Sanguine

Sanguine – Featured Band March 2016

Sanguine a four piece metal/rock band from Exeter are going to head out on tour later this month with Mushroomhead and American Head Charge (see here for further information and tour dates).

PlanetMosh’s Louise took the opportunity to ask Sanguine’s Tarin and Nick a few questions ahead of the tour which starts on the 18th March 2016: –

Sanguine originally formed as a Prog Rock band how have you evolved into the harder hitting band we see today?

Tarin: Well we started with the intention of being a Prog Rock band but that never really happened!!! (laughs) We played around with styles and just got drawn into the heavier stuff. It was a really natural process.

Nick: I think that this happens to a lot of bands. You start by envisioning what type of music you want to play but, when you find your musicians, you realise that you naturally gel into a certain style. Tarin’s vocals dictate a lot of what we do, when she learned how to scream that opened the door for us to become a heavier band.

I’ve been watching a few videos two in particular Social Decay and Pretty Girl showcased different vocal styles. I found it difficult to pigeon hole you into to a genre. How would you describe your sound?

Tarin: Alternative rock/metal is the closest we’ve come to describing our sound. When we are heavy we are still melodic, I think melody underlines everything we do. We don’t aim to be any genre in particular, we’re just us, and we sound like Sanguine. Its female led but we also have male vocals sung by Nick, which I think makes it a little more interesting from song to song.

Nick: You have to remember that there is no set formula for female fronted rock and metal acts; it’s still a very untapped market. Tarin’s voice gives us a variety of vocals in one person!

The videos looked fun, again completely different styles. Where do you get the ideas from?

Tarin: We’re always thinking of new ideas. I think we just get bored easily! We never want to do the same thing over and over again. Sanguine are like an artistic community, for example Social Decay was completely shot by us. Nick was the one who thought up the idea.

Nick: I came across the Reefer Madness Propaganda video one day and it made me laugh my arse off! It basically says if you smoke marijuana you’ll end up raping and killing people. I thought it summarised what Social Decay was trying to say: “Don’t listen to your government, question the things they say…ask yourself – is this really for my own good or the good of those with money and power?”

Tarin: The videos have been inspired from so many different things…a lot of it from the people and adventures that we have had along the way! Pretty Girl was shot whilst on a road trip to Vegas. Every video has its own story.

Then we come to your latest video Save Me can you tell us a bit more about it?

Nick: Save Me was put together with Tyson W Johnston an Australian film Director who we met when we were playing in L.A. He’s been a massive supporter of the band and so he let us use his short-sci fi film “Lunar” for the video.

Tarin: That’s exactly what I was talking about! Each video is a snapshot into the world of Sanguine, the people and the music…we love supporting art no matter what form it comes in. What could be better than using music to promote a filmmaker? Tyson is an awesome film Director and he’s set for big things!

Which of all your videos has been the hardest work to film?

Tarin: Every time we film there are always challenges. Pretty Girl was the most “out of my body” I’ve felt. Walking up and down the Vegas Strip with all the people jumping in front of the camera was funny! And it was hot…so hot…it was August in the Nevada desert so we drank a ton!

Nick: We also splashed out on taking a helicopter ride over the Strip whilst it was lit up at night…that was an amazing experience!

Which did you enjoying filming the most and why?

Nick: Social Decay was the funniest to film; we had to keep doing fake smiles all day. It was almost too much! Our faces hurt at the end of the day!

Tarin: Has anyone heard of laughing meditation? I think we did a serious case of 24hr laughing meditation for that video!

Did you have any kind of stage, media, dance training?

Nick: Yes I have 12 years as a trained tap dancer and a proud owner of a lion training certificate!

Tarin: (laughs) Na, none of us had any stage or dance training. I think Matt took drum lessons when he was a teenager and Nick had training up to grade 8 classical guitar, but that’s the whole CV for the band!

Nick: Tarin’s always asked this question – but she’s never had a day’s training in her life….maybe we should enrol her and she’ll scare all the “wanna be” kids off their college courses!

