E.V spoke to Kyle Wilson and Kieran Thornton of the band Auger. These two talented musicians from Blackpool have had tremedous success this year with the release of their second album.
Q. Kyle, Kieran, thank you for agreeing to the interview.
It has now been a few months since the release of your second album, and in that space of time you’ve become a well known name through the industrial world having topped the German alternative charts. Were either of you expecting such an explosion of success and fame from the new album, having already found success with the first?
A. To be honest, we never expect anything. We write and perform the music we do because we love it. And along this journey we have met so many amazing people who love it just as much as we do. So we were excited to release the album to share with these people our latest creations and hear their options and stories about how it makes them feel; So when the reaction was so positive, we were overwhelmed! We're really chuffed with this latest release and performing it has been great, the new energy has created opportunities for a really enjoyable live performance.
Q. You’ve worked with other great bands recently such as remixes, a duet with Massive Ego on ‘point of no return, as well as supporting bands like CombiChrist and Solar Fake. What have been your favourite experiences collaborating with other artists?
A. Obviously, the Massive Ego collaboration was incredible, engineering, mixing and co-producing the album with the band over 10 days was an unforgettable experience. Another great experience was touring with Stoneman, Alienare and V2A in September 2018. We had some great laughs and have made some friends that will keep in touch with forever. Particularly those Alienare boys, Tim has become a very good friend of mine and will hopefully be flying over to stay with us in the new year.
Q. Your sound is unique in the way it feels like the melding of industrial with other softer genres such as synthwave and chillstep whilst still keeping that very gothic and metal edge to it all. Where does your inspiration come from to create the music that you do and what got you both in to industrial music originally, to then deciding to make music together?
A. So the origin of our love comes from listening to metal bands in our childhood years, and also from my family being involved in the scene. My mother was the front-woman for gothic outfit Faithful Dawn and now Novus:UK so industrial EBM was always blasting in the car for as long as I can remember. It was Kieran and I's love for this music genre that bonded our friendship and inspired us to create the music that we do.
Q. Where has been you favourite venue or event to perform?
A. We've been lucky to perform at so many amazing venues, but the ones that really stick are The Musician in Leicester, The Garage in London, WERK-STATD in Witten and RAW Nightclub in Whitby. The Musician is only a small venue and we've played there quite a few times and it never fails to be a cracking gig, always great fun, lovely crowd and good sound. The Garage, well that was supporting Lord Of The Lost and it was absolutely packed, the sheer scale makes this one memorable! WERK-STADT in Witten was a vast hall, it was brimmed with people, the sound was immense, we completely sold out of merchandise and we had the most amazing time in the town too. RAW Nightclub was where we first met and supported Massive Ego, the show was one of our very best, the sound - unbelievable, and we got to stay with family who live in Whitby so an overall great experience.
Q. Which song/s that you’ve made have meant the most to you in terms of meaning and which ones are you most proud of?
A. As far as the most meaningful is concerned, I would have to say 'Outcast Boy' and 'When We Are Apart' from the new album. Outcast Boy is a song about my experience being bullied throughout my school years, and it describes in detail the fear I felt - but with a positive spin, thanking those who bullied me for making me who I am today. And 'When We Are Apart' is a song about my grandmother's battle with cancer. She is a walking saint, a christian and a mother and it's just cruel that she has been burdened with such a horrible fait.
Q. The music video ‘When we are apart’ is doing well and I often see my friends share it to their Facebook. Can you tell us a bit more about what we see in the video?
A. As I mentioned before it tells the story of my grandmother's battle with cancer. The video, however, we left to the artist to interpret the song as well as parts of the story into a short scene. I think that's the beauty of the song, every one has their own interpretation of it. Kieran even had his own idea of what the song was about before I told him, I think that's quite special.
Q. What are your favourite songs and albums at the moment?
A. Oo! The new Editor's single 'Black Gold', Interpol's new EP 'Fine Mess', Starset's new album 'Divisions' is absolutely brilliant, loving the new single by Alienare too 'Colour of my Soul' and, one more, Lacuna Coil's new single 'Layers of Time'.
Q. Do you have any advice for anyone wanting to get in to the industrial music business?
A. Be different. There's so much of the same industrial music out there, be creative and make something you enjoy and others will enjoy it too.
Q. Final, anything you’d like to say to your fans?
A. See you down the front!
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