new vocalist came into action just a couple of weeks ago and we've hit the ground running with new energy and focus
Aine: You have developed your own strong, unique sound in such a small space of time, as well as Slayer, what other bands have heavily influenced you?
Cole: All of us have our varied influences, so we're sort of a tangled mess of Lamb of God, MachineHead, Pantera, Killswitch Engage, Motorgrator, Disturbed, Meshuggah, Rage against the Machine and endless others. We're basking in the wake of the progressive metal movement at the moment as well with bands like Monuments breaking the surface. We're all into a huge amount of different music outside of metal, too, all of it finding it's place in the music we want to create
Aine: Tell us about the gigs you have played so far? What have been some of your favourite moments?
Cole: We've visited a bunch of venues on the London circuit, The Peel (Kingston) Nambucca (Holloway Road) The Birds Nest (Deptford) and we've got Boston Music Arms coming up, too. All worth checking out!.
Favourite moments have got to be in the humble setting of a sweaty little basement room under a youth club where, if you're in there, you're pretty much in the pit regardless of where you stand - There's nothing more purely metal than a grotty room where people beat the crap out of each other to heavy music
Aine: So I hear 2012 is going to be a big year for you guys, tell us about what you have planned?
Cole: 2012 is looking to be pretty nutty, We're opening for Killerfix at their worldwide album relaunch party on the 23rd March at Camden Underworld, which is looking to be huge, so we're all looking forward to that. We've recently acquired one of these 'motor vehicles', too, so we can begin to expand around (and out of) London, and we're looking to visit Germany in the summer!
Aine: You are currently in the midst of writing your forth coming E.P, tell us more about it?
Cole: The EP has been long overdue, it's all on my computer in my studio as we finish of Vocal tracks, and it's going to be available for free download.
Aine: Where do you see yourself in 5 years time, what other accomplishments do you hope to have achieved by then?
Cole: In five years time, a longer time than it might seem; with any luck we'll have spots of festival stages and making an income enough to keep us from starvation, We're not thinking we're gonna be world-touring that soon, but if we're playing on some cool stages in the summer sun alongside grotty basement rooms then that would be pretty awesome - Everyone develops so much as a musician as time goes on, so who knows what the future could hold?
Aine: Lastly, do you have anything else you would like to share?
Cole: An open invitation to all metalheads out there to come and rock out with us whenever they can, and a plea to help keep the live scene alive, with all the opposition it faces these days.
Check out Santorum UK and keep your eyes open for updates and gig information, and for the EP which is in the latter half of production!
By Aine Brewer
The Metal Saloon
