Cambridge-based, maths-loving teenage duo, Influx of Insanity, live up the road from each other which makes practicing very easy to co-ordinate. On seeing them live Hayley comments: these two were creating some amazing sounds on stage and for just two of them I was surprised yet excited to see how the set would progress. An energetic sound that transfers well from live to studio and very listenable EPs.
HC: Let’s begin with you telling us how you got together and decided to start a duo:
At Oli’s 13th birthday party. Got jamming and started working on some material shortly afterwards. However our sound has changed alot since then!
HC: Who does what?
Oli Brown: Drums, vocals (17)
Dom Howard: Guitar, backing vocals, octave bass, ambient textures (16.5)
HC: Anyone in your family musical?
Oli’s dad is a staple of the local (village!) music scene, he plays in a local cover band. Grateful for his shed which we use to practice in.
HC: Tell me how would you describe your style?
Cinematic, progressive ambient post rock/metal, defying genres. Or just prog metal.
HC: How many tracks have you released?
Two EPs and more recently a single called Tensor, so 14 tracks in total.
HC: Do you have a non-musical skill?
Meditation, making coffee, money laundering, interview writing,maths
HC: Pre-Virus, how often did you get to perform and where is the furthest place you’ve gigged?
We’ve probably done around 60 gigs in total over our time, the farthest afield end probably being Bishop’s Stortford.
HC: Which song do you most like to perform, and why?
‘Season of Mist’ is a favourite of ours at the moment, off our latest self-titled EP, and is probably our most popular number overall.
HC: Do you play other instruments?
Dom: I’ve recently acquired a trumpet so I’ve been working on that, I also play some bass and drums – I’ve recorded bass on all of our releases
Oli: I play a little guitar and piano.
HC: What types of music do you enjoy listening to when you are hanging out?
Complex music to scare people away…
HC: When you become famous, what will your rider be?
Some fresh orange juice, and a copy of the local newspaper and possibly some nice bread.
HC: Anything unusual happened at a gig?
Oli’s nan got knocked to the floor once. Was quite an experience.
HC: What artist/group would you like to support?
We’d love to support Toska one day, they are a big inspiration to our sound.
HC: What was the last book you read?
Oli: The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett
HC: What’s your biggest vice?
Gordon Ramsey cooking videos at 1am
HC: What do you enjoy most about being in a band? What do you hate most?
We enjoy that classic pre-gig feeling, but don’t get me started on technical difficulties…
HC: What have you been doing during lockdown?
Elon Musk’s twitter feed has been a constant source of entertainment.
HC: How do you handle mistakes during a performance?
We embrace them, it’s all part of the show. If people want perfection they can listen to our spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1RAEBLw6ggeBHQ457u9Vnl
HC: How do you balance your music with other obligations – mates, working, family, college?
It’s a tricky one. But you can make time for anything if you want to do it enough.
HC: What’s the least cool thing you’ve done recently?
Dom: Bought a diffuser
Oli: chose to study maths
HC: What’s your favourite word?
Oli: Fundamentally
Dom: Tensor (our latest single on all streaming platforms now!)
HC: What can we promote about you during lockdown? What are your social media links?
New music out soon! In the meantime we have a self-titled EP we released last year which we still really dig, called ‘Influx of Insanity’. It’s available on spotify, bandcamp, youtube, and all the usual places.
We’d really appreciate if you picked up a CD or tee shirt! We should be shipping some out in the near future, you can get them from bandcamp or private message us on any of our social media. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube (which has some spoof videos too worth checking out).
Links:
Influx of Insanity
Photo credit claudysphotos
This interview first appeared on GrapevineLIVE.