New Single: Stockholm out 17th May
“Since releasing their debut EP, ‘Daybreak’, Concrete Forest have been gigging across the country, playing both Camden Assembly and 02 Academy Islington in London and performing a headline gig in Huddersfield. Off the back of this, they give their audience ‘Stockholm’, the first release from their next EP. The band’s sound is grounded, yet progressive and moves in unpredictable and exciting directions, as can be heard in their upcoming release.
The Manchester-based group takes influence from all corners of music, such as Foo Fighters to the 1975 and the Japanese band BURNOUT SYNDROMES. “
1.For someone that is yet to discover Concrete Forest how would you describe your music? Imagine the Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age and the 1975 birthed an Alt-Rock band, then you get the sound of Concrete Forest! We combine raspy Vocals, Intricate guitar lines and anthemic drums to create our totally unique sound!
2. What inspired you as an artist?
We formed Concrete Forest over our collective love of both playing and writing music. It’s the joy we get from being together in the same room either just writing music, or the bond we feel as we step out on stage that inspires us! When there is chaos going on in our lives, it’s like a sense of relief for us to just be together and playing music.
3. What is your process for preparing to perform live? Do you have any Diva demands?
Playing live can be a very stressful experience but not for the reasons you may imagine. It’s the carrying of gear, dealing with the travel failures and the possibility of a dodgy sound engineer that gets to us! So if we can get a comfortable cold room, some cold beer ( or wine for our drummer ) and a friendly crew we are happy!
4. Where do you feel you fit into the music landscape?
We feel we sit in the Alt-Rock category while restlessly trying to escape! We have been influenced by such as range of music we don’t try to conform to just one genre, we just write and see what happens and where we end up, which can sometimes be miles away from where we imagined!
5: What are your favourite musical genres, and are there any you dislike?
We feel we sit in the Alt-Rock category while restlessly trying to escape! We have been influenced by such as range of music we don’t try to conform to just one genre, we just write and see what happens and where we end up, which can sometimes be miles away from where we imagined!
6.Where did the name come from?
Our name actually came from one night, around 3 years ago, when our drummer and guitarist were sat halfway up a high rise building ( our uni accommodation at the time ) looking across the Manchester Sky-Line just playing guitar. Then Jordan just said, “it’s like looking out across a Concrete Forest”, and that’s how our name was born!
7. What would you say is your greatest strength as an Artist?
Definitely both our energy and the unique mix of styles we combine. Whether that be us jumping about on stage or the excitement of writing a new tune. Then because we all individually come from such different backgrounds, we each bring a unique playing style that has morphed us into the band we are today!
8. What would you say is your greatest weakness as an Artist?
Definitely social media. We love writing and playing music, but posting about it is very much our downfall!
9. What can fans expect from your latest single ‘‘‘‘Stockholm’’.
Stockholm is an attempt to provide relief to those who feel there is no escape. Although written from our singer’s perspective, it is intended to resonate with anyone who has felt trapped or lost. At the centre of the song there is a twisted ironic ideology which any lost person will understand: no matter what, you will always get out alone.
10. What music artist would you say have influenced your work?
A whole range: From The Foo Fighters, Royal Blood, Metallica, 1975 and the Japanese band BURNOUT SYNDROMES.
11. Who would you most like to collaborate with artistically?
We would have to say someone like Mike Crossey who has produced bands like The Arctic Monkeys, Nothing But Thieves and many more!
12. What was your worst performance?
That’s a tricky one, probably one of our first shows when our Vocalist didn’t make it. So as a result we tried to improvise by having our guitarist sing our tracks as he played, all while reading the lyrics off a pole in the middle of the stage!
13: What was the most difficult obstacle you have ever faced and how did you overcome it?
This would have to be navigating the music business, trying to break through out of the small venues is really hard. Gaining a social media following and directing people to your music is so tricky! It’s great being able to write music you love but being able to find the people who will enjoy it is the trickiest part for us.
14: What is your creative process when making music. Do you work with others or is there just you?
We always work just as a band. We write, produce and mix all our tracks ourselves. Generally, one of our guitarists will start us off with a riff or the bones of a song, then we all get together and add our own ideas and parts to see what we come up with! Usually, we then have a track written in an afternoon. After this we get into a studio for a week and record it all ourselves.
15 Where do you see your musical career in 10 years?
We hope to keep growing as a band, performing live across Europe with our music being played on radio stations across the UK and a host of other countries. We would love to headline the next level of venues such as the Apollo In Manchester or Brixton Academy. But our main aim is to still be here creating the music we love just with the aim of sharing it with many more people!
