interview: A Forest of Stars

In the year 2018 there is a new grandiose work by A Forest of Stars: Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes, a most interesting epic album. Perhaps it is wise to point out that the music is meant for those listeners that are willing to explore a band (U.K.) with a big imagination in the creation of progressive extreme metal, with a substantial foundation in black metal. Expect an adventure on this, their fifth, work! This interview is answered by multiple members of the band, as you shall see below.

How is Leeds (or the part of England where you operate) for your music? Metal Archives says that you have been active since 2007. Things must be going fine for you, to keep be at it after all these years.

Curse: We hail from various locations in West Yorkshire, many of which evoke Blake’s dark Satanic mills. My own home is in Bradford, a place that has been referenced indirectly in a number of songs. A place with an interesting heritage that has fallen on hard times. In regard to our persistence as a band, we do it because we love it. It is of the utmost importance to us. We’ve seen some success, though little in the way of fame or fortune. That said, we never expected or even desired such!

Kettleburner: I think that we were encouraged by a fertile and friendly live music scene here in the early-mid 2000s (or 1880s using our timeframe), all very low key, but very creative and with a real “do it yourself” kind of attitude. We definitely got to cut our teeth in other bands for a few years. The band itself wasn’t really influenced by a local scene, not in the musical sense anyway – probably the biggest influence of the location is the fact that the industrial revolution made its mark on our landscape in a big way that is still absolutely unmissable today. We do only play locally once in a while, but it’s a great place to play when we do.

Is the membership information from Metal Archives correct?

Mr. T.S. Kettleburner: bass (2007-2011), vocals, guitars (2007-2011, 2013-present)

The Gentleman: drums (2007-2008), keyboards, pianoforte, percussion (2007-present)

Mister Curse: vocals (2007-present)

Katheryne, Queen of the Ghosts: vocals, violin, flute (2007-present)

Mr. John "The Resurrectionist" Bishop: drums, percussion (2009-present)

Mr. Titus Lungbutter: bass (2011-present)

Mr. William Wight-Barrow: guitars (2014-present)

Curse: Your information is correct in regards to the members of the band. Those of us answering questions will use this section as a roll call of sorts. Our current lineup is a solid and stable one, a family unit first and foremost.

Given that the new album is more than an hour of music, would it be perhaps a concept album? The way the album flows, it feels very unified.

Curse: This particular record is not specifically a concept album, though common themes do persist throughout. ‘A Shadowplay for Yesterdays’ is our only so-called intentional concept album so far, though there may very well be others in the future. I cannot comment musically, but lyrically there are certainly threads throughout Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes that could suggest a common theme or concept, though this is more due to obsessions and trains of thought at the times of writing than to a specific intent. Kettleburner: In terms of the music, conceptually we wanted to invoke a lot of older atmospheres but try and bring some more of the tighter arrangements we’ve learnt along the way. I’ve always wanted to create an album of extremes – of both tension and release – and feel like we achieved this.

The album feels very creative, very ambitious. But you do play live and you play with everyone live, correct? It seems like you do have the personnel to make your music come life on the stage.

Kettleburner: Yes. Many hands make light(er) work. I think that we have got quite adept over the years at translating our recordings – which are very much a product of layering and building songs in the studio – into something that works in a live setting. In some cases I prefer how the song turns out live to how we recorded it. It’s always a fun challenge either way and there are only ever a small number of songs that we haven’t managed to make work live.

I am wondering, though, with this many people in the band, how much of a headache is it to make the different schedules work for your band to play shows, especially outside of your region?

Curse: We do indeed play live as frequently as is possible, though as you suggest, it is not always easy to marry our schedules outside of the band to our desires for performing. Most of us work full time or have other commitments that we must ensure are met appropriately before we can apply ourselves to getting out on the road. Oftentimes our best intentions are thwarted by outside influence, though I expect this is a common problem for most bands.

Kettleburner: Absolutely! There’s a lot more in terms of logistics as well than there is with a 4-piece band. But we love what we do and have a very strong sense of kinship - the band feels like a family in itself. That really makes any amount of hard work seem trivial. That said, I don’t think we’re built for long tours – we generally completely crumble physically after about 9-10 dates! I applaud bands who manage to make staying on the road work for them. There’s a lot of stamina and sacrifice involved in doing that.

