A few days ago, we had a chat with Gallows bassist Stuart Gili-Ross about the band’s forthcoming album ‘Desolation Sounds’ (due in April), their UK tour dates and Slam Dunk appearance in May, Venn Records and more.
Your new album ‘Desolation Sounds’ is out in April. What can we expect?
Well, itâs a Gallows album so itâs got its heavy parts. I think traditionally Gallows albums are pretty blunt and ugly by design and I think thatâs how weâve always wanted to get our message across. With this one we wanted to experiment with a kind of â I think beauty is the wrong word â but try a bit more light and shade in our songs, so I think a good way to describe it would be a beautiful person with a gnarly disgusting scar across their face. Itâs a more warped, twisted version of beauty. âBonfire Seasonâ is the first single to come off it, but I think you shouldnât take that as a marker for what the rest of the albumâs like. As people will see from the other tracks that will be released, itâs probably the heaviest stuff weâve ever done and I think putting âBonfire Seasonâ first was a bit of a curveball to throw people off the scent. When people hear the rest of the album, theyâre gonna be even more surprised at how nasty it is. Weâve been listening to a lot of different stuff. I donât think the majority of the band listens to a whole lot of modern hardcore. Weâre listening to a lot of diverse influences, so I think thatâs whatâs gonna come out most on the record. It doesnât really sound like a straight up punk record.
What kind of stuff have you been listening to?
Well, me personally, Iâve been listening to a lot of classical music, strangely enough. Even like really old swing stuff, like Glenn Miller. Thereâs no classical or swing songs on the record, but in terms of dynamics and stuff, weâve been looking to that kind of style of music to see how they did it. And actually I think classical musicâs got some of the heaviest riffs ever written in the history of the world. I know Lags has been listening to stuff like Siouxsie and the Banshees, and a lot of Major Lazer, so itâs kind of everything really. A real mishmash, but it still sounds like Gallows.
I really love ‘Bonfire Season’. The video is so great.
Yeah, as people probably noticed, weâre not really keen about being in videos anymore. And I think Lags put it well when he said weâre sick of getting video treatments where people are like, âGallows are playing this dark room and all these kids kick the door in and go wild!â, and itâs like, weâve done those videos to death, and on âGrey Britainâ thereâs so much of that stuff. Itâs the first record weâve really approached as a piece of art with a much wider palette than on other records and I think we wanted the videos and the aesthetic of the songs to represent that, so we hooked up with some directors we respected and kind of gave them carte blanche to listen to the record and put their interpretation on the video. Thereâs a lot of dark imagery in there which weâve always been interested in as a band, and I just think that without the band being in it it leaves it much more open for people to fill in the gaps.
I think the way you described the album – with beauty and darkness – that definitely comes across in the video.
Weâre doing something right then. Like I said, there are some pretty nasty songs, so weâll see how it goes. Iâm sure in true Gallows style, people will be like, âUgh, Frankâs not on the record, this isnât punk anymoreâ and itâs not really punk rock. Weâre probably taking more influence from the way earlier punk stuff, like Iggy and the Stooges and The Clash and thereâs probably quite a lot of Discharge influences in there. Anyone whoâs expecting two step mosh parts like at the end of âMiseryâ might be disappointed.
But it would be boring if you kept doing the same thing.
Well exactly, and weâve always wanted to get away from repeating ourselves on records as a band, and eventually people get onboard with it and thatâs fine, but we wrote this record for us and weâre releasing it on our own label and itâs just music for us, and if people like it, then great, and if not, no worries. We make the music we want to listen to.
Do you have a personal favourite song on the record?
My favourite song on the record is probably the opener. Itâs called âMystic Deathâ, and I think itâs gonna be a live favourite. I can tell already. Itâs probably the heaviest thing Gallows have ever written, without it being too far away from what people would expect from us, and then thereâs a track called âLeather Crownâ coming which will be the instant grat track when people pre-order the record, and that for me is a standout track. It reminds me of the Scandinavian hardcore stuff that weâve always been influenced by. Iâm looking forward to people hearing that.
How has it been going with Venn Records?
Yeah, great. We basically started it as a way of putting out Gallows records, and then we thought weâd release 7â records of bands we wanted to help out that didnât have a record out. So the first thing we released wasnât Gallows, it was Marmozets, who have obviously gone on to bigger and better things, and then we put out Moose Blood who are killing it at the moment, and then we put out Milk Teeth who are obviously doing really well. Basically every band beginning with M. And weâve got a lot more stuff coming up. So itâs going well. If we can keep bringing peopleâs attention to bands we think are cool then itâs good. Itâs good for us to see bands using our platform then go on to get their own bigger records labels and do well. Itâs great.
The ‘Bonfire Season’ 7″ came out this week.
Yeah, itâs got âBonfire Seasonâ on it and a remix of âBonfire Seasonâ by a guy we put out on Venn called Jesus Fucking Christ. Heâs an artist from Norway who we think is really exciting and we were lucky enough that he wanted to do a remix for us. Then on B-sides weâve got a Turbonegro cover and a Major Lazer cover, which is probably the most unique thing weâve ever recorded. We had Marcia Richards from The Skints do the female vocal on it, so itâs gonna be interesting to see how people react to it. B-sides are always a cool thing to do. Weâve never been a band whoâve gone into the studio and had shit tons of songs left over. We tend to write records like you would write a book, and every song being a chapter has to be there, and when the bookâs finished the bookâs finished, so we never have extra pages left over to stick on as a B-side. So thatâs why weâve always done covers as B-sides, whether it be Sex Pistols or whatever. Itâs always fun to do covers because we tend to get so serious when weâre making the records that having the time to lay out some covers of songs we like is a refreshing break from that.
You’re coming over to the UK in May.
Yeah, Slam Dunkâs just been announced, and weâve got some headline shows which weâre really looking forward to. Weâre keeping it really lean and mean on our touring schedule this time, because half the band live in Canada and North America, and the rest of the band in the UK, so weâre cherry picking a few of our favourite cities and bringing out Baby Godzilla which will be cool. Thatâs another band on Venn who are doing really well, and then Creeper and Departures will be doing selected dates on that as well which will be cool. And you know, if housekeeping will allow it, we might come back in the summer and do some bits and pieces.
How are things with Gallows, with half of you being away?
Well, Lags and I are constantly in contact. We run Venn Records together, itâs our thing. And the rest of us get on with it. Gallows has always been like that. In the ten years since âOrchestra of Wolvesâ came out, weâve never been a band that has had weekly or even monthly band practices. We get together when we need to write a record and we do these intensive months in the studio together and record things live. If weâve got tour dates coming up we get together, usually in Watford, and practise for a week and get the set down. We do it like that and it keeps things fresh for us. I think since recording the album Iâll probably have to go back and listen to it a lot, but thatâs what practice is for. Itâs just business as usual for Gallows. I guess it can seem like, âHow can they keep a band together when theyâre all so far apart?â but it doesnât really affect our schedule. I think with anything if you wanna make it work then you find a way.
Have you got much lined up after the May UK dates and Slam Dunk?
Weâve got some ideas. Lags has got some pretty big ideas in the pipeline. Weâre trying to approach things slightly differently on this album campaign, because who knows where itâs gonna go, but I canât really say too much about it at the moment other than watch this space. We are trying to think outside the box this time. Weâve toured the world so many times that you can only see so many of the same venues in the same cities before you get bored of it, so weâre trying to come up with some fresh new ideas.
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