Welcome to the first Breaking The Waves feature! We at Soundshock love loud noises, and in this new feature, we’ll be shining our spotlight on the underground and all those alternative noises the mainstream hates.
Galleons is the name, and if you like your metal to be technical, fast and loud, then this three way party twixt Botch, Dillinger Escape Plan and December should be right up your street. Vocalist Tom Sears tells us more...
First of all, who does what in your band?
Bill Maries (he hits stuff)
Tom Arizmendi (he plays a guitar)
Jamie Fox (outdoes Tom with a bigger guitar)
Tom Sears (shouting)
Where are you from?
The two Toms are from Grantham, but we live in Nottingham now so now base the band there. Bill and Jamie are from Melton Mowbray
How long you been together?
Since about June 2009 so nearly 8 months
Who are your main inspirations for Galleons?
So many but anything heavy or with weird timings I guess.
Dillinger escape Plan
Psyopus
See You Next Tuesday
The Chariot
Norma Jean
Tera Melos
Misery Signals
What do you think makes Galleons stand out?
I think at the moment the UK metal scene is oversaturated with breakdown death metal and not many people are doing anything different. Not that we don’t like a good breakdown! I think that we are trying to make songs that are challenging to play for us, whilst trying to maintain the heaviness. I think it’s just play what we like and if people enjoy it, that’s all good!
You’ve only been together for a short time, but you sound incredibly accomplished! You must have been in bands before this one...what were they all about?
We all met from being in different bands together. Tom A, Jamie and Bill were in a band called Twisted Whistle for quite a long time before I met them, which was similar to Architects and The Bled: sort of tech rock/metal with some singing. I played guitar in a post rock band and then joined a band called Vultures with Bill and Jamie to do vocals for the first time which was a similar band to Galleons. When that went south they asked me to be in what was essentially Twisted Whistle made heavier, so here we are.
Before that there was I think embarrassing metal bands, pop punk, 80s glam metal bands...but we won’t venture there!
You have some pretty interesting song titles! Can you shed any light on them?
They are kind of to do with the songs. A bit metaphorical but kind of being annoyed at the metal scene as it is today (more about haircuts than the music). ‘Steve McQueen Can Come’ is about escaping the scene as it is, and the actor Steve McQueen was in ‘The Great Escape’ (which everyone should watch), that’s about as cryptic as that song title gets! I think the other two are self explanatory once you know the lyrics.
Could you describe the live Galleons experience?
We all grew up respecting the live energy of Dillinger and the Chariot and want that intensity to come through in Galleons! I think it’s us turning up at a venue and seeing what there is to climb onto and jump off of. Sure, that compromises the accuracy of the songs but it’s more fun to watch that way! Just come see us and make your own mind up.
Why did you decide to self-release ‘Swans’, rather than try to go with a label?
We actually did release the EP through Casket records. There was a lot of chat about this, but releasing through Casket was about the same price as self releasing except they offered a little bit of promotion also. At the end of the day we are a little fish in a big pond!
How’s the positive reception to ‘Swans’ felt?
The reception from the people who have bought it is really good actually. We are pleased, however we have only played a couple of shows since it came out and haven’t really promoted it so havent got rid of many! I think for us releasing the 3 track ep was always just a means of having a hard copy of something to send out to promoters to try and get shows and maybe one day get on a label that may give a little more exposure.
What’s next for Galleons?
Exciting stuff at the moment: we are currently recording 2 more songs, one of which I think we are releasing as a split vinyl with some friends from London (Lives At Sea). We have nearly written a 7th song in total and they just keep getting heavier and faster so it’s all super exciting. Other than that we are hoping that the summer will be full of shows, We’re going to try harder to venture out of Nottingham and make more friends. Other than that we were approached by a media company after playing a show with Textbook Tragedy and Arusha Accord, who wanted to film a music video. We were a bit dubious at the start cause we don’t feel like we are a big enough band to have a video, but we just thought the hell with it and did it because we could! We should be getting the final edit back soon.
Breaking The Waves 