Your previous album is called Beware the Sword You Cannot See and it is from 2015. It also has tremendous reviews on Metal Archives and it seems like those reviews are thoughtful; the reviewers have listened seriously to your music. That brings to mind a question, however. Exactly how long have you been working on the new album Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes?

Curse: For various reasons we took a year’s break from band activities (through choice) which delayed things somewhat. It is true that the record was a labour of love for us all, but we are all very proud of it and feel that it represents us well in the given period of time in which it was created. We are already looking towards the next record and are inspired, so perhaps the wait will be shorter next time.

Kettleburner: We began writing some parts of the new album before Beware The Sword You Cannot See was released in fact. We went on to write this album slowly over the course of about 18 months, which was really quite enjoyable. It was William Wight-Barrow’s first time writing with us as well, so that added a really good dynamic and lots of positive ideas. However, the recording itself was actually quite stressful this time around, but only because we have held ourselves up to a much higher standard in terms of performance and production quality that we have before. Some guitar parts got re-tracked three times before they were right!

For A Forest of Stars, how does money, selling and buying, and merchandise intersect with the making of the art? Do you spend your own money making the recordings?

Curse: It is true that what we do, we do for the creativity of it and our own desire to make music for ourselves. We are lucky to have a label in Prophecy that understands that art must be art first and foremost. It is true that there have been occasions that we have funneled our own money into the band for various reasons, but when it comes to sink or swim, we bloody well swim!

Connected to the above question, does your band sell enough merchandise for you to not lose tons of money from recording albums? If fans are reading this interview and they like your music, and they want to support your band, what can they do?

Curse: We tend to teeter on the edge between profit and loss. We’ve never made any money to speak of from the band, though as I mentioned previously, our hearts and souls are utterly invested in what we do, so money, whilst being a necessary evil is tertiary. In answer to your question, we do have merchandise, some of which is available directly from the band via our recently cobbled together online shop and from Prophecy themselves. Any sales help us to pay for logistical inputs to touring.

Do you have invitations to play in Europe so far?

Curse: We have played many gigs in Europe in the past and at present are trying to work towards another tour. Time will only tell!

Kettleburner: More shall be announced next year on this front. We had planned to play in Germany, Netherlands, France and Belgium at the end of this year, but there were a few issues that stopped that from happening. We all love playing in Europe… there are so many great people, bands, promoters, venues and strong beers in places like the Netherlands, for example.

Has your band ever played in the United States?

Kettleburner: I think that playing in the United States would be incredible, but it would be difficult undertaking and not something we would want to promise will ever happen... but never say never.

The older British musicians had a fascination with bringing their rock and roll to the U.S.

Kettleburner: Oh, it was definitely seen as a rite of passage for a British band’s success, wasn’t it?

Have any of you ever been to the United States?

Curse: We have not yet had the opportunity to play in the United States, though I’m sure we’d all like to have the opportunity. We like to try to play anywhere there is interest in what we do. Personally, I have never visited the U.S. though once again, who knows what the future may hold? Up to now I don’t think there have been many opportunities for us to get over there – with seven of us it would be a very expensive proposition and would require careful planning (not to mention selling organs on the black market to finance it!)

Is there a place where people can hear the full album now?

Kettleburner: The full album Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes can be streamed on Prophecy’s Bandcamp page. The physical releases of our albums are adorned with lyrics and as much imagery as possible, so to distract you from our horrible racket. There will be no music video this time around, but the music and a lot of the associated imagery and concepts help serve it in the same way I think.

What else do you have for people who want to learn more about the band and the new album? Will you be making the lyrics available?

Curse: Our apologies for the delay in answering this interview – unfortunately it arrived at an extremely busy time for us in so-called real life, so by the time you read these answers, the album should be readily listenable online. We do have a Bandcamp site for those wishing to tread the digital path.

Kettleburner: The lyrics are in the physical prints of the albums. There’s much to get your teeth into… I would say to anyone who ever wants to find out anything about us just to get in contact via email. There were some videos put up on YouTube that go into the making the model city that we photographed for the main artwork for the album.

Is there anything else that you would like to mention?

Curse: Thank you for your considered questions and my apologies for the brevity of my answers – time is, as ever, the ever-present enemy! Kettleburner: Cheers!

Thank you for your time!

www.aforestofstars.ecwid.com

a-forest-of-stars.bandcamp.com/

a-forest-of-stars.bandcamp.com/album/grave-mounds-and-grave-mistakes