The Edge caught up with Dave McPherson and Gazz Marlow of alternative metal stalwarts InMe before their recent show at Takedown festival playing their 2003 breakthrough album Overgrown Eden in full. We discussed, among other things, why they decided to play Overgrown Eden in full, their upcoming triple album and what they like about playing festivals.
Are you looking forward to playing Overgrown Eden in full today?
Dave [vocals]: Yeah, actually it’s really nice to play the album, because it’s got fairly miserable lyrics, but when we play it, there’s a really celebratory anthemic feel to the room, because everyone sings along and has a great time. Also, it’s nice to celebrate that album because it’s the reason we broke out, it gave us our success and it’s why we have the ability to do things like playing today.
Do you play a lot of festivals then?
Gazz [guitarist]: Not as many as we’d like! [laughs]
Dave: Yeah, we’d like to play more, but hopefully that will change soon. If it was up to me we’d do a tour of Europe and maybe even the world. I’d love to play Australian festivals, Japanese festivals, maybe even go do some American festivals as well. Unfortunately we haven’t quite got to that stage, but that’s probably good for our health, as there’s a lot of drinking at festivals!
G: Yeah, we’d be dead! [laughs]We quite enjoy drinking, and festivals are a legitimate way to do it for breakfast!
Do you prefer festivals or your own smaller headline shows?
G: Each has their own benefits really. Festivals are great because you often end up playing to new people, but at smaller shows you know that everyone in the room is there because they really want to see you play. You get more casual viewers at festivals, but you need both really.
Are there any bands you really want to see at Takedown today?
D: A lot, but unfortunately I agreed to play a wedding later today, so I’m going to play our set, go do that and then get back in time for the after show party. Hopefully, I’ll get back in time to see Mallory Knox and Charlie Simpson. I did watch Zoax last year, and I know they’re very good and very entertaining. There’s also a band called Empire that are on before us, so I’ll get to check them out and probably be very intimidated by the singer’s vocal range because it’s immense! [laughs]He’s a lovely guy as well. I did want to catch Rolo Tomassi after us, as they’re really interesting, but I think I’m going to miss them as we have a signing then. Not that I’m complaining, singings are awesome!
How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it before?
G: Well, we’d ask them what they like and then tell them it sounds like that! [laughs]
D: Hmm, I’d say it was intensely passionate rock music, very melodic. It can go anywhere it wants really.
G: Yeah, we’re not really a genre band to be honest. If you’re in a metalcore band, for example, you’ve got the scream-y verse, sing-y chorus and the little twinkly guitar breakdown in the middle. A lot of bands follow that formula, we don’t, we just do whatever we fancy at the time.
D: Yeah, we have a lot of different influences. We don’t believe in that ‘if it’s not metal it’s shit’ way of thinking. We’re just pretty open to trying new things.
What’s your favourite song to play live?
D: That depends really. If you’re talking in a self-indulgent kind of way then it’s probably Hymn, at the moment, which is our new song and our first single from the new album. But, it’s nice to feed off a crowd, and for them, they’d probably like one of our older songs.
G: Also, we haven’t played it properly live yet, and sometimes that can change things. Like, there were some songs from ‘The Pride’ which we liked playing live, but they didn’t vibe in the right way with a crowd.
D: I reckon Firefly will be pretty fun today and I also like playing Trenches, because that one’s my little moment and all of the rest of them just have to sit down! [laughs]
G: Greg [bass]and I always have to not look at each other when he’s playing Trenches, we can’t handle not doing anything and we get silly! And then Dave starts laughing and drops a chord, and it all kicks off!
You’ve recorded a triple album, is it all coming out as one, or are you staggering it?
D: We were going to do it all in one go, but we decided in the end to release them all separately. The first part comes out on May 4th, and we haven’t actually recorded the second part yet! We want to do it in stages and not rush it, so that’ll come out around November and then the final part will be done around April of next year. We’ve got a tour coming up this May as well, and some festival shows, so it’ll be a busy summer!
