We recently published here at MetalJunkbox the release of the first single from the English band Desert Storm: Cheyne StokingWe had the opportunity to ask Ryan Cole, the band's guitarist, a few questions about his career and creative process. Check it out below:
15 years as a band, another new album to work on and a long tour ahead, what motivates the band to keep going forward with so much renewed spirit?
Yes, it's a long time!
16 years now actually! We still very much enjoy the creative aspect of writing music together and seeing the songs come to life as they are laid down in the studio. It's incredibly fun and rewarding touring the records too and making new fans...all this motivates us to keep going and pushing the band. The only downside is the financial side, as it can be expensive at times!
This is the band's seventh album? Is there any big difference in the creation process of this album or in the sound of it compared to the other albums?
It's definitely a natural progression from our last record. 'Death Rattle' is probably more progressive, and is more riffy then 'Omens was. It still maintains the Desert Storm sound. Our early records were more bluesy / southern rock sounding, but our sound has developed a lot over the years. Desert Storm is a lot heavier now with more complex songs.
It's impressive the quality and creativity of several videos of the band, how do you come up with the conceptions and ideas for the videos?
A Lot of the videos are quite focused on Matts lyrics. Although with the latest video we focused on the Cheyne Stoking title. Cheyne stoking is the breathing pattern / last breath at the end of a person's life before they leave this realm....a pretty bleak subject. One of our favourite British films 'Dead Man's Shoes' is the film footage used in the 'Cheyne Stoking' music video. It's a dark revenge movie and in one scene the words 'Cheyne Stoking' are spray painted on the wall. This worked well I think!
Cheyne Stoking, the first single has powerful lyrics. The care with the lyrics is quite remarkable, who are the main composers and how do the concepts of each work?
Musically, songs are usually built around a guitar riff myself or Chris comes up with, and from there the song is made from others contributing ideas. Sometimes a song will be completely pre written by one of us, but generally it's the first way.
Lyrics are always written by Matt. He is a strong lyricist with a vivid imagination. His journey into psychedelic drugs in his teenage years probably helped with this!
You have a very busy tour, when will our Portuguese readers be able to see Desert Storm in loco?
We hope to come to Portugal soon, we have played in Spain a few times but are yet to get to Portugal...hopefully next year!
Check out Cheyne Stoking's clip below:
Artists: Desert Storm