You’ve just released new album Black Sheep can you tell us a bit more about it? Eg. How long did Black Sheep take to record? Producer? Which Studios?

Nick: We recorded Black Sheep in Sweden with Jesper Strömblad (ex-In Flames guitarist) and Producer Daniel Flores. It took about a year from start to finish.

Tarin: We started out exploring the possibility of doing a writing session with Jesper and Daniel. We loved the process so much that we went back home for a few months and finished writing the rest of the album. Once we had the final songs we then went back to Sweden to record the rest of the album with these guys. It was a crazy experience spread out over the course of a year.

Which is your favourite track on Black Sheep?

Tarin: Ah! That’s a hard one! We love all these songs, that’s why we put them all together. This album wasn’t designed with just the singles in mind. We want people to enjoy listening to the whole thing!

Nick: Because of the various styles on the album we are getting feedback from our fans that they like different songs on different days.

Tarin: That’s exactly it – if I’m feeling upbeat I love Pretty Girl but if I’m feeling upset nothing beats Breathe Out. We tried to fill this album so that each song is in it’s own world.

I’ve noticed that band members have other interests, for instance Ross likes trial biking and Tarin likes painting. What other hidden talents have band members got?

Tarin: Matt is a 2nd dan black belt in Taekwondo and a personal trainer – so he is basically has an endless amount of energy! Ross has his BMX, motorcross and he’s a prop maker – he has made props for films like Johnny Depp’s The Demon Barber. Nick is a Video Producer and has just done his first short film “Eat” (by Carl Shanahan) as a co-Producer which has been nominated for the London Short Film Festival Awards. Like you said I’m into my art, I also do Art Direction and Video Editing for various video projects.

Nick: We have lot of energy in Sanguine! Hence we see ourselves a bit like an art collective as well as a band.

With all these varied interests where do you get the inspiration for lyrics from?

Tarin: Lyrics are inspired by the things we do, the conversations we have, the political debates that wage around us. Sometime lyrical content is personal, other times it’s about reaching out to others and suggesting revolution!

What do you do to relax?

Nick: Nothing! We’re always on the go….We’re all pretty hyper as people so are always creating new stuff. Being in a modern band means no breaks! There is so much that always needs doing and we have to plan months in advance to make sure it all gets done.

Tarin: We sort of relax and live it up as we go to be honest. For example in Los Angeles and Vegas, when we weren’t working we were in the hot tub or partying in the Hollywood Hills. Sanguine is about the adventure. It’s the journey not the destination that counts.

The word Sanguine has a couple of meanings – optimistic (especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation) or blood red. Which fits the band best and what made you choose that name?

Tarin: We chose it for that very reason – We are the type of people who will laugh when shit goes wrong. In fact sometimes the more wrong it goes the funnier it is.

Nick: Like everyone we also have the darker side which is what the blood represents.

You’re about to head out on a UK tour with American Head Charge and Mushroomhead. What do you think brought you to their attention?

Nick: We through a party just after Christmas this year and invited a Publisher, who was interested in us, along to see us live. He liked it and was in contact with that camp already. He asked us what tour we wanted to do and we said AHC/MushroomHead – He passed us over to their agent and a few days later we got the call. Pretty exciting to be honest!

Are you big fans of both bands?

Tarin: American Head Charge played one of the best shows I have ever seen. It was in Exeter a few years back and everyone who went remembers it. The place just erupted! I respect MushroomHead as they have the sort of diversity I like but this will be the first time I’ve seen them live so really excited. Can’t wait to play with both bands to be honest – It’s a dream tour in that sense.

Will you be joining them in wearing weird and wonderful masks or costumes?

Nick: I think I would drown in my own sweat if I wore a mask….I don’t know how those guys do it?!!

Tarin: Haha! Yeh we get pretty lively on stage so I think it would probably lead to an accident if we were wearing stuff on our face.

What are you looking forward to most about the tour?

Tarin: All of it! – Just feels great to get out there and meet our fans and the other bands.

