IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM BARNES
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/ignominiousincarceration
COUNTRY: United Kingdom STYLE: Death Metal

DON’T GET ME WRONG; I THINK YOU GUYS HAVE A COOL BAND NAME BUT YOU MUST LAUGH ON THE INSIDE WHEN PEOPLE PRONOUNCE IT WRONG SOMETIMES?

It is Pretty funny but I mean it’s not your ordinary band name, 2 massive words that hardly get used anymore just isn’t fair on the public. But when we started we didn’t think we’d get this far as we were out to have fun then it got more serious and the name stuck as everyone knew who we were simply by the name!

THE “MARKET” SEEMS TO BE VERY COMPETITIVE IN THE UK WITH A LOT OF THE WORLD’S BEST KNOWN BANDS COMING FROM THE COUNTRY. SEEING HOW THE SCENE HAS GROWN IN EUROPE OVER THE YEARS; WAS IT SOMETHING YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE PART OF GROWING UP?

Hell yeah! We all love metal and to see it grow and become more than just popular is amazing as it is a genre which used to be looked down upon, but if you really get down to some of the music it’s mind blowing how it’s been written and how it’s played! Some of the best musicians out there do write metal!

THE BAND SIGNED TO A RECORD LABEL IN JUST TWO YEARS AFTER STARTING OUT. DID YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC GOAL OF GETTING SIGNED IN A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME AND IF NOTHING HAPPENED, JUST LEAVE EVERYTHING OR WERE YOU ALWAYS SET ON MAKING THIS BAND A SUCCESS NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED?

Well again we did start the band for some fun and give us something to do in our small hometowns then as we played bigger and better shows we took it a more serious and are now doing it for a living. Signing to the label is a dream come true and we aren’t going to waste our time with this.

YOUR DEBUT ALBUM “OF WINTER BORN” IS AVAILABLE “EVERYWHERE”. DID IT FEEL LIKE HOLDING AN OSCAR THE FIRST TIME YOU HAD THE FINISHED ALBUM IN YOUR HANDS?

Ha, it wasn’t as weird as that but holding it was amazing! We’ve all thought about how cool it’d be having our very own CD and now that we do we love it and as it came out exactly how we wanted we! Hopefully everyone out there is enjoying it as much as we are!

IT IS RARE THAT YOU STILL GET BANDS THAT RELEASE MUSIC THROUGH ANY TYPE OF LABEL THAT IS BADLY PRODUCED; EVEN BANDS WITH BAD MUSIC HAVE THESE “POLISHED” RECORDS TODAY. DO YOU THINK METAL HAS BECOME TO “POLISHED” OR IS IT JUST A CASE OF USING THE TECHNOLOGY THAT IS AVAILABLE TO MAKE AN ALBUM THAT SOUNDS AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE?

Albums from all bands have come out with very polished and it is due to the technology at hand as we don’t use tape to record anymore and you don’t have to get everything correct in one take. It isn’t a bad thing as people can enjoy all metal with the comfort of knowing that the sound quality is there and won’t make them judge it on just that. It also lets bands with not much money get a good sounding CD out and have it close to the standards they wanted for it!

DO YOU ALWAYS FIND YOURSELVES WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL AT HOME OR ON TOUR, AND WHO ARE THE BIGGEST SONG WRITERS IN THE BAND?

Yeah we all love to write and have fun in doing so, we were already writing the 2nd album when we went in to do the first one, which is kind of confusing, and as time progresses you can polish up those riffs and make them greater. As the writing is concerned in the band we all do the right amounts and hence why the 1st album came out how it is, awesome!

I SEE THE BAND IS ENDORSED BY WARWICK AND IBANEZ BUT DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELVES TO BE “GEARHEADS” OR DO YOU JUST FOR EXAMPLE PLAY ON ANY GUITAR THAT IS AVAILABLE AND FINALLY; WHAT TUNINGS AND GEAR DO YOU GUYS USE?

We’re not so “gearheads” we will play pretty much anything but playing something that’s good is another thing, and with Ibanez the guitars let us play all our stuff with a lot of ease as they are light and smooth to play. We’re in drop C# but may change for the 2nd album and gear well Chris (the Bassist) uses a SR705 and warwick 611 cab and profet 5.2 head, Steve uses an S series with a mesa boogie cab and Krank head, and Sam the drummer uses a mapex Saturn Series.

I DON’T KNOW IF YOU GUYS ARE INTERESTED IN TALKING ABOUT THE REASONS WHY BOBBY (GUITAR) HAS LEFT THE BAND. BUT WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS NOW, KNOWING YOU HAVE TO WRITE AND RECORD A NEW ALBUM?

He wanted to follow other ventures, we’re not too fazed by it as getting new guitarists is a regular occurrence for us unfortunately but we are trying out new ones as we speak! And as for the new album you’ll have a chance to hear it in May/June of next year and it will not disappoint!

WATCHING THE VIDEOS OF YOU GUYS ON TOUR IT SEEMS THAT YOU GET TO MEET SOME REALLY “INTERESTING” PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY. IS THAT ONE OF THE GOOD THINGS ABOUT BEING IN A BAND (WITHOUT TRYING TO SOUND SOPPY) YOU KNOW; THE “MEMORIES”?

Ha, without sounding soppy yeah we do get great memories from everywhere we go and we have such a blast, the best bit about going to these places is the people you meet and having a good time. I mean if we didn’t there wouldn’t be much point in going anywhere! Apart from playing the show obviously haha!

THE WORST THING ABOUT TRAVELLING IS…?

Worst thing about travelling well I could say that there isn’t any but you do on the off chance miss home and maybe have a bad show which can dishearten you but then you think of all the other shows you’ve played/ going to play and you forget and the bad points.

YOU HAVE PERFORMED WITH SOME REALLY COOL BANDS. IN A SCENE THAT HAS SO MANY BANDS THAT PLAY “METAL” DO YOU CONSIDER SOME BANDS TO KIND OF BE YOUR “BROTHERS IN ARMS” THAT YOU WOULD ALSO LIKE TO PERFORM WITH MORE AND SEE SUCCEED AND BUILD THE SCENE FOR THE BETTER?

Hell yeah! We want to see all of our friends make it and we always try and stick tours on that are with our best mates bands. What’s more fun than doing what you love with the people you love? Like the Masters of Metal tour we did back in July with all our friends that was amazing! And we’ll definitely be doing it again next year bigger and longer we promise you that!

I KNOW GETTING A TATTOO ON THE SIDE OF YOUR “RIBS” IS PAINFUL BUT I MUST ASK STEVE (GUITAR) HOW IT FEELS TO GET ONE ON THE FRONT OF YOUR NECK, BECAUSE I’VE SEEN A FEW PEOPLE WITH TATTOOS IN THAT “AREA” OF THE BODY LATELY?

Well of course it hurt but Steve is odd he has a high threshold to pain for some reason and he will just sit there and get tattooed for hours on end. It does seem that tattoos are becoming more socially acceptable these days which is a good thing, but today it seems like you’re an individual if you don’t have tattoos haha.

ANY COMMENTS; THINGS FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Well keep checking back to our myspace page for shows and news www.myspace.com/ignominiousincarceration and add us on twitter and Facebook too www.twitter.com/Official_II and www.facebook.com/ignominiousincarceration and our new album will be awesome so don’t worry!

We’d like to thank again Earache, Scott Atkins, our families and fans.

CHEERS