An interview with Dense

By Jon Milton

Lively Leeds based noise merchants Dense have been making impressively loud and rowdy music for a couple of years, touring extensively alongside the likes of Prettiest Eyes, Flat Worms, Crows and Strange Bones. Having self-released their debut single 'Displaced Face' and its follow up 'Fever Dream' on Leeds singles club Come Play With Me in 2019, the band are now set to unleash their debut EP 'Abjection' this Friday (28th August).

Dense consist of Charlie Fossick (vocals/guitars), Dylan Metcalfe (Bass) and Sam Heffer (Drums), and we caught up with them to talk about the EP, the bands influences and their future plans ahead of the EP release. 

Can you talk us through the songs on the EP (lyrically/musically)?
​
Lyrically, the main theme of the EP is tying together short stories telling different narratives on individuals going through suffering. Some songs are more abstract than others such as Dread… focusing more on mental suffering whereas Cleanse/Despair was inspired by Charlie’s tour around the death camps in Siem Reap which are on display, showcasing the atrocities that occurred during the Cambodian Genocide in the 70s. Musically, the songs are meant to take the listener on a journey through these short stories and set the tone for what is being said in the songs.

Your songs seem very much based around the rhythm of the bassline - is that the starting point when you write?

There is no set starting point for when we write, which we find to be the best way for us to create something we feel is unique and provides different flavours for each of the songs. For example, Electric Chair was a riff Charlie presented initially and then Dylan’s creative flow when figuring out the bass’s role allowed him to come up with the arpeggiated baseline for the verses and choruses. For Dread… we started with Sam showing a drum beat he came up with and we based our writing of the bass and guitar around that which gave the song a more percussive feel.

Photo by Sarah Oglesby

Name five records that have shaped your sound?
​
Wand - Golem
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Dead
Metz - II
Fuzz - II
Prettiest Eyes - Pools

What’s next for the band - is an album on the horizon?
​
One can dream of being able to put out an album in the near future! It all depends on how we progress as a band and if anyone is interested to put us out! It could be a year or it could be 10 years before put out an album, you never know how it’s gonna go. What we do know is that we’re going to keep working as hard as we can to tour and keep writing new songs that we’re proud of and hope anyone listening will enjoy!

We'll publish a full review of the EP on Friday. In the meantime, you can listen to 'Electric Chair' which features on the EP and was featured on the Come Play With Me 'Come Stay With Me' compliation below.