Let Em' Talk: Rob Jones from Sustinere on their new E.P 'Volume Three'

  

Chester two-piece Sustinere have today released their third E.P Volume Three; a raucous six track collection with a huge cluster of riffs and massive ear-shattering drums. The band consist of Rob Jones (Guitar/Vocals) and Michael Pearce (Drums/Vocals) who've been making music together since they met at University. Taking influence from bands like Royal Blood, We Are Scientists and Manchester Orchestra, Sustinere have gained continued momentum based on the reputation of their fierce live performances.

In a first for NNWNF, we talked to Rob before their EP launch show at Telford's Warehouse and got him to give us a track-by-track guide to Volume Three -  the lyrical themes, the influences on the riffs and creating a real swashbuckler!

1) Intro

  For our third E.P, we wanted to have an introductory track to kick things off. It came from an idea I'd played around with on my IPad from as far back as 2016 I believe, but it never became a full song, so we mashed that with an idea we had in rehearsal of this hammer-on guitar riff. We took inspiration from Billy Talent songs such as 'Devil In A Midnight Mass' to begin moving nicely into a slow jam.

2) Nightlife

The second track 'Nightlife' is about struggling with addictions and using is as a way of dealing with the pressures and montony of everyday life. The song draws inspiration from Keith Murray of We Are Scientists in terms of vocal style, specifically their first album 'With Love and Squalor'. The riff came from listening to a lot of Biffy Clyro in the car on the way to gigs; it gives it a pirate-y vibe - a real swashbuckler!

 3) Don't Know Me   

  This was the lead single that came out in February. The theme stems from judging a book by it's cover, as well as trying to change for the better on a personal level. Royal Blood have always been a big influence for us, it's the whole reason we started as a two-piece rock outfit and the first album - especially songs like 'Loose Change' really had an impact of this one.

 4) Tired

This was the last song written for the E.P, literally a month before we went into the studio! After lockdown and the isolation that I think we all felt to some extent, it was hard to transition back to 'normal life'. It's the most honest song lyrically; I know I'm not the only one who felt this way!

Musically, it's a different approach for us. It's another that channels our love of Billy Talent, but Michael's idea for some counterpart vocals is really effective. It leans more toward the punkier stuff, but still trying to fill this space with one guitar and actual chords, rather than single note riffs which Billy Talent do so well. 

5) Say So

The penultimate track is our ballad of the record, at least we like to think so! We always try to put a slower number on the E.Ps - to break things up a bit. Manchester Orchestra had a huge impact on this one for sure, specifically the album 'Cope', which has these huge guitars that I fell in love with; it's definitely something we tried to recreate.

Lyrically, it's about the impact of mental health problems, which is more important than ever. The message in it's basic form is to talk to someone - get it off your chest. It's a difficult thing to do, but it really does help once you take the leap.

6) I Am Nothing (I Am Noone) 

Or IAN IAN as we like to call it. Taking influence from a particular Manchester Orchestra song called 'Pride' that has this heavy riff and heavy hitting drums. We wrote it at the same time as 'Nightlife', but we weren't happy with how it sounded until we re-recorded it with Seb Allemand (He recorded, mixed and mastered the E.P) 

In terms of vocal ideas, System of a Down had a big influence on this track. Serj Tankian always sings the most interesting melodies that incorperate Eastern styles, and this was something we wanted to touch on here.

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