Dear readers, it is our pleasure to offer you in this article an interview with a UK Heavy Rock quartet, who recently announced their debut album. We welcome Slung.
Hi, a pleasure to have you among our pages, how are you?
RM: “Not too bad thanks, Iāve got a bit of a cold but Iām being brave and soldiering on through it.“
VM: “Yo! I am pretty bored and horizontal, recovering from ankle surgery and patiently waiting for the album release and tour, aka the good stuff š”Ā
Katie: “doing better than Vlad by the looks of it!“
The band formed recently, how did the project and the choice of the name Slung come about?
RM: “Vlad was really the driving force of bringing us all together. He was sitting on a bunch of demos that heād written collaboratively with some Brighton music heads (Mykl from Sick Joy, Annie from CLT DRP, Lucy from Projector, Zac from El Moono) and wanted to pull together a more permanent line up to turn them into an album and start gigging with. We all kind of knew Vlad and didnāt really know eachother – I met him through some help he gave my old band pushing releases, Ali and him met years ago in Australia and Katie is his partner. He just got us all in a room and it felt like we all hit it off musically and personally pretty instantly.
As far as the name goes, we were just sat around in a beer garden trying to think of one word names that evoked the 90s slacker rock / grunge vibes that we were writing – someone said Slung and it just stuck really. Sorry it aināt a more interesting story thereā¦.“
VM: “Ravi pretty much nailed it, ha! I’d probably add Will Gardener (ex Black Peaks, Every Hell) Ash (Sugar Horse) and Jak (WACO), Blake (Delta Sleep) to the list of those pals, to be honest I don’t even remember all the folks I jammed and pieced these tunes together withā¦ glad that we got such a great line up of people and musicians in this band now and the rotating door phase is over!Ā
And yeah, the name came up in a pub, over cold delicious beers, throwing around random words, and when someone yelped out SLUNG and we checked that no one else had it, and it was a keeper. Its easy to say and looks nice written down too, which was a lil bonusĀ “
You play Heavy Rock contaminated by Alternative and Modern Rock, how did your passion for these sounds come about?
RM: “When we started writing together we didnāt really know what was going to happen as we all have such a broad range of influences, from metal to country to pop to hardcore. We didnāt really try to write to a certain style and I think you can hear that throughout the album as we float between metal & heavier rock stuff on some tracks, but on others sit in a much softer, more emotional space.Ā
It was more about finding the overlap in the venn diagram of all of our songwriting and having something that felt natural, rather than trying to write a heavy song, or a ballad etc.“
VM: “I think we all come from musical backgrounds, but all those are still fundamentally all rooted in rock music.Ā
Even though we were musically different we had a lot in common, and I think as a band in many ways we are still figuring out where our collective venn diagram lands us, i think album 3 or 4 should just about get us there, ha!Ā
It’s a fun journey and musical negotiation being this different, but because at root we share enough of a similar foundation, and we are good friends, the results and the process have both been a joy ride.“
In this regard, what are your sources of inspiration?
RM: “Honestly, anything and everything. We all have pretty different music tastes and I think you can hear that in the way that we write. Some things that have been getting pretty heavy circulation from us right now are Waxahatchee & MJ Lenderman, Poppy, Mannequin Pussy, Slow Pulp. Just to give a flavour.“
VM: “Mainly not music to be honest, and when it is music it is often electronicmusic, neo classical or drone soundscapes.Ā
I LOVE, live and breathe all flavors of guitar driven music, but I actually try not to listen to much if any of it before starting to write or record. OtherwiseI find I end up, consciously or subconsciously, heading into the directions of things I heard and liked recently and I don’t want to copy other art or people, or write āin the style ofā.
I actively focus on trying to draw my inspiration from other directions, experiences and emotional states – -as pretentious as this may sound, and however hard I may fail at this (ha!), this is where I am at at the moment of my own journey“
You have announced the debut album āIn Waysā for MAy 2025, how would you describe this work?
“A long time coming! We recorded the album back in December 2023 and have since recorded 2 singles and done 2 Uk tours and a short run in Spain. I think weāre all over the moon to actually be putting this record out into the world. Musically I think itās as weāve discussed – a pretty eclectic combination of our various tastes and influences, mashed together into something that still feels cohesive and (hopefully) exciting.“
VM: “(Love the “Long Time Comingā Rav šĀ
I think I would compare this record to a collection of short stories rather than a novel. Feels that way to me like there are less continuous chapters cause of how most of the songs came together, over time, and with different people.
I feel very lucky that these ideas finally ended up with this band and group of people. They really heard, and felt, what was done, and together we were able to finish composing pieces that not only complimented the eclectic sound and broad sound of all subgenres of rock, but we were also able to write a through line to make this collection of songs a cohesive record and a body of work, and not a mere compilation.“
Music and vocals are intense and incisive, what themes do the lyrics of the album deal with?
Katie: “A lot of the album deals with confronting the dark things inside of us by bringing them out into the open to shine a light on them. A lot of the lyrics are pretty confessional from my life, in a way that I hope many people can relate to. Because there really is no greater feeling than hearing someone else openly express something youāve felt sure that you, alone, have been the only person suffering from. It helps me immensely to release these things, and also feels like my beacon into the dark for others to find safety in.“
A solid sound between Heavy and Alternative Rock, how does the creative process of your music take place?
RM: “Usually itāll start with a riff. Vlad or Ali will come into the room super excited about some part theyāve written and weāll start to build it up, finding the right drums, the right tempo, the right bassline / lead part. Once weāve strung that riff together into a section, usually the other parts flow quite naturally and before long we have something resembling a song. Katie then spends some time with the instrumentals finding the right vocals to sit over top.
