{"id":938,"date":"2024-05-09T01:18:38","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T08:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.todayforeverzine.com\/cms\/?p=938"},"modified":"2024-05-09T01:18:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T08:18:38","slug":"interview-high-vis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.todayforeverzine.com\/cms\/2024\/05\/09\/interview-high-vis\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: High Vis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If there is one band that the hardcore community collectively embraced in 2022, it was High Vis. Comprised of members of some of the UK\u2019s most notable hardcore projects (Dirty Money, Tremors, DiE, The Smear), High Vis are transcending boundaries and pushing limits with their very own brand of punk, an unlikely marriage of pure Manchester melody and raw hardcore aggression at its finest. Imagine The Chameleons, but born on the Lower East Side and playing hardcore shows at CBGBs in the early 90s.<\/p>\n

High Vis\u2019s first LP, No Sense No Feeling, flew somewhat under that radar when it was released during the early days of the Covid19 pandemic, but they quickly gained a cult following, even without the ability to tour or play shows in support of the record. By the time their sophomore LP, Blending, was released on Dais Records in 2022, the secret was out and High Vis topped countless album of the year lists and the question on everyone\u2019s lips was when will a High Vis tour finally land on our shores?<\/p>\n

Shortly before the release of Blending, vocalist Graham Sayle graciously answered that question and more as we discussed the origins of High Vis, the UK music scene, and the heavy subject matter, from class warfare to survivor\u2019s guilt, that inspired High Vis to write one of the finest albums of 2022.<\/p>\n

*The original text for this High Vis interview appeared in Today Forever Issue 02 in February 2023.<\/em><\/p>\n

**All text copyright Today Forever 2023, please do not duplicate without expressed editorial permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

***Photos taken by Oscar Rodriguez @bloomxphoto<\/a> – https:\/\/bloomxco.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Nikki:  To begin the interview, and to key in anyone who might not be familiar with High Vis yet, who\u2019s in the band and where are you all from?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Graham: We\u2019re from all corners of the UK and Ireland, but [we] are all currently living in London. Graham [Sayle] tries to sing, Ski [Harper] plays drums, Rob Moss plays bass, Rob Hammeren, and Martin Macnamara on guitars. <\/p>\n

The term \u2018high vis\u2019 isn\u2019t tremendously common in the United States, but, being English, I grew up with it as a common term for anything \u2018high visibility,\u2019 and most often associate it with roadworks! What made you name the band High Vis? Is there any personal connection to the term?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wanted to call the band High Vis after spending my summer months wearing a high vis(ibility) vest and walking through security into festivals. It\u2019s amazing how what outfit you wear can change people\u2019s perception of you or make you invisible. No one wants to question authority or engage with the working class.<\/p>\n

While High Vis, in many ways, transcends genre, you have often stated your musical foundation was born out of hardcore, and most of you played in hardcore\/punk bands for years before forming High Vis. What made you switch gears when writing for High Vis and take the band in a musically different direction from your hardcore roots?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I guess we just wanted to do something a bit different, we\u2019ve all got diverse tastes in music and didn\u2019t wanna limit ourselves to any one thing. It\u2019s been pretty liberating, but everything always comes back to punk and hardcore because that\u2019s the kind of energy that comes naturally!<\/p>\n

You released your first full-length album, No Sense No Feeling, in December of 2019, shortly before the Covid19 pandemic shut down the world and made it nearly impossible to tour or promote a new record in any of the traditional ways. How did you navigate releasing your first album in such an unprecedented time? Do you feel the album got the reception it deserved given the difficult time at which it was released?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We couldn\u2019t really navigate anything! The record came out and we thought no one gave a fuck. We carried on writing stuff and kept doing what we had been doing in a vacuum for so long, anyway. It was only about a year later that people started telling us [that] they liked the record. When people in America and further afield started talking about it, we were all really shocked, but it was cool as fuck.<\/p>\n

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High Vis\u2019s roots are firmly planted in hardcore, with members from prominent UK hardcore bands as The Smear, Tremors, and Dirty Money, but while High Vis has all of the raw energy and lyrical honesty hardcore is known for, it reaches beyond the genre to create a new sound, as melodic as it is edgy and angsty. What genre would you consider High Vis to be in? You combine elements of so many different sounds and really transcend any typical categorization – which is a great thing!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I always say that High Vis is a punk band and always will be. Even if we started making techno it would still be punk because it\u2019s where we come from and it\u2019s our approach to making music. We\u2019ve never fit in wherever we played anyway!<\/p>\n

What were some of your musical influences when writing for No Sense No Feeling and Blending? Did your influences change from album to album? <\/strong><\/p>\n

When we were writing that record Ski and Rob H were listening to a lot of Post-punk and we were all in a much different place to where we are now. Bands like The Sound, The Chameleons, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Siouxsie etc. It\u2019s a very anxious record and, listening back, it captures the hopelessness we were feeling in ourselves.<\/p>\n

In just a few weeks, your new record, Blending, will be dropping on Dais Records. How did you connect with Dais and what made you decide to release Blending with them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gibby [Miller] got in touch with us after hearing some stuff via Spotify, and we sent him the unmixed version of Blending. Dais is such a cool label and their approach to everything [for] the release is meticulous, yet open and unpretentious. Their catalogue is amazing and we feel super lucky to work with them.<\/p>\n

With several singles now released from your upcoming album, Blending seems to explore deeper feelings beyond the chaotic anger and darkness that were the hallmark of No Sense No Feeling. What was the process of writing for Blending like and did you have a particular sound or direction you were hoping to take the record in? Or is the music just a result of how you were feeling at the time of writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve never really stopped writing, so the album is a kind of natural progression. When our old guitarist, Romaine, moved to Paris, and Martin Joined, he brought a different energy to the band. Martin is also amazing at writing a melody, one of the first songs he had written, \u2018Fever Dream,\u2019 kind of set the way for the direction of the LP.<\/p>\n

Something that I find striking about High Vis, in both the new singles and your previous efforts, is the raw honesty you bring to your lyrics. You tackle heavy topics from suicide to mental health struggles to failed relationships. Is there any topic too personal to share? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll probably regret it at some point, but I want to be as open as I can be with this band. I\u2019ve said that I want to live a life without secrets, and I\u2019m trying not to hold on to anything that causes me harm. The band is a pretty good vehicle for releasing life\u2019s stresses, and if anyone can relate then that\u2019s a bonus!<\/p>\n

Given the extremely personal subject matter you tap into in many of your lyrics, how does it feel to perform a song like \u201cTrauma Bonds,\u201d that lays bare the grief and guilt of losing a friend, in front of a live crowd? Is it difficult to share deep personal experiences with a different audience night after night? <\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s something I\u2019m working on at the moment. I do find it difficult to play without getting emotional, and hopefully in time it will get easier. Time is a great healer, and you can\u2019t bury grief because it will rear its head when you least expect it. <\/p>\n