Averted- A UK Metalcore Prog Metal band formed in Southampton
Interview conducted on November 15, 2020
By Dan Locke
Averted is
Jamie Stevens- guitar
Merlin Parr – drums
Logan Adshead – bass
Syhem Angel- vocals
What is your upbringing? How did you discover music?
Syhem: I grew up in the Parisian suburb and was exposed to music pretty much soon after I was born! Being brought up in a very musical family I have been going to gigs of all genre of music, attending band rehearsals and spending hours in our home studio for as long as I can remember. I started writing my own music, poetry and lyrics around the age of 7, had my first band around 12, and joined my very first “serious” band Ashka when I was 16 years old.
Jamie: I was raised on rock and metal from birth, I remember my Dad having “Enter Sandman” by Metallica playing and I’d be singing along in the back of the car! My knowledge of most Rock/Metal bands were taught to me from a very young age from my parents, so i have them to thank for that, which then led me to pick up the guitar, when i was 9 years old. Ever since I picked up that guitar, I had tried to start many bands but all were unsuccessful, but you live and you keep learning, so if it wasn’t for that repetition of trial and error, I may not have ever found a band that gels as well as Averted does.
Syhem- You are a French singer/model based in London. How did you start modeling?
I started around the age of 12 years old when I visited a friend who is an amazing hairdresser in Austria, she asked me if I could model a few pictures for her hair portfolio and of course, I accepted. I also had a blog at the time that was getting a bit of attention and started receiving multiple requests to model after posting the pictures online which threw me into an unexpected modelling career. As my primary passion has always been music this was never something, I was aspiring to do but this is definitely something I still love doing.
What about music? Tell me about your view of Music as a religious view?
If you are referring to my FB information that’s definitely something I added when creating my account many moons ago, joke aside if you have a read through the lyrics of Absolution you may find out how I feel about religion easily.
How did Averted together?
Jamie: It was originally an intended side project from another band I was playing in at the time, which also had Merlin on Drums and Logan on Bass. After some time, the band I used to be in split up due to the multiple mishaps of the lead vocalist, and that’s when Me, Merlin, and Logan decided to take this to the next level and try to make this the full focus point from that moment and to keep writing music, Little did we know that it would lead to the formation of Averted.
How did you get Syhem Angel as your singer?
Jamie: I put an Advertisement up on a website called “Join My Band”, hoping that there would be someone who would meet the criteria of someone visioning similar things in terms of what we wanted to get out of music, as a band.
A few days after posting the Ad, Syhem messaged me saying that she was interested in trying out at a rehearsal to see how things go. So, when we first met and rehearsed things went really and we were all vibing hard together in terms of sound and direction we wanted to pursue… It just worked really well from that moment on, things just started to take flight after that.
How did you pick your name?
Jamie: Syhem and I were discussing ideas and themes of what our potential name could be, I suggested the name “Averted” because I like to use words that could be used for multiple meanings. One of them being through astronomy which is known as “Averted vision” which in Astronomy, means viewing faint and distant objects with peripheral vision, but instead of looking directly at it, it’s viewed a little off to the side. I found this very interesting because not only can it be used for that meaning but also to a point of view where things can be read between the lines and other things can be implied like a conspiracy, it’s just a cool idea i found with the name “Averted” so it just stuck.
How did you start to write music?
Jamie: It started by me thinking outside the box by messing with some cool guitar rhythms that I wrote off of the top of my head which then became a song. Once the first-ever song was written, (which is now known as “Vaecordia”) the ball started rolling from there and more ideas suddenly filled my imagination and I got on it straight away and recorded them.
Describe your music
Jamie: I would say the music has its own character, as so many influences were taken from older bands back from the 80s up to the early 2000s, to then try and rethink it and make it have that modern kick. In terms of the Guitar parts, I wanted to make things complex and intricate but still be able to have that balance where the music is not too complicated but still catchy so everyone can get caught by the hook.
What was your first performance at like?
Syhem: Well sadly with everything going on at the moment we have not been able to play a live gig yet as this was scheduled to happen after the release of Silenced.
What makes a good songwriter?
Syhem: I would have to say honesty, there’s no way you can reach anyone’s attention or strike any emotion if you don’t shamelessly pour yourself into every word that you write, the answer may be very different if you ask someone else but in my opinion, the moment someone connects with a song on an emotional level the rest becomes secondary. What I try to do as a songwriter is to use this connection to draw attention to subjects that are important to me like the ones I spoke about in Silenced.