We actually save quite a lot of production until we get to the studio so thereās room for songs to grow in different directions and so things arenāt completely set in stone from the beginning. Thereās a lot of percussion, harmonies and slide parts that made it onto the album that we hadnāt written until we got into the studio that really took the songs in a different direction to where they were originally heading.“
VM: “I think we are still finding our feet with what works for usā¦
We finished recording the album, and 3 weeks later Katie and I literally moved to another country (Valencia, ES) for a year, ha!Ā
So over last year, for the 28 shows we have done Katie and I flew back and forth quite a lot, and Neurotic and Fire to Burn were written mainly long distance.Ā
Actually when we went to record those two songs we had never played the demos we worked on in a room all together – it was a pretty ambitious move – 3 days 2 songs and all going into it with just some demo files we sent to each other on wahts app!
It could have gone terribly wrongā¦I’m really glad it didnt!!
Actually in retrospect it was a nice exprience, and I think we have a broad range of options of how we can approach working on new material –Ā I just hope we find something that feels easy and natural so this band and our creative process can remain as fun and easy going as possible, and for nothing to feel forced“
Have you released a new single āLaughter,ā do you have any more planned before the album’s release?
RM: “I donāt wanna give to much away, but yes, expect to hear a few more singles before the album is released in May.“
VM: “will give ya a song a month, how about that? š“
A dynamic and energetic Rock, which lends itself to live performances, do you have plans for this in the near future?
“Weāve just announced a 15 date UK tour in May to coincide with the album release and have plans to venture further afield later in the year – hopefully to be announced soonā¦.“
VM: “Ravi nailed it. Whatever the non cringe current version of “watch this spaceā is, lets go with that, ha!“
Do you have any anecdotes and memories of your live experiences with this project?
“Late last year we played a few shows in Spain and one of these shows was in Valencia, after another show. Now in the UK weāre early birds and like to stick to a strict 11pm bedtime, so doors for shows are usually around 6-7 and curfew is 10-11. No one told us that in Spain they donāt sleep. So the show we played in Valencia, the doors to the venue opened at 1:30AM and we did not hit the stage until 2:30AM. It was Vladās birthday so unsurprisingly (and at the risk of sounding unprofessional) we did not manage to stay very sober, so by the time we hit the stage we were battered. Thankfully everyone in the room was more battered than us, so I think they quite enjoyed the set.
The worst part was waking up 6 hours later and having to drive to a different city to do it all againā¦.“
VM: “Ha!! Yeah that one is a stand out for sure – playing two (not at all sober) sets with SLUNG on my birthday, in Spain, was my fave memory foam playing live so far..
I also quite enjoyed the initially stressful situation of Ali fucking up his calendar and telling us he couldnt play 2 shows – Colchester and Leeds – in July last year.
What started as stress and worries, ended up us playing those shows with my good friend Joe Gosney (ex Black Peaks, Palm Reader, Vower),as he stepped in to rescue us.Ā
It was a joy to spend those days and share a stage with him again.”
The UK is a major country for Rock music, how do you see the modern music scene in your country?
“Weāre specifically based in and around Brighton, which is really one of the busiest music scenes in the UK. Weāre surrounded by Grassroots venues and new bands are coming through constantly. This has cultivated a really great community of people that love music and want to go out and discover new bands. So honestly weāre grateful to have been able to come through in such a supportive environment.“
VM: “I sometimes feel spoiled, or jaded, because I often focus on how “badā the UK scene is, and it’s refreshing to see how people in continental Europe hold it in high regard to be honestā¦
Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of good bands in the UK, and a lot of talented individuals pushing against all odds and making great art!!Ā
However when I look at the music scene in the UK what I see is the need for subsidies, government support and funding, because over last 10 years I have seen it be dismantled from almost every direction – there are less small venues, less small labels, lesser opportunities and fees while cost of living is getting higherĀ – – it is objectively harder to be become a musician and prosper in that way of life than it was 10-15 years ago in any way you want to look or measure it.Ā
I struggle to stay optimistic when looking at it objectively – but I do try and keep hope now that we have a “leftā government after years of conservative rule, that as a society, and in policy & legislation, we will reevaluate our relationship with many things-Ā from housing, to health care, to education and of course to art.“
How difficult, if at all, is it to make a name for yourself these days with sounds like yours?
VM: “not sure what you mean with “make a nameā to be honest.
If you mean to become famous, or even just earn a decent living from making the music we make, then I would say 99.99% improbable.Ā
Only not using impossible because it is in poor taste, but it is an inch away from thereā¦
If you mean work day jobs to have an expensive hobby of writing, recording and independently releasing music, and use our holiday days from those 9-5 jobs to go play shows small underground shows instead of resting than I guess while it is rather hard, it is possibleā¦All you have to do is let go of having any disposable income, a healthy social life, ample time with your partner, and lean into it, hahahaha
I guess it depends where you set you goals, how to manage oneās expectations without it hurting ambitions or ego, and in the broader scheme of things how you approach the balance of work/family/life trajectory while keeping space for what your are (unreasonably) passionate about – heavy riffs in low tuningsā¦“
Do you have any other activities or artistic passions outside of music?
Katie: “90ās TV shows, 70ās clothes and endlessly watching youtube tarot card readers to cherrypick the things that make me feel good“
I thank the band for the interview and wish them all the best for the continuation of their artistic career.
“thank YOU!“
Slungās debut album āIn Waysā will be out May 02, 2025 via Fat Dracula.
Pre-Save/Pre-OrderĀ it right here:Ā https://ffm.bio/slingitbaby
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