Interviews : Sentience (Jamie McLean) – 15/09/2009

Bringing together a unique blend of metal and melody, music by Melbourne’s Sentience takes you on a journey through self awareness, sorrow, death, triumph and enlightenment. Formed in late 2006, the line up consists of Jamie McLean (guitars/vocals), Jay Carrillo (guitars/vocals), Matt Burton (bass/vocals) and Scott Thorneycroft (drums).

MO recently caught up with Jamie to discuss the bands new EP…

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MO: Welcome to MetalObsession.net, and congratulations on your debut EP!
Sentience: Cheers.

MO: To my ears it sounds as if you incorporate a range of influences to your music. For those of our readers who haven’t heard your music before, how would you describe the bands sound?
S: There is such a wide range of musical taste between us all and we do try to bring a large number of influences together to provide and great mix of brutal progressive metal and melody. Opeth, Lamb Of God, Mastadon, Tool, Emperor would be some of the regular comparisons made by people though.

MO: As mentioned above, you have just released your debut EP. What are your personal thoughts on how it all turned out?
S: We were all pretty happy with the way it all turned out. We worked with JT (Bugdust and First Time Hookers) and he really pushed us all and got the best out of us. Took a while before we were totally happy with the mix. Had to go away and listen and come back, a few times, to iron out the kinks.

MO: What is the writing process for Sentience – both for individual songs and the overall direction for the band?
S: Generally myself or Jay will bring a few riffs into rehearsal and we just go from there. Quite often our riffs coincide really well with each other. Other timesmost a whole song can be brought in. We just jam shit until we are all happy.

MO: Was this the first time in the studio for all the band members, and how did things flow – any major issues/in fighting haha?
S: None of us had ever really been in the studio before so it was a real exciting time. We spent a few days in there, recording and then mixing and re-mixing. Unfortunately our first day of recording was Black Saturday, so it was damn hot and a lot of sweat was shed over the couple of weekends. I also had a slight injury to my wrist at the time. But all in all was an enjoyable experience. Had a heap of fun.

MO: Onto the live scene, you’re launching your debut in Melbourne as part of Eyefear’s national tour. How do you think fans of the long hair will take to your music?

10th Oct 2009 **MetalObsession.net supported event**
Eyefear @ The Espy, St Kilda
w/ sleepmakeswaves, Sentience, Aronora and Teramaze
Tickets available at the door 8pm, $15.

S: I think that fans of metal in general will dig our stuff. Its full of hard brutal moments mixed with the melody that so many power metal fans dig. So fingers crossed they all get behind us.

MO: Any plans at this stage to take your music interstate in the near future?
S: Really trying to expand our fan base, so if the opportunity arises we will certainly take our music wherever we can. Interstate seems like the next logical step.

MO: Avid Australian metal fans us all, what are some local bands that you’re digging at the moment?
S: We are all really pumped to be playing this gig with Sleep Makes Waves. We are all really big fans of their music. Also really digging Arbrynth, Bela’kor, Okera, Ne Obliviscarus and Five Star Prison Cell just to name a few. Lots of really good metal coming out of Australia at the moment.

MO: To finish up, any last words to the Metal Obsession readers?
S: Would be great to make this night as big as possible. So come on down and support good Australian metal and help us make this a night to remember. Oh, and don’t forget to grab your copy of ‘Apologue’.

MO: Thanks a lot for your time, and all the best for the EP launch!
S: No worries, Cheers.

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Band: Sentience
Date: 15/09/2009
Origin: Melbourne, Australia
www.myspace.com/sentiencelive

Questions: Brendan Amos
Answers: Jamie McLean