What is your name and role within Malevolence?
Yo i’m Alex, I do vocals.
How did you start?
Malevolence was a band before I joined around 5 years ago. We were all mates before that from school and had been involved in the music scene for a while so we knew each other quite well.
Where are you based?
We are based in Sheffield, UK.
Please give an example of your music writing process?
Charlie and Josh will normally sit down for hours on end and jam riffs together and bring ideas to the table, then at band practice we will sit down together and collect those ideas and give our feedback, maybe tweak a few things and give suggestions on what where think each song should go next!
What are you working on right now?
We just released our second album SELF SUPREMACY through BDHW records. We spent a lot of time working hard on that record and i’m super proud of it! We also just completed our first ever headline tour which was absolutely insane, a number of sold out shows and crazy crowds. We are now working on some more tours, trying to hit up places that we havent played before including Australia, we would love to be over there in the next 12 months.
What is your gear setup?
JOSH (Guitar) : I use a an Ibanez RG 1550 and run it through a Framus Cobra head. My pedal board is literally just an NS2, digital delay, tuner then a cry baby wah pedal on the end. Kon uses Jackson guitars through a peavey 6505, Wilkie just has an Orange Tiny Terror head with his Lamb of God signature Jackson bass. We don’t use any tracks or in ears, just plain and simple with a couple of bass drops and a few odd samples on the pad.
CHARLIE (Drums):
Mapex black pantha snare with Black Remo Kevlar head
Natal kit
Tama speed cobra pedal
Promark 2B sticks
Zildjian A custom cymbals all round
14″ hats, 17″ 19″ 15″ crashes – 18″ Oriental China, 22″ k custom ride, 10″ splash with a little stagg bell on top for starting fights
What do you like to do outside of music and does it affect your music?
Outside of music, I like to travel and hang out with friends and family all over the place, Kon recently coaxed myself and Charlie to take up Muay Thai with him. We all still keep actively involved in the music scene even when its not us playing.
How would you describe your music genre?
I say it’s metal. People often try to pigeon hole us or say we’re one thing, but to me it’s straight heavy metal. We combine everything we like into music that we want to hear.
Do you know any music theory?
Absolutely not haha!
What are your plans for the future?
We plan to keep touring the world. Our first album took us from a national to an international band, and I hope this album takes us even further. We have already made moves to start on a new album too, we don’t plan on leaving it as long this time haha!
How did you get into music?
I got into heavy music when my mum bought me Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park, I always wanted to play guitar but I never had the patience to learn. After that it was mainly going to shows! I was in a band before Malevolence but we only ever played a few local shows.
What are you listening to at the moment?
I listen to a lot of rap music to be honest, i’m really into a lot of the UK drill music and afrobeats, and recently a lot of french rap. I don’t have a clue what they’re saying but I think that makes it even harder! In terms of heavy music, one of my favourite bands at the moment are Revulsion from Scotland.
Who are your top 5 influences and icons?
Hatebreed / Lamb Of God / Linkin Park (The first two albums obviously) / Chimaira / DJ Khaled
When are you playing next?
We are playing Resurrection Festival in Spain and I can’t wait. Rammstein are headlining and loads of our friends will be there so it will no doubt be a party.
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@malevolenceriff on twitter and instagram (@alexmlv for mine ;))
