Scratch beneath the surface of the British rock scene and you’ll find talent oozing out, coming from a multitude of different bands – all you have to do is look. Look hard enough and you’ll find a band like wars, a post-hardcore quintet hailing from the quiet town of Rugby.
If, when wars first got together, you’d told them that by 2017, they’d be signed to Spinefarm Records, gearing up to release a debut album, they probably wouldn’t have believed you – but they’re incredibly grateful and humbled to be where they currently are.
“It’s amazing to be where we are after such a short time; getting to meet and work with some brilliant people, perfect our craft while having a steadily increasing platform upon which to create and put out things that are personal and that matter to us,” explains frontman Rob Vicars.
However, he concedes that there’s still a long, long road ahead for the band; they still write their music in a small practice room in their hometown. “But that’s sort of the bit that you have to love – the core of writing and playing music is right there, so long may it continue,” he muses.
Let’s rewind back a couple of years. 2015 was the year they celebrated the independent release of their EP ‘And So the Sea Will Claim Us All’, and was the starting point for wars as they went to share the stage alongside the likes of Defeater, Bury Tomorrow, Black Peaks and more.
And now, they’re getting ready to release their debut album ‘We Are Islands, After All’ through Spinefarm Records, a major label that’s backed by Universal. Surely, such a difference between their first release and this one coming up is striking?
“It’s been an incredible experience – to have met and now be working with the guys at Spinefarm is amazing because they’re all ardent music-lovers before anything else. I think we connected with them as people right from the off, and I think they really believe in what we’re doing as a band,” says Rob. Surrounding ourselves with the best people has always been this really important aspect to us, and we’re extremely lucky to have those that are already with us.
After recording [the album] was all finished, the guys at Spinefarm have really helped us grow, and helped us turn this whole thing into something we’re really proud of.”
wars chose Matt O’Grady to work with to produce ‘We Are Islands, After All’ and this may surprise many – mention the name Matt O’Grady, and most people will associate him with producing work for the likes of You Me At Six and Deaf Havana, more ‘conventional’ and ‘mainstream’ bands, which is the total opposite of wars.
This didn’t deter the band whatsoever and “he’s such an integral part of the machine,” Rob explains. “I really hope we get to keep working with him in the future, as he’s an amazing producer. It’s really important to find the best and right people for the team is to us, and Matt is entirely one of those people.”
The recording process also saw the band team up with Colin Doran of Hundred Reasons on their track ‘That By Discord Things Will Increase’. It was a surreal experience admits Rob, saying that he got shivers when listening to Colin’s vocals on the track for the first time – “It was Colin Fucking Doran, an out and out hero of mine, doing that thing he does on OUR record!” It’s but one of the many highlights on the journey that wars have taken so far.
wars are particularly vocal about supporting the creative industry and, to help create partnerships, worked with Costin Chioreanu to create the artwork for the album. Rob argues that creatives in all disciplines should support each other where possible.
“In a society which typically wildly undervalues what we do, no matter what your speciality happens to be, it’s imperative we’re there for one another in some small way,” says Rob. When it came to finding and working with Costin though, it wasn’t exactly easy.
“We went through a bit of a process finding the artwork, as it’s something we really wanted to be perfect – it’s another opportunity to speak to people, so it had to say the right thing. We had a few ideas, went back and forth with a few different artists, but couldn’t find the right tone. We changed our plan with Costin, gave him only the concept of the album to go on and, as soon as the first sketch came back, we were excited. The final thing still blows me away to look at.”
As for the rest of the year? Once the album’s been release, wars are planning on playing a lot of shows, until they “physically can’t handle it anymore,” explains Rob. “We were so wrapped up in getting this album out this last year that we haven’t been out quite as much as we’d like to have been. We’re a live band at heart, so when we’re not playing often we can get a bit restless. This year we’ll change all that though, and hit the road as often as possible. There’s nothing I can say right now tour-wise but we’re working on some stuff and some things, and should have news for you really soon. Hopefully, we can catch everybody out there over the course of the year!”
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‘We Are Islands, After All’ is released via Spinefarm Records on 27th January.