(In At The Deep End Records)
Genre: Metalcore akin to Misery Signals or August Burns Red.
Interviewed on: 8/20/08
From: Cardiff, UK
www.myspace.com/shapedbyfate
1. How you guys doing? How is the tour coming along?
Touring is great right now. We recently completed our tour with Parkway Drive, Suicide Silence, and Bury Your Dead which was unbelievable, been playing some awesome festivals out in mainland Europe, and are about to head back up to Scotland to play some sweet shows there. So yeah, all good!
2. You're from the UK which is becoming a place known for its up and coming bands, how is the scene over there?
The scene here is ok, there’s plenty of up and coming bands that loads of kids are into but, to be honest, not many of them are particularly good (with the exception of Architects, who are awesome!). The best bands in the UK are the ones who unfortunately aren’t getting all the hype and becoming overnight myspace phenomenons. THE MIRIMAR DISASTER, BRUTALITY WILL PREVAIL, THE DEATH OF HER MONEY, BOSSK, BLACKHOLE, BURNING SKIES, THROATS are all incredible UK bands who deserve to be huge but aren’t because they don’t have stupid haircuts.
3. You guys are touring with Cult Of Luna, Architects then My Minds Weapon and later on August Burns Red, what is the craziest show you guys have been a part of? What happened?
There have been some pretty crazy shows in the past but the worst I remember was in a town in Wales called Bridgend. We were playing to around 500 kids, everyone’s going crazy and moshing hard and it’s a good show. However, the security had been letting drunken chav kids in to the show as well and inevitably fights start breaking out. This gets worse and worse until literally the whole venue is brawling and the show gets stopped. The fighting spills outside and escalates into a full blown riot and then things start getting real bad. Fire engines get called and are using their water cannons to try and disperse the fighting kids. The drummer from Bullet For My Valentine gets hit and put in hospital, and some kid running away from the fighting jumps in a deep, powerful river to escape and goes missing/presumed drowned for a day until he is found washed up a mile downstream.
Was a pretty messy night overall.
4. Is there any update with the DVD? Is it titled at all?
Nearly done!! The guys who filmed it have also had to do the Gallows DVD, and surfing festivals etc that they’re getting paid way more for than ours but hopefully will have finished the editing by the end of the month. Then, it’s just down to the label to release it which would be a pretty fast process. So we’re probably looking at it being out in a couple of months. No fixed title as of yet but probably something with the word ‘Jive’ in. Like “I believe in a thing called Jive”, “The shape of Jive to come”, “Live fast, Jive young” etc etc. (You’ll understand when you watch it…).
5. You guys recently had a video for "They Told Me You Were Dead", what was the inspiration behind the video?
I think the director Adam had wanted to try out the whole rotoscoped animation idea for a while but had yet to find a band suitably rowdy in their performance to make it work. Along we came, and it all fell into place. We loved the theme and are extremely proud of the results!
6. Have you guys watched the Olympics at all? If so, what sports have you been most interested in?
All the sports in which Great Britain have been kicking everyone’s ass in, namely all of them!! The cycling has been crazy with the UK team becoming the most successful team in Olympic history. Other than that, mostly anything to do with fighting of any kind: Wrestling, Judo, Boxing, Fencing etc.
The opening ceremony was pretty unbelievable too.
7. What are your thoughts on illegal music downloading?
To be honest, I’m not a fan. Nothing to do with the fact that we don’t make as much money as a result either!! When I was a kid and getting into Hardcore etc, the only way of finding out about underground music was to pore through Fanzines, read about bands that sounded cool, then try and find a mail order distro that would stock said records. When the albums would arrive, you’d still not know what they were going to sound like and that initial anticipation was an exciting time. Now kids just download 100 albums in 5 minutes, probably never listen to half of them and it seems to just take the special unknown element out of record buying. That’s just me though.
8. What is your favorite song to play live and why?
Probably ‘Swarm Of Wolves’ from ‘The Unbeliever’ LP. It’s got a real loose trashy feel to it which means I can pull out the stops on the performance front without having to worry about any tight tricky sections. Also we play it near the end of a set so kids are usually riled up and going apeshit by then.
9. What are you guys currently listening to?
Right now I have been mostly rocking out to…
KINGS OF LEON - Because of the Times
NORMA JEAN -The Anti Mother
TORCHE - Meanderthal
FUCKED UP - Hidden World
10. What's next for Shaped By Fate?
Our main goal is to complete our 2nd full length record. We’re about half way through the writing process and so far it’s sounding loads faster, a hell of a lot louder, and significantly cooler than anything on ‘The Unbeliever’. We aim to have it all finished and recorded by the end of the year.
In-between the writing sessions, we will also be heading out to tour Sweden and Finland with our friends in DEAD REPRISE this October which we are extremely excited about. Then we have about 3 days off before we join the AUGUST BURNS RED tour, then after that it’s off to Europe for some headline dates and then hopefully (if all goes to plan) to Canada which would be the best thing ever!
11. Any shoutouts?
Yep, a big shoutout to Mark at IN AT THE DEEP END RECORDS for being both an awesome dude and mighty record label. The guys in DEAD REPRISE and THE SETUP for being our new favourite people! And finally to our fallen comrades in BOSSK and RAGING SPEEDHORN, 2 amazing bands who are heartbreakingly going to be calling it a day soon and splitting up. Make sure you check them out before it’s too late.
