Interview: Dave Gobran from Second Rate Angels

Band: Second Rate Angels

Genre: Thrash Metal, Metalcore

Year Formed: 2011

Location: Hemel Hempstead

Members: Dave Gobran - Lead Vocals and Bass

 Chris Lewis - Guitar

 Matt Clark - Guitar

 Andy Doran - Drums

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Interview View Though Email with: Dave Gobran

How did the band get started?

     "The band started just over a year ago when I (Dave) responding to an ad from a band looking for a new singer.  At the same time the bass player had quit the band and so I got recruited as the new bassist and vocalist.  After a month or so we looked at the new songs we had and realized they were vastly different from the old songs, and in our view much better.  We decided to bin the old songs and effectively start a new band with a new name and of course all new songs."

     "Thus Second Rate Angels was born."

How did the band come up with the name Second Rate Angels?

     "The name came from Chris (one of the guitarists).  He has had the name Second Rate Angels since he was a teenager at School.  As a teenager he believed he would be in a band called Second Rate Angels, so when we were looking for a new name he tentatively suggested it and we unanimously thought it was perfect, much to Chris' relief." 

What is the bands process when going into the recording studio?

     "With recording an ep the main thing we wanted to get across is the Rock N' Roll or Metal N'Roll (as we've been described) feel of a live show.  This unless you have money is very hard to achieve with track by track recording.  We therefore choose to go old school and record all the instruments live and track the vocals separately. 

     Our recording process to date is therefore very simple.  Practice the songs till we can play our parts flawlessly, setup in a room with good acoustics, mic up everything, then play the songs through about 6 or 7 times.  This does have it's draw backs, as the guitars are single tracked it can lack a little bit of beef.  But the overall result is as good as any other demo for bands at our stage plus we can record very cheaply and quickly.  With more practice recording like this we should be able to do about 5 songs a day in the future."

Reading a review about you self title EP the people wrote "...is a criss-cross between Thrash Metal and Metalcore..." is that what you were trying to do with this EP?

     "We have never consciously thought out what style of music we play.  Metal wise our main influences are Thrash and Metalcore, but for me, this is the first metal band I've played with.  My back ground is in Punk and Hardcore and so vocally that is how i write and think and I think that makes us less heavy than a your typical Thrash or Metalcore band.  The only thing we are trying to achieve is something that is fast and heavy but melodic in both music and vocals and as long it remains within the Metal genre we are happy.  How people choose to categorise us is all cool to us." 

When should we expect some more music?

     "This is majorly dependent or how our music is received.  At the moment we are concentrating on getting shows and trying to build up a fan base.  The aim would be to get sign and then record an album. Failing that we will with out doubt record another ep within the year. Plus the current 3 track ep with have a four song added to it very soon."