- New Shred Till You’re Dead Radio Show – April 8, 2022
- Coming Soon to MGTV YouTube Channel – March 28, 2022
- Nostalgic Look At Our Old YouTube Channel Trailer – June 12, 2021
Sommer talked to the guys from Thicket Of Antlers
Thicket of Antlers are a 4 piece metal band who formed back in 2014 hailing from the darkest nether regions of Norwich.
The band have supported the likes of ‘Hang The Bastdard’ and ‘Verdeber’ a hard core punk band from Vienna.
MG You guys released your ‘Black Dog’ EP on the 14th May this year, how is this being received by your fans?
TOA Prior to release we only had a small local following really, I guess we’ve picked up our first ‘Fans’ with this release which has been amazing. Having people hit us up on instagram and facebook saying they love the EP and cant wait for more – stuff like that no matter how small is really energising and appreciated. We’ve sent out a few signed copies to the US and else where in the UK, its a truly gratifying experience.
MG What inspired the title of the EP?
TOA ‘Black Dogs’ is kind of loose in its meaning – its a title we came up with ages before we’d even started recording and it just stuck. ‘The Black Dog’ is a term folks used to use for ‘Depression’ and I guess Black Dogs refers to our generation and perhaps more specifically our counter culture as makers and fans of alternative music.
MG Can you tell me a little about the artwork?
TOA Nathaniel Burns did the artwork, hes an illustrator and Tattoo artist from Nashville in the US. We found him on Instagram (@revoltingworship) and got in touch, he really brought to life our vision for the artwork and in such incredible detail, his energy and work ethic is amazing. The image depicts a wild child, weathered and weary being pursued by specters/demons – Its a fairly blatant metaphor for a lot of the lyrical content of the songs. He’s a shining example of a ‘Black Dog’.
MG How did the recording process go for the EP?
TOA The process was fairly smooth, we have a place where we set up and record everything with our good friend Jack Burden. It was a little disjointed as its hard for everyone to get in the same place at the same time due to work commitments but we are always communicating and all try to be there every step of the way for input and to help out. We treat it as a learning process which I think is really important – always trying to get better.
MG Who produced the EP for you guys and has it been released under a label?
TOA Jack Burden recorded and produced the EP with us, hes our silent member and brings a different perspective to writing and recording. It’s really helped us flesh out the songs and progress as song writers. He experiments a lot which opens up whole new avenues we wouldn’t of found in the practice room. No label at the moment.
MG Any behind the scenes stories you can tell us about from recording?
TOA Nothing too interesting or hilarious happened over the course of this one to be honest, all the guys are wrongun idiots so its pretty hilarious just being in their company most of the time. Jack and Jay (BASS) do some brilliant Improvised character role play stuff that often goes on for the full process and I drew some pretty profound caricatures of the lads, they were harrowing depictions if I do say so myself.
MG We see you guys are playing ‘The Heavy Mental Ding Dong’ charity show on July 14th at the Owl Sanctuary in Norfolk, what have you guys got lined up for this?
TOA This is our show that we are putting on to raise some money for local mental health charity ‘Norwich Mind’ and to bring together some of the finest acts in the local scene to have a big old knees up. We are trying to put a big emphasis on togetherness and supporting one another in the music scene and outside of it. We see too many local shows charging what we consider to be ridiculous amounts to see a bill of local bands so we are doing free entry with donations encouraged if folks can afford it. The most important thing is getting as many people in that room to share an experience and raise awareness.
MG We see you guys are in the process of filming a new video which involves a lot of brightly coloured paint, are you able to discuss this with us?
TOA Yes, finished shooting a video for ‘Empty Pig’ from Black Dogs with Tom Cronin last week. Hes another unofficial member of the band, we keep it in the family. Tom’s amazing, hes done videos for so many great UK bands, we’re really lucky to have him involved and more importantly as a friend. You’ll see the video when it comes out in a few weeks, everyone involved was awesome and its looking amazing… It was a pretty grueling shoot at times, took a lot of energy from everyone. Check out Tom – www.tomjcronin.com
MG Your EP is available on ITunes and Spotify, is there any other outlets where your EP is available for fans to get their hands on a copy?
TOA Its on soundcloud and bandcamp too, if anyone wants a hard copy they can send us a screen shot of their purchase receipts and we’ll get one out to them.
MG Can we expect an album in the near future?
TOA No album, we’ll do another couple EP’s before we tackle that, we are just about to start recording our second as writing is pretty much done for that. We want to make sure we’ve really refined a sound worthy of committing to an album.
MG What lies ahead for the band?
TOA Playing as many shows as possible and another release before the end of the year for sure, we want to build and just keep getting better. We really believe in what we are doing and the writing is progressing so much. The next EP is really going to surprise people, we cant wait for everyone to hear it.
MG Thanks for taking time out to talk to us guys