Tell me about your EP called Silenced?
Syhem: Silenced is about giving a voice to the unheard and asking the listener questions while exploring subjects like war, misinformation, religion and injustice. They are multiple messages and hidden meanings that I hope for people to experience with their own perspective as well as strong messages that are very clear and that we are all hoping people will take away with them.
You started to work on the EP back in September. Did the virus slow down the making of the EP?
Syhem: Luckily Silenced was all ready by the time we had our first lockdown in the UK, what it has impacted however is its actual release, we know that a lot of independent media have been struggling (a lot more) lately which of course did affect the press around the release which happened to be more or less inexistent despite months of preparation behind the scenes.
What is your favorite track on the album?
Syhem: It’s hard to pick, but I would have to say Silenced!
Jamie: My favourite track is “The Curse”!
How do you stay healthy while touring?
Syhem: Stay hydrated, sleep at any opportunity and stretch/warm-up as much as possible. Oh and, no getting drunk unless there’s a day off after!
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
Syhem: I think it’s great that people have access to a lot of music, I just wish it was fair for artists. But for me, it is a problem going way beyond music, like everything else in our society we want to consume a lot, quickly, and at the lowest cost possible so it is going to have an impact on whoever is making what we’re consuming, that also applies to fast fashion hurting designers, fast food hurting small restaurants and huge corporations crushing independent businesses. And sadly, whether we want it or not, we’re all accomplices out of necessity which keeps that system going.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Syhem: I’m hoping that after a much-needed recovery time the entertainment industry is going to boom as people will want to make up for the lost time (just like after wars really…).
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
Syhem: Working from home, yoga, cooking. Lately, it has been a lot of writing as we are working on our first album.
Jamie: I have been going out for drives, vibing to music to get some influences from all different genres for the next title! other than that, just chilling, playing guitar and COD Warzone haha!
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
Syhem: I love to cook but I generally don’t have much free time, so it’s been great to take the time to make things from scratch.
Jamie: I don’t think I’ve discovered or rediscovered anything as such, however, my curiosity has been raised to start building my own guitar, i think the idea is cool. I’d love to try it!
95% of people said that they have changed the way they watch television. This includes people who don’t have television and using their computers to do streaming of programs and movies. Which is your favorite streaming channel?
Syhem: I wouldn’t say that anything has changed for me, I’ve lived 7 years in London without a TV and I always jump between Youtube, Netflix and Crunchy roll.
Jamie: I would somewhat agree with this, everything just seems to be in the palm of your hands nowadays. it’s not like you could pick up your phone and start streaming a movie in a field 10 or so years ago. My favourite streaming channel is a difficult one, I like Netflix for its diversity and endless choice of movies, however, I feel like Disney+ wins it for me because I have a passion for Star Wars and the new spin off series “The Mandalorian”.
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. In October that is going to change at least on Facebook. Facebook is cracking down on livestreamed shows that include recorded music with new terms of service, preventing artists from using the platform for “commercial or non-personal” purposes, unless they have obtained the relevant licenses.
The updated music guidelines state that users “may not use videos on our products [which include Instagram] to create a music listening experience […] This will includes [Facebook] Live,” and stipulates that such content should be posted for the enjoyment of friends and family only.
How do you think this will change the landscape of Facebook?
Syhem: It’s annoying but realistically they are so many other platforms that I feel it’s not a huge deal.
In addition. From October 24 onwards, you can no longer simply paste your links in WordPress to make your Facebook and Instagram content appear on your site.
Will this affect how bands use Facebook?
Syhem: Not us.
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How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merch to them at the show?
Syhem: Stay present on social media, keep writing music and sharing snippets of it, set up an online store.
Is pay to play still a thing?
Syhem: Maybe?
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
Syhem: This sounds like the future! While I know this is possible, I don’t know how many years it would take to become broadly available and accessible.
If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
Syhem: I would probably become a writer or maybe actually paint seriously!
Jamie: If there was no possibility of music, I would try to find a career in aviation, or something mechanical.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Syhem: Thank you for the questions, we hope that everyone who is going to take the time to listen to Silenced is going to enjoy it, we’ve got some very exciting news to share soon so keep an eye out 😉
Jamie: Anyone who digs our stuff will not be disappointed in the album! stay tuned for updates on Facebook and Instagram! Cheers!
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