INTERVIEW: Jason Stewart of All At Sea

Regular blog readers will know that I love All At Sea and when guitarist Jason got back to me within the hour with answers to my questions, I was delighted! The Essex band are fast becoming one of my favourite unsigned bands and their latest EP Sink Or Swim is alternative heaven. It’s available for download on iTunes now but here’s what Jason had to say about the band…

How did the band start?
Jay (singer) and Duncan (drummer) had both been in bands for four years together and All At Sea really started when Ben and I joined. Then Sink Or Swim really kicked off and started being written in September 2011

Who are your influences?
It varies from each member but as All At Sea, it’s mostly Young Guns, Deaf Havana, You Me At Six and heavier stuff like Memphis, May Fire etc

What’s your favourite song from Sink Or Swim and why?
That’s a hard one but L.I.F.E would have to be the one, as it was the first song we wrote together and it has never got boring.

Which other bands should we look out for?
Some Were Satellites, Shouting Signals and Fortunes

If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
A bird so we can fly -that would be awesome!

What are your worst habits?
Arguing about how songs should be arranged

What has been the band’s biggest achievement so far?
Supporting Your Demise in September 2012

What would you be doing if you weren’t in All At Sea?
We would probably all be in different bands. We all have a massive love for music and performing live.

All At Sea, 11 Missed Calls Acoustic

These Essex lads are definitely one of my favourite bands I’ve come across since I started writing this blog. I’ve reviewed their EP Sink Or Swim, which you can now download from iTunes, (seriously you should definitely do it) and here is a beautiful, stripped back and honest version of one of the tracks from it -11 Missed Calls. Singer Jay’s vocals are shown off to perfection and watching bands play their tracks so intimately, honestly gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Here’s the video, so that you can also feel warm inside!

EP REVIEW: All At Sea, Sink Or Swim

TITLE: Sink Or Swim
BAND: All At Sea
LABEL: Unsigned
RELEASED: August 24th 2012

That EP teaser I shared last week has finally evolved into a full blown five-track gift. Sink Or Swim was unleashed on Spotify and iTunes today and it’s an awesome first effort from the Essex band. Fusions of some of the great British pop-punks and alternative rockers run through the EP and in fact, it just makes for excitement about what there is yet to come from All At Sea.

Opening with Rumours, a track with singing riffs and soulful vocals sets the tone for the record. It’s about the damage that rumours can do and the heartbreak they cause. There is a lot of emotion invested in the words, which is a rare quality in an opening song but All At Sea aren’t a band who are following in anyone’s shadow. Sure, there are elements of several other bands in their sound but their style is a fresh, original one.

11 Missed Calls is a track that arrives with a blast of heavy guitar and fast drumming, which is joined by the heartfelt vocals and you can’t not compare it to the best work of Bridgend rockers Funeral For A Friend. Like them, All At Sea have a great combination of angsty instrumentals and an emotional voice, making songs like this one a story of angry despair. You just wanna clench your fists and scream with them.

In the middle of the EP sits their hit single L.I.F.E, which gained a lot of attention on BBC Essex and Scrub Radio. It’s a track that puts images of silhouetted guitarists against spotlights in your head as soon as it starts. A slight smokey air surrounds it and the singing riff which becomes a motif adds a doomed feeling to it. There is no denying that it’s emo but rather than being overdramatic, it’s just honest -“Life has a way of bringing you down” is a depressing but true sentiment. The instruments are very much at the forefront and they’re shown off plenty of times in the lengthy instrumentals throughout the song. The ending also stops you in your tracks, as the chorus is almost whispered in a ghostly silence. A great first single and simply amazing live track.

The punk influences start to kick in on Overdose’s intro and this is the closest they get to Framing Hanley. Again, its heavy metallic sounds run for most of the song but the breakdown around the two minute mark allows the lyrics to shine through before launching again into what they do best. Surrounded in secrets and lies, Overdose is full of suspicion and that darkness certainly does hang over it. The distortion and prog-rock ending add the anguish, making it an incredibly theatrical production.

It would appear that they can do chilled as well though. My Home, Your City finishes things off with a relaxing rock anthem, which simply sings you home. It’s like being put gently down after twenty minutes of being thrown around and being serenaded to sleep. Melodic guitar and soft heartfelt vocals mean that the closing track is simply a “goodbye, hope you had a good time” from the band.

There isn’t any doubt that All At Sea are masters at creating a well-rounded record and Sink Or Swim is an awesome introduction to your brand new favourite band. All five tracks conjure up images of electrifying live shows, so I’m sitting like a coiled spring waiting for a London date to be announced.

All At Sea

If you’re into your pop-punk with a little bit of grit sprinkled on top, here are a
group of Essex boys you’ll love. Soulful vocals and melodic riffs, backed up by steady drumming equals All At Sea. They’re about to release an EP and have very kindly provided us with a teaser to get excited about.

They are a relatively young band, beginning their journey early last year. However, since then they’ve been played on BBC Essex Introducing and American station Scrub Radio. They’ve rocked up the O2 Academy Islington and T Fest in Thurrock, as well as entertaining crowds at gigs played by the likes of Twenty Twenty and The Hype Theory.

With influences such as Deaf Havana, A Day To Remember and Young Guns, they’re a great mixture of classic American-style guitar pop but with a darker, more mature sound. There are hints of Funeral For A Friend and Framing Hanley in there too and they’ll certainly appeal to a massive audience -from the stereotypical emo to the happy-go-lucky popster.

The EP teaser suggests that they’ve got the balance right between tracks with thumping beats and catchy melodies, which let the instruments take over and songs where the lyrics are the main focus. They’ve got a certain je ne sais quoi, which means you just keep pressing play over and over again.

If you can’t stand the copious amounts of teeny Stateside punk bands that are around, here’s a better British alternative. Follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/allatseauk  and keep up with them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Allatseaofficial . Stay tuned for more on All At Sea!