We chat to Manchester metalcore outfit Ventures about having a diverse interest in music and how grass roots venues should get more input.
Hi, I’m Ollie from Ventures! I do the singing and shouting! I'm a restaurant manager by day a legend at night
TELL US ABOUT YOUR LATEST ALBUM OR SINGLE
The last single we released was Reminisce! A song about mourning your childhood like it was a death! Sometimes you just want to be Peter Pan but we all end up like hook one day.
WHICH SONG WOULD YOU SAY SUMS UP YOUR SOUND THE BEST?
Black and White is a good baseline! We love the heavy riffs and emotional outros
DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC IN A FEW WORDS.
Our music suffers from a severe personality disorder! We don't like to stick to a standardised sound we want to mess with genres as much as possible to give us that Ventures sound. I personally feel a band that redefines a genre lives forever.
WHO HAVE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES BEEN?
The Devil Wears Prada are my favourite metalcore band by miles but I take a lot of influence from RNB singers like Luther Vandross, Blues artists like George Thorogood and B.B. King and I do love a good grunge/punk track.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO MUSIC?
I was high on Ritalin aged 11 zoned out listening to a German band called OOMPH! Their Augen Auf EP and I fell in love. I moved up to Primus, Underoath and Slipknot and just never looked back
WHAT IS THE CREATIVE PROCESS LIKE FOR YOU WHEN MAKING MUSIC?
I write the lyrics, so I tend to let the guys do their thing while I sit there with headphones on in a corner listening to a section at a time until I'm happy with what I have.
We do like to throw suggestions out there to each other. But I'm a big believer in everyone putting their own personal bit in unchanged. That’s what i think makes music beautiful
WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD BE THE COOLEST COLLABORATION PROJECT BETWEEN YOU AND ANOTHER ARTIST?
I would love to work with Graphic Nature or Profiler two bands that are making waves here in the UK underground syndicate!
In a dream, I'd have me and Luther do a metal cover of Never Too Much though.
PLEASE TELL US A RANDOM FACT ABOUT YOURSELF?
I speak German fluently and I take two sugars in my brew
WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN?
A wise man never says he’s a wise man
IF YOU COULD CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT THE INDUSTRY, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Spotify should pay grassroots artists more, stop building shitty arenas, stop charging for merch stalls, make ticket prices acceptably cheaper and stop letting nonces play big shows
WHAT'S NEXT?
We have more songs to come from our EP release! Keep your eyes peeled over the next month with shows around the corner
● May 25th: Old Pint Pot, Salford
● June 8th: Twisted Tongue, Whitehaven
● June 28th: The Rutland, Chesterfield
● July 12th: Old Pint Pot, Salford
● July 29th: Aatma, Manchester City Centre
● November 29th: The Rutland, Chesterfield
PLEASE ADD ANY SOCIALS SO WE CAN SHARE
We are on everything @VenturesMetal
My socials are @Ollie_Venturesmetal
Peace and Love