Continuing to build momentum simply off the quality of their music, Staffordshire group Black Coast are a shining example of a band carrying the torch of modern metalcore. Having recently inked a partnership with Blood Blast Distribution (one arm of metal powerhouse Nuclear Blast), the Stoke-On-Trent act’s hotly-anticipated debut album has finally been announced, much to the joy of fans riled up by recent singles. Ahead of the release of Outworld, their full-length slated for August, we caught up with Black Coast frontman Charlie Hewitt to talk about the new signing, the forthcoming record and persisting through the pandemic.
What are you guys up to currently?
Currently enjoying the release process, toying with ideas at the moment and getting things ready behind the scenes to carry on pushing out new music into the world.
How did the distribution partnership with Blood Blast come about?
Our management introduced us to Blood Blast and we felt a really strong connection with the team, and we knew what they would be able to help us achieve. For us, it felt like it was a brilliant partnership in the making. So far, they’ve been a massive help with getting our music everywhere.
Your single ‘Paradise’ specifically was quite personal for you. Can you talk us through what triggered you to write that song?
From my point of view, ‘Paradise’ came from a place where I was revelling in what my life was at that point – a series of blackout moments and the feeling of losing all kind of control. Looking back, it wasn’t healthy, and listening to the song takes me right back there.
Does that tie into a bigger concept on the album or are the songs about different things?
I feel they do tie together, I didn’t go in with one concept in mind, that’s for sure. On my side of things, there’s a lot of very personal self-reflection on this album, each song is another realisation. Probably going back as far as our first releases I’ve always written a ton, so with this album I had – and still have – a lot to work with from my past and present.
What made you finally knuckle down and do the record, rather than releasing another EP?
We felt that we’d released enough extended plays and we were ready to focus on a full-length. When we started writing, it felt like it was time to do an album, everything started to line up and the songs started to take shape, coming together to create something very special to us. We just hope that everyone enjoys listening to it as much as we enjoyed the process of making it.
Was the recording process different for doing a full-length instead?
Very different. When it comes to an EP, we did minimal “pre-pro”, no going back over and re-working the songs. With this LP, it’s been completely different, tirelessly going over them until we are completely happy with everything. We worked extremely hard to get the best we could out of each other during the writing and recording process.
What do you want people to know about your band and what you stand for?
We want people to see that we have more to offer than our previous works. Although I feel good about our previous releases, they weren’t showing us individually and personally as a band, which is something we wanted to show with the album. There’s more to us than meets the eye. We stand, as selfish as it sounds, for ourselves. This is a way of getting my issues off of my chest, not just personally, but for the rest of the band too. We wrote songs collectively for us but also we hope that people can relate to them, through our own struggles. We’re just trying to figure everything out. Life’s not easy these days.
How has the pandemic affected you guys as a band?
If anything it has made us stronger, more thick-skinned. We focused and got our heads down. We work best under pressure and we always have done so. Yes, it’s been hard, but that’s no different than normal for us.
What motivates you to keep focusing on music when it is such a difficult path to be on right now?
We’ve been doing this a very long time, not just Black Coast, but other projects in the past. I’ve been in bands since I was 13. It’s what I love and probably always will. We aren’t going anywhere – no matter how hard it gets!
Outworld is out on August 27 via Blood Blast.
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