Nick: We’ve been behind the scenes getting stuff sorted for a while so it will be great to just get out there again and rip up some stages.

Why should people come and see Sanguine?

Nick: Because we give something different. If you’re sick of every band sounding the same then you are going to like us. We put every bit of ourselves into the live shows.

Tarin: Yup! I think we catch a lot of people off guard when they see us live. We get a lot of ‘I didn’t expect that’ reactions and we’re very proud of this.

Apart from Sanguine which new bands would you recommend people listen to and/or go to see?

Tarin: RSJ are pretty brutal live – we’ve played with them a few times. Check out there video ‘Nice Day Out’ (here) – it’s dynamite.

Nick: In our home town we play with IDIOM and Bag That Weasel a lot. We’re all mates so have an awesome time playing together as well. ‘Weasels’ drummer Yogi is a real character in our town – everyone knows him –  I challenge you not to get sucked in when he’s rocking the stage.

Can you spill the beans on your top secret project yet?

Nick: haha! Damn I want to….like…REALLY want to but we’re just finishing the paperwork off now….damn! Already given too much away ;)

After the tour what have Sanguine got lined up for the rest of the year?

Tarin: More touring! We have already started work on the next album and we are looking at a possible live release as well. It depends on how things pan out.

Any final message?

Tarin: Thanks to everyone who has supported us, brought the album and helped us build over the last few months. We can’t wait to hit the road and we’ll see you all in March!

Nick: We’ve got tons of stuff coming up so check us out on www.facebook.com/sanguineband and we’ll see you in the pit!

P.S Thanks for having us …it’s been fun ;) X

About Sanguine (from their website): –

Sanguine are a four piece female fronted alternative metal/rock band from Exeter, UK. First formed back in 2004 Sanguine started as a prog-rock band…Tarin explains “we knew we loved heavier music, it just took a while for us to discover who we were, we just kept getting heavier, when I first started out I didn’t even scream!”

A few years later Sanguine formed the sound it is today, hard hitting driving metal and rock riffs, mixtures of melodies, vocal ranges which include screams and singing both from front-woman Tarin Kerrey and guitarist Nick Magee. Sanguine have created a new unique sound, jumping between styles their eclectic song writing keep you guessing what the next track will sound like. Nick explains “we know who we sound like, each song is like it’s own world. The various styles we write in do not detract from the fact that overall our songs sound like Sanguine, no one else…we are Sanguine.”

Sanguine’s new album BLACK SHEEP was released in early 2016, it features tracks co-written with Jesper Strömblad (In Flames) and produced by Daniel Flores. Already receiving rave reviews from the press the album is pushing Sanguine forward into new frontiers.

For your copy of the new album order it now from various stores:
BUY NOW – VIRGIN store
BUY NOW – HMV store
BUY NOW – AMAZON store

Band Members:

Tarin Kerrey – Vocals
Nick Magee – Guitar/Vocals
Ross Andrew – Bass
Matt Feld – Drums

Links:

Website: http://www.sanguineband.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sanguineband/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sanguineband

See Sanguine with Mushroomhead and American Head Charge: –

Fri 18^th March…….. MANCHESTER, Club Academy

Sat 19^th March……. SHEFFIELD, Corporation

Sun 20^th March…… NOTTINGHAM, Rescue Rooms

Tues 22^nd March…. GLASGOW, Classic Grand

Weds 23^rd March… NEWCASTLE, Northumbria University

Thurs 24^th March… BIRMINGHAM, O2 Academy 2

Fri 25^th March…….. CHESTER, Live Rooms

Sat 26^th March……. BRISTOL, Marble Factory

Sun 27^th March…… PLYMOUTH, The Hub

Tues 29^th March…. CARDIFF, The Globe

Weds 30^th March… LONDON, Electric Ballroom

Thurs 31^st March… BRIGHTON, Concorde 2

Fri 1^st April…………. SOUTHAMPTON, Engine Rooms

Sat 2^nd April……….. NORWICH, Waterfront

Sun 3^rd April………. READING, Sub 89

Tickets are on sale now.