‘CATS EP’ OUT 15th November, 2024
1.Who is ‘ Saiphon ’
We are a four-piece rock band from West Sussex. Bennie, the singer, is a musical theatre student turned rock’n’roll singer (with the coolest trousers in the band). Jude, the bassist, is a psychology student, Jesus Christ lookalike and the only person in the band with a stable back-up plan. Aidan, the guitarist, is from Gibraltar and came to the UK for a new start. Nicola, the drummer, is a classical viola player who grew up listening to classic rock.
2. For someone that is yet to discover you, how would you describe your music?
Energetic youthfulness mixed with old-school rock and blues inspirations “blending humour with riffs that feel as if they could’ve been plucked from rock’s heyday” – Amplify the Noise.
3. What inspired you as an artist?
Surrounding ourselves with music – for all of us, music has been a part of our lives from the very beginning. The prospects and joy of writing new music keeps pushing us forwards as individuals and as a collective.
4. What is your process for preparing to perform live? Do you have any Diva demands?
We’re quite easy – we just want functional equipment! To prepare for a gig, we just consume caffeine and hope it goes well (and try and prevent Jude from drinking more than one alcoholic drink)
5. Where do you feel you fit into the music ?
We feel that we resonate with old-school, hard-hitting music and wish to contribute to that space by injecting our own youthful experiences into it.
6: What are your favourite musical genres, and are there any you dislike?
Like: Rock’n’Roll man
7. Is there a story behind the band’s name ?
We reached a point where we desperately needed a name we all agreed on, so we went to a pub and decided we wouldn’t leave until we came up with something everyone was happy with. The name is based on a star.
8. What would you say is your greatest strength as an artist?
Our originality and willingness to have fun with the music we’re creating.
9. What would you say is your greatest weakness as an artist?
Our wide range of musical influences can pull us in different directions sometimes.
10. What can fans expect from your new EP ‘Cats’ ?
Across four tracks, we begin to show the range of the band. From punchy riffs and screaming vocals to softer rock ballads of love and regret; from sin and Satan to funky felines. We show many different sides of the band across just these four tracks!
11. What music artist would you say have influenced your work?
Aerosmith, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin – among many others!
12. Who would you most like to collaborate with artistically?
The Hollywood Vampires (one can only dream)
13. What was your worst performance?
We had one gig when some serious technical issues meant that none of us could hear what was going on – it didn’t end well.
14: What was the most difficult obstacle you have ever faced and how did you overcome it?
Getting everyone committed to the band in the early days – overcoming the concept that it was ‘impossible’ to write and release our own music was quite challenging as well as trying to get students who actually care about their academics to fit in rehearsals.
15: What is your creative process when making music. Do you work with others or is there just you?
Normally, one person comes up with the idea for the chords and lyrics and then we work on it as a group. However, sometimes we jam and something just shows up, in which case Bennie would probably take that idea and come up with lyrics and then come back to finalise it as a group.
16: Where do you see your musical career in 10 years?
Worldwide rock’n’roll legends (again – one can dream)
17: Overrated Musicians, who when you hear them you think ‘ How The Fk………….. ?
People are popular for a reason, it’s hard to really call anyone overrated if their music truly reaches their audience. However, YouTube rappers could take a day off…